October 15, 2010
DOCUMENT: Celebrity, K-12

It Got Much Better For Eminem

Rapper’s mom once sued school over bullying of son

Marshall Mathers

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Eminem's Bully

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OCTOBER 15--With the plague of school bullying and harassment now the subject of a growing national conversation, the rapper Eminem--who just went on “60 Minutes” and defended his use of homosexual slurs--has his own story about how “it gets better.”

As an elementary school student in metropolitan Detroit, young Marshall Mathers (pictured at left) was the target of bullying so severe that his mother actually sued the local school board for failing to sufficiently protect her child.

In her 1982 Circuit Court complaint, a copy of which you can find here, Deborah Mathers alleged that her nine-year-old child endured repeated assaults while enrolled at Dort Elementary School. Her son, she reported, was beaten so severely that he suffered a cerebral concussion, post-traumatic headaches, intermittent loss of vision and hearing, and other injuries to his head, face, back, and neck. In a related filing, Mathers detailed one attack that occurred as her boy played "King of the Hill" with other children.

The lawsuit, which sought in excess of $10,000 in damages, was eventually dismissed on the grounds of governmental immunity.

While Eminem spoke to “60 Minutes” about getting bullied in school, he was not questioned about whether his lyrics (and frequent use of the word “faggot”) might create a negative impression of gays for some listeners. Or even help spawn or inspire bullies. (5 pages)

Eminem's Bully

TAGS

Eminem, bullying, Marshall Mathers

Comments (9)

Submitted by jman852 on Thu, 2011-02-17 13:57.
do this day and age we continue to judge no matter wat. if kids listen to the rap music then let just hopefully they have filters to know wat they are saying in the songs
Submitted by Dprang on Tue, 2011-02-01 23:10.
Eminem is an amazing talent. Normally, I do not listen to rap, but when an artist is talented and compelling, I am interested, no matter what the genre of music he or she performs. I began listening to eminem while playing music on my computer that my daughter had loaded. After awhile of listening to her play list, I became very interested in eminem. I have researched information and found out he had a very difficult time growing up. What amazes me is that he was able to 'create' music and survive in the very difficult and competitive world of music with little support and money. For those of you who say you hate rap and do not care for his talent, why on earth are you on this blog site reading news about eminem? I love artists that create their own music...and eminem is not a one album wonder. I look forward to more from this artist.
Submitted by edro3111 on Mon, 2010-10-18 17:18.
Yeah, things got a lot better for the hip-hop morons. I still can't figure out how idiotic rhymes and a nerve wracking electronic beat can make these people millions. Unless, of course, it's the 15 through 19 year old white kids buying this trash and pretending to be black. Biggest laugh I get is when they're referred to as "Rap Artists". Artists??? Excuse me while I laugh my guts out!
Submitted by drgrant on Wed, 2010-10-20 03:58.
It's people like you that further endorse racism in the world. You are pathetic. Downgrading a style of music that millions of people enjoy because it doesn't appeal to you? Are you kidding me? Get off of your God complex and open your eyes. You are not the all knowing and all seeing truth. If you listen to any rock or country all it is is recycled music. They all sing about the exact same things. If someone spitting rhymes using their poetry as an outlet isn't art. Then some guy flailing away on the guitar sure isn't. Don't be a bigot. You really need to either obtain more culture or just accept the fact that no one will ever care about your opinion because you only care about yourself. You are the reason there is so much hate in the world. People like you are why people are committing suicide. I'm putting all of this on you. The next time I want to hear you opening your mouth it should be for an apology to all hip hop artists and all white kids 15 to 19 buying the music for that matter. For you to hate someone for trying to find a way to express themselves makes you just part of totalitarian regime. Government first. Well Fark you. And Fark the Hippy revolution then too. Fark everything that music has changed in the world. Let's just never accept anything and live in caves listening to Bach. Because that is the only true genius and artist when it comes to music. Johanna Sebastian Bach if you didn't know who I was referring to. You do strike me as an idiot. My hate is in retaliation. Retaliation for irrational hate and fear. If that makes me a hypocrite then so be it. Because I am a hypocrite defending anyone who wants to be themselves and who doesn't need to be judged by some douche bag sitting on a computer who couldn't make any kind of music for shiat and laying judgment on others who have made a livelihood of it.
Submitted by Barbara L. on Mon, 2010-10-18 17:07.
Too bad he didn't take the opportunity on 60 minutes to talk about this in depth. It certainly got better for him. Most won't be that lucky for sure. For a mother that he has claimed to hate so much it sounds like at least one time in his life she had his back.
Submitted by lpurifoy73 on Mon, 2010-10-18 12:27.
Kids are often bullied especially if they come from poor families. Classism is very much alive and well. As a teacher, I make sure that I protect all of my students as much as possible. We have to report bullying just like suspected child abuse.
Submitted by supersarge on Mon, 2010-10-18 08:31.
Who gives a shiat about Eminem anyways??? He's a has been who's always whining about his past....Cry me a river!!! I think it's funny how tough he "acts" while surrounding himself with HUGE bodyguards. Yeah....he's a tough guy.
Submitted by GeorgeDubyaBush on Mon, 2010-10-18 08:26.
Yes, you should care about the early life of america's greatest prophet. Eminem is a leader and spokesman for todays generations, we should all praise his name and not bully little gingers with flannel shirt and hate our mothers and call everyone homos and ***. then we shall be revered as prophets as well.
Submitted by oregongurl on Sun, 2010-10-17 00:05.
please someone block the ads... and am i supposed to care if eminem got bullied?
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