Students chant 'white power' during immigration discussion at school

[jefferson_dem]

Disgusting...

Students chant 'white power' during immigration discussion at school
written by: Jeffrey Wolf , Web Producer
and Nelson Garcia , Reporter
created: 8/30/2007 5:10:00 PM
Last updated: 8/30/2007 5:30:04 PM

Students chant 'white power' during immigration discussion at school. 9NEWS at 5 p.m. 8/30/07

BROOMFIELD – It started with a simple question and ended with students chanting "white power" in a classroom.

It happened Tuesday in a classroom at Holy Family High School, the Catholic school that sits at the corner of 144th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard in Broomfield.

The classroom discussion started with the question: Why do students need to learn Spanish?

According to the Archdiocese of Denver, the conversation soon became about immigration and it turned ugly.

"It became a heated discussion and some rhetoric was used that was inappropriate for the classroom," said Jeanette DeMelo, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Denver.

At least one e-mail sent to 9NEWS said that students started a chant of "white power" and some said that all Mexicans should go back to Mexico.

<SNIP>

http://www.9news.com/news/top-article.aspx?storyid=76418

[Colobo]

1. Stupid kids.

[NashVegas]

2. Wow, This Is Shocking

I went to Catholic school and, no matter how much I may slam them for other things, am amazed this kind of attitude would be germinated in one.

[rurallib]

31. How long ago did you attend Catholic school?

I went in the 60s and toward the end it was much more tolerant. But I have heard things may be going backwards.

[Marrah_G]

51. The Catholic church is very pro-immigrant though

So this is very weird. I can't imagine any of the Catholic HS here (and there are MANY) tolerating even the slightest amount of racism.

[YOY]

54. Late 80s/early 90s here

The infusion of Abortion into some classes (some of which had not a goddamn thing to do with the subject) put a right spin on things. Right-wing thinking was supported by many in the admin, but most students didn't give a damn. We'd rather listen to Nirvana and go for keggers.

One history teacher put up pictures of aborted fetuses all over his classroom behind the maps. Some students complained that they were so graphic that they made them ill so he would pull down maps to cover them (instead of taking the damn things down as many of us wanted.) He brought up abortion every week in one form or the other and would uncover his "visual aids" to supplement his points. Students (myself included) liked to put up Porno mag pics in their stead...not even playboy but "Oh-my-God-you-can-see-her-kidneys" porn. He would roll them up and the look on his face was priceless. Once someone even put up gay porn...that was a hoot! I daresay he made many of us pro-choice with his assholery.

Only logic that some are letting things flow to the right to the point of racism and illogical thinking and the school administrations do not a goddamn thing still.

[NashVegas]

59. 1968-1975

What a shame. 80% of my memories are pretty awful ones, but the lessons in tolerance were part of the other 20%. Mind you, that was grade school.

[YOY]

53. Me too

I knew one or two hateful bastards, but they're everywhere.

[Beausoleil]

57. I went to Catholic school

for 12 years, in Texas, in the 60's and 70's. This kind of thing would not have been tolerated and would have been reason for suspension/expulsion. I'm also shocked.

[MadMaddie]

3. Nice....This Administration has poisoned America with more

hate....


Those students were remorseful....and basically nothing happened to them. They had a talkin to....

Once again there are no repercussions to bad and unacceptable behavior they should have been suspended.

[Mojambo]

10. This country's discomfort with all things non-white goes back a lot further than this administration

[MadMaddie]

15. Oh I agree with you....it seems that the Administration has

sanctioned the hate by promoting and openly attacking Gays under the Gay Marriage guise or the Defense of Marriage act.....it gave the Fox News and the hate mongers the go ahead with their agenda...they did the same thing with Blacks and the poor during Katrina, and the Hispanics and the illegal immigration.....

[Mojambo]

19. Oh yeah. They've tapped into that vein like few before them. n/t

[MadMaddie]

20. A Seahawk fan are you? Let's hope they have a good year!

[Mojambo]

22. Just settling in to listen to them play the Raiders tonight.

If they stay healthy I like their chances.

The NFC West has gotten tougher though.

[MadMaddie]

26. This is true....

Let's see how Sean Alexander is this year...they traded the Offensive lineman Hutchinson and Sean liked to run behind him......and we will have to see if Sean's heart is into it..

[pampango]

58. Not sure that you can cast hatred of Hispanics and illegal immigrants

at the feet of the administration. Bush and his minions certainly are responsible for attacking or neglecting Gays, Blacks, and the poor.

I think that Bush has a soft spot for Hispanics, which conveniently coincides with his interest in cheap labor for the economy and which he obviously does not have for Gays, the poor and other minorities. IMHO, his administration's lack of enforcement of immigration laws, and the surge in illegal immigration, was not an intentional strategy of encouraging hatred of Hispanics, even though that may have been the effect in certain circles.

If he really wanted to demonize Hispanics, I suspect he would have come up with more direct ways to do that, as he did with the other groups, than by giving them what they want so that others would end up resenting them. It would be like him promoting marriage and other benefits for Gays or increasing welfare benefits for the poor, with a long term goal of increasing resentment towards these groups. It might work, but he seems to favor direct attacks, or total neglect, which produce quicker results.

[karlrschneider]

4. Lovely.

:eyes:

[Missy M]

5. Perhaps they were repeating what they hear at home.

[BlooInBloo]

6. Of course.

[tularetom]

7. You don't have to learn Spanish to serve in Iraq

Since these punks are so tough they may wanna consider signing up...

[treestar]

34. Is that photoshopped somehow, or did that cat actually do that?

Great pic!

:rofl:

[tularetom]

40. He's not my cat - found the pic somewhere

But he's definitely a cat with attitude so I like him.

Naturally I want to believe it isn't photoshopped and that somebody trained him to do that.

Or better yet - he thought it up all by his little cat self.

[saltpoint]

8. Perhaps it would be a good school venue for a visit from Ken Salazar.

He should walk into one of the civics classes -- I'm antiquatedly assuming they still teach civics in U.S. schools -- and confront the young folks who felt that "white power" was their aristocracy of choice.

Let's see how they fare against the good Senator Salazar.

[BattyDem]

I am so sick of all the fucking hate!!!

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[AlCzervik]

9. Gee kids learning another language benefits you and your parents need a home visit.

there is no way they aren't hearing this at home.

[MikeNearMcChord]

11. Expel Them! I would think racism is incompatible

with the teachings of a Christian School. If the Diocese of Denver was serious.

[msongs]

13. evidently you know nothing about catholic invasion and occupation of the "new world" nt

[BlooInBloo]

16. Not too familiar with christianity and its history, eh?

[JNelson6563]

21. But interestingly enough

it's Spanish that's spoken in Mexico in a largely Catholic population. Brought to the area by Spanish Catholics long ago, right?

This is irony that's as rich as Death by Chocolate.

Julie

[TahitiNut]

44. Father Coughlin would commend them.

:shrug:

[stillcool]

12. 'Is your children learning?'

apparently so. As far as learning all this hatred at home...I wonder who is at home to teach them?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

14. Note, please, that this wasn't a public school

At least this is one thing the repukes can't blame on "poor public schools".

[ulysses]

38. Republicans would view it as a sign of improvement in public schools if it was.

But yes, a decent idea to head off more attacks on public ed at the pass, as it were.

[Gman]

17. A private Catholic High School... let me guess

it's a high end big tuition, affluent group that sends their kids there.

Yup... I know that kind of Catholic High School. I went to one for 2 years until I couldn't stand that attitude any more.

These are the same "catholics" that end up rabid right wing, they foam at the mouth over abortion, but it's OK to bomb the shit out of and overthrow a country even when Pope JPII told Bush to his face "If you go to Iraq, you go without God." No sirree... that's OK. And the Catholic Church supports all undocumented immigrants and gives them refuge. But, no sirree... I'll skip that too in my cafeteria Catholic faith.

GOd I can't stand those kind of "catholics".

And I wondered if after 35+ years my old Catholic high school had changed. Well, I've got a nephew that went there for two years. His dad is a union member, his granddad was a state leader in the AFL-CIO. Both parents are damn good Democrats. ... Well, my nephew is changing schools this year. It hasn't changed one goddamm bit.

[backscatter712]

18. This is personally embarrassing for me.

I live just a few miles from that school. I feel I must apologize for this embarrassment to the state of Colorado.

I love Colorado, it's a great state, there are lots of great people here, including a lot of liberals, but far too often, I see vile displays of bigotry, like this incident, the rejection of gay rights in the last election, the whole circus around Amendment 2 a few years ago, etc. A few decades ago, Colorado was overrun by the KKK.

It pisses me off when I see this kind of bigotry.

Why is it that racism is cool again? :(

[stop the bleeding]

23. Kids are suppose to be our future

if this is the future then I want out NOW

[in_cog_ni_to]

24. A Catholic School??? Shame on them! How fucking disgusting.

:grr:

Holy Family School. Puhleeeeeze. Holy my ass.

[proud patriot]

25. Their parents must be so proud

x(:sarcasm:x(

[BlooInBloo]

27. It's ok. It's not about race. White folks tell me so.

[in_cog_ni_to]

28. Was that before or after they put on their white hoods?

:grr:

[HughMoran]

29. How cute

:spank:

[mzteris]

30. holy crap

no pun intended.

WTF are they teaching in that school? In that community? In those homes?

I have my son in a SPANISH IMMERSION school!!! I think EVERY CHILD should be taught a second language - ANY second language from the time they are very young.

What ijuts they are. Me vuelve loco!! :grr:

[silverojo]

32. Another achievement of the Bush administration

By not getting this uncontrolled illegal immigration situation under control, it's causing a generation of people to hate ALL Hispanics, because the illegal criminals get far more press than the decent, law-abiding Hispanics who are here legally. :(

[kath]

33. Wow. WWJC???

What Would Jesus Chant?

[silverojo]

35. Here's what's wrong with that class

First, you don't ask kids why they "need" to learn Spanish. They don't. English may not be America's official language, but it is the language most widely used here. The Spanish-speaking kids do need to learn English, because more job opportunities exist for those who are fluent in English. The crap jobs that illegals have to do are ample evidence of how far you *don't* get, when you don't bother learning the language that is spoken most widely.

Secondly, since America is (unfortunately) doing so much business with China, American kids should have the opportunity of learning Chinese--again, to expand their job opportunities by being able to communicate effectively with people whom we do business with the most. Japanese is widely taught in Australia, for similar reasons.

Kids all over the world learn English (even those with no plans to travel or live here). They're taught English because it widens young people's business opportunities. It's not going to kill the Hispanics to join their counterparts in all other industrialized nations, and learn English.

Nobody's saying that they should forsake their own culture; if anything, I think white and black people should pay more attention to their own respective cultures. (Asians already do.) But this Tower Of Babel business doesn't help a country or its individuals thrive.

Spanish is not the language of business. English is. To a lesser (but growing) degree, Chinese is, too. To waste kids' time on a language that is only spoken by people in dead-end jobs (because they refuse to learn English) is a disservice to the students.

Spanish-speaking kids need to be taught English, or else they're going to be doomed to be the next generation of fruit-pickers, janitors, and nannies.

[Xenotime]

36. Here's a whole new generation of racists

[Swede]

37. ONE student said white power.

"When the administration received a complaint regarding this discussion, interviews were conducted of the students in the classroom as well as the teacher. The student who acted inappropriately was disciplined and the situation has been addressed with the teacher."

"The administration treated this situation as a teaching moment - an opportunity to reaffirm that respect and charity should be the foundation of every dialogue and encounter with another."

[entanglement]

42. Yeah, but some also said "go back to Mexico"

In the US reasonable people consider such statements inflammatory. These comments were likely directed at students of Hispanic descent, many of whose families have been here for generations and have just as much a right to be here as anyone else (and even if they were the children of immigrants or immigrants themselves, it would be just as inappropriate and outrageous to use such words).

A person born to non-citizens on US soil is considered a US citizen, without regard to race or ethnicity ( jus soli ). Somewhat different than Sweden, Germany or other European countries, where ethnicity confers citizenship ( jus sanguinis ) and immigrant minorities and their descendants face prolonged "foreigner" status and a struggle to gain citizenship. This might explain why European and US perspectives on comments like "go back to where you came from" diverge sharply.

[bdamomma]

39. very sad indeed, no such as thing as being humane to anyone

anymore, what has happened to people?

[ComerPerro]

41. but let no one say they are racist. LOL

[EFerrari]

43. That would be playing the race card.

I'm so sad for this country. What a mess.

[judaspriestess]

45. yes kids, lets just keep ourselves isolated, limited

and very very stupid. the bushies must be real proud.

[B Calm]

46. You sure they hadn't all snorted some White Powder before school?

[The Backlash Cometh]

47. This is going to be the expected reaction until awareness is open to how

many illegal immigrants are coming in from Irland, England, etc.

[annabanana]

48. Remember that classroom experiment in 1968. kids were separated

by eye color, and blue eyes were the designated underclass. . It sounds like time to revive and institutionalize these excercises...

[jberryhill]

49. "At least one e-mail sent to 9NEWS said"

What passes for a source these days?

"According to other news, 9NEWS won the Dutch lottery five times today, and has received a pass to unlimited free porn."

[zanne]

50. Holy Family High School, huh?

Just gimme that ole' time religion.:sarcasm:

[johnfunk]

56. The Holy David Duke Family, no doubt

[YOY]

52. Any Catholic who chants "White Power"

Has apparently fogotten that the Klan is no fan of Catholics.

[lonestarnot]

55. Sounds like they took Dave Chappelle seriously.