Idaho School Teachers Dress as Mexican Stereotypes, Border Wall

[ChristMyLife]

More of a “what were you idiots thinking” than anything else.

On further reflection I agree, a reprimand is more in line as a punishment that fits the crime.

My initial response and call for termination was overly harsh and grounded in a reactionary attitude, which I repent of and denounce as wrong.

 

[blackforest]

“Sensitivity” training and paid administrative leave are not “discipline.”

They should, at a minimum, face unpaid leave or salary freezes . . . something that stings at least a little. Apart from being racist, what they did was grossly unprofessional.

 

[Shasta-Rose]

Yeah, like nobody ever did anything unprofessional before. So let’s scream for their blood.

 

[ChristMyLife]

Sensitivity” training and paid administrative leave are not “discipline.”

Sensitivity training is stupid.

I think docking them 2 weeks pay would sting enough that they’d learn a lesson. Not to mention them being excoriated by the general public.

That punishment together with a sincere sorrow and repentance and then I’d be fine with them being back on the job.

 

[Arkansan]

Races and ethnic groups that actually exist have value. Hypothetical races and ethnic groups, which do not actually exist, do not.

It’s not a question of moving from one state to another that is better or worse. Actually existing groups, with their collective history, identity, and culture, have a legitimate interest in self-preservation, even if their potential replacement would be “better” by some measure.

Of course, new ethnic groups are generally in a worse position, since they lack the long collective memory that older ethnic groups do. This can be seen in the case of white Americans and black Americans, both of which are too ethnically mixed to identify with (or in many cases even know) the particular ethnic groups they are descended from. It is only after a long time that ethnic groups created by mixture can become “normal” ethnic groups.

 

[BoomBoomMancini]

Just so I can make sure I’m following: if enough members of two ethnic groups mix for long enough that a third ethnic group emerges, this is bad…until that third group has been around for long enough to develop its own distinct cultural characteristics, in which case it’s now a good thing that we must take affirmative steps to defend. This logic seems…faulty.

Not to mention the conflation of race and culture is highly suspect. For example, would you object to an Asian person whose family has been in the United States for five generations, and who is culturally identical to an American whose ancestors came over on the Mayflower, marrying a white person?

 

[Allegra]

I haven’t seen their employee handbook, but I would be shocked if it didn’t have a specific policy requiring respect for others’ races, ethnicities, and cultures. Nearly every workplace does. And this took place during a team-building activity on school grounds, not in their private lives. They’d be toast in my school district, along with anyone who approved, designed, or otherwise participated in this “team-building”. The only thing I can think of explaining why they haven’t been fired, is that they aren’t sure who to blame it on and can’t afford to fire all of them at once. Clearly, this effort was organized by someone in some sort of leadership role. Some supplied those matching costumes and props. I wonder if some of them aren’t using the old “just following directions” justification. I think someone ought to be fired, and it might not even be someone in the actual photo. The whole school staff could probably stand some sensitivity training.

 

[blackforest]

Nobody screamed, and nobody requested blood. A simple penalty to reinforce higher professional standards will suffice.

 

[Start]

I don’t know anyone like that in real life.

 

[ZMystiCat]

I think that each race…should be preserved.

I guess I missed the part of Scripture or Tradition or Magisterial teaching where it says that God at some point in time created multiple Adams and Eves, each representing one of each skin color, and then gave a directive to maintain that racial purity.

Yeah, like nobody ever did anything unprofessional before. So let’s scream for their blood.

Well, if I act unprofessional at work, I might get fired.

Sensitivity training is stupid.

I think docking them 2 weeks pay would sting enough that they’d learn a lesson.

I think it’s worthwhile to at least explain why what they did is wrong. Sure, some aren’t going to care, but it at least gives them a chance to grow rather than instilling fear of retribution.

This logic seems…faulty.

That might be the biggest understatement of this thread!

 

[Padres1969]

First Amendment rights are not at question here. Violation of their employment contracts through their bad actions however likely is…

 

[jeannetherese]

Isn’t it cultural appropriation for a non-black CAF poster to quote Tupac?

 

[ZMystiCat]

Not sure what’s so complicated about it. Mass mixing of ethnic groups is bad.

Why?

 

[TheAmazingGrace]

I think that each race is valuable and should be preserved.

Define “race.”

 

[RCIAGraduate]

Yes but such things would possible make Hispanic students quite uncomfortable; they have every right to be taught in a dignified environment and though probably meant in jest, such things can be a “trigger” or bring out negative feelings and bitterness among them; to a population that already experiences racism.

 

[TheAmazingGrace]

The point, which seems to have eluded you, is that if your definition of a “Nazi” would include the people who stopped the Nazis, then there’s a problem with your definition.

No, there’s a problem with the people. Many Americans shared Hitler’s antisemitism and eugenics-flavored worldview, and if you think such views weren’t utterly heinous, then that’s deeply concerning.

 

[TheAmazingGrace]

Even if the Asian American has the same culture as a white American

Pray tell, what is “white” culture? Why do you assume all “white” people are culturally interchangeable? Is an Irishman culturally interchangeable with an Italian? Is a Texan culturally interchangeable with a New Yorker?

 

[F_Marturana]

We are all part of the human race.

 

[TheLittleLady]

And yes, dressing up like a wall and mexicans is extremely racist.

Well, we need to define terms.

In the US, Federal policy defines “Hispanic” not as a race but as an ethnicity. (Census.gov)

To ridicule, discriminate, etc based on ethnicity is bigotry. Bigotry is more insidious than racism and it is sadly encouraged in many sectors

 

[BoomBoomMancini]

Why?

As far as I can tell, we’re supposed to have the following two feelings about any particular extant ethnic group: first, it has to be preserved as it is, and second, we wish it had never come into existence, because it represents the dilution, mixture, and evolution of prior ethnic groups. The Brits should preserve British identity exactly as it is, but also the Celts, Romans, Vikings and Germans should never have merged into what we now call Brits. I don’t see how you can hold these two beliefs simultaneously.

At the heart of all this is the idea that my race is something to which I have some allegiance or duty to defend, which strikes me as dumb, to put it kindly. I’m not advocating for a white ethnostate for the same reason I’m not advocating for a homeland for brown haired people. It’s not a meaningful characteristic. It’s just a physical feature.

It might be a slightly different calculus if we were talking purely about culture, but Arkansan seems to believe that people have innate cultural features based on race, since he imagined my hypothetical fifth generation Korean-American would not have any reason to identify with “our” traditions, ignoring the fact that after that much assimilation they’re as much his traditions as anyone whose ancestors came from Killarney.

All this to say: racial separatism is lame, y’all.