Send them to Colorado, where apparently some Catholic high school student(s) chanted “White power” during a discussion about why they needed to learn Spanish.
Here’s the principal’s statement:
“On Tuesday in a Spanish-language class at Holy Family High School, a single handful of students used heated and inappropriate rhetoric in a discussion on immigration. In a class of approximately 30 students, fewer than six students voiced strong anti-immigration opinions. The remaining two-thirds of the class were silent or voiced support for immigrants. At the end of the discussion, one student inappropriately said “white power,” two or three times. Most of the students in the class did not hear the comments. Contrary to media reports, there were no chants by more than one student. Two students, who were offended, asked to leave the classroom and were given permission to leave. However, the discussion ended when other students realized how these students were affected and all of the students remained until the end of class.”
A student in the class at the time has a conflicting account:
Sierra-Sandoval said one student joked that maybe they should move to Canada since Mexicans were taking over the United States.
That’s when another student yelled, “Go White Power!” the girl said.
Two or three other students chimed in, repeating the phrase, according to Sierra-Sandoval, but school officials said only one student out of a class of about 30 made the remark.
A spokesperson for the Denver Archdiocese stated as follows:
“The principal concluded it was an inappropriate and overly emotional discussion, but it was not a situation of harassment,” DeMelo said.
“The students who offended apologized to those who were offended,” she added.
Got that? A “single handful” (five?) used “inappropriate rhetoric.” “Fewer than six”–well, was it five or wasn’t it? “Two-thirds of the class were silent or voiced support for immigrants”–which was it? Two-thirds of 30 students would be 20. Add five, where did the other five go? Did they do something other than be silent, voice support, or use inappropriate rhetoric?
Note that this is reduced to “offense” again. “The students who offended apologized to those who were offended.” Because they had such oversensitivity to inappropriate rhetoric, yanno. Not that it was harassment.
And what the heck was the teacher doing when this was going on?
The Archdiocese says they did not expect something like this to happen in their system, which has embraced its Hispanic students. Archbishop Charles Chaput has come forward several times in support of the Mexican community.
“I think the teacher was a little bit unprepared for that type of discussion in a language classroom,” said DeMelo.
But wait!
“In all archdiocesan Catholic schools there is ongoing in-services for administrators, teachers and staff on relevant topics such as immigration, historic justice, issues of bullying and respect.”
“Holy Family High School is dedicated to being a family – through respect and charity for all its members. It’s always had a diverse student body. It values that diversity and strives to be a place of unity and respect for all. The distortion and inaccurate reporting of this situation is hurtful to a community that should be praised for how well they get along in their diversity.”
Because you know that if you state this, it must be true. If you say that you have respect for diversity, it must be true. No need to take any action. Just keep parroting those nice words over and over again.
Edited to add a paragraph that was omitted by accident. Apologize, you big meanies! Apologize! And praise them for their diversity!
Resist racism 