High school students protest after teacher tells class to ‘speak American’
Students at a New Jersey high school staged a walkout on Monday after a teacher reportedly told three Spanish-speaking students to “speak American.”
“Men and women are fighting. They’re not fighting for your right to speak Spanish,” the teacher said of U.S. soldiers. “They’re fighting for your right to speak American.”
The teacher at Cliffside Park asked two of the students to stop whispering before the controversial statement was recorded in a video originally posted on Snapchat.
One student, 16-year-old Vianery Cabrera, said she and a friend were chatting about the Yankees in Spanish – the language they were most comfortable using -- when the teacher “snapped" at them.
The video shows students scoffing at the teacher’s remarks, while at least one teen immediately leaves the classroom in response.
"First of all American is not a language. That's first," freshman Omar Toledo told WPIX-TV. "I think she was just trying to get her class to stop speaking Spanish, but she said it in the worst way possible."
After the video spread, more students became angered and at least 100 students chose to participate in Monday's walkout in protest.
Some students were seen waving flags from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Brazil during the demonstration.
According to U.S. census data, nearly 30 percent of the Cliffside Park community is Hispanic.
The Cliffside Park School District held a meeting Monday night to discuss what the superintendent described as a personnel matter, NorthJersey.com reports.
However, the school has not publicly commented on how it's handling the teacher's remarks or if it will punish the students who walked out.
Are we teaching the wrong message to our children?
