Really? Come on, people...

[AZhitman]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100525/ap_ ... JpbnRybw--

[TurboSauce]

"Black students got offended."
i find it funny.
if i were there i'd probably don an outfit too. the reason racism if offensive is because its true, if you don't like the truth change.
whilst i do like pancakes, chicken, waffles and watermelon.
can't forget the cool-aid, it's not everything i am. thus i don't care.
*walks into a gay bar* *throws a ball of fire*
"you all are flaming homosexuals" you can't tell me nothing, it's the truth.
walk into a bar with a bunch of blacks, turn off the light and say
"where'd everybody go?"
Asians?
"i heard that Angelina Jolie has a fetish for guys with small d!ck. she's in town filming on 32nd street.
etc etc it goes on.
all of the s*** is true/stems from something true, if you don't like to be told the truth, change what YOUR truth is.

/end unnecessary rant (yes i'm a pretty racist dude if you want to call it that. )

[AZhitman]

I guess I'm looking at it from the standpoint of the fact that the kids had the best intentions... they were working on a project, a history lesson, and someone gets "offended"?

The people who got "offended" offend me.

Ignoring something doesn't make it cease to exist, but making a stink about sure does give it more power.

Kinda like the imbeciles who freak out when they see a Confederate flag. It existed. It's not "synonymous" with slavery. It's part of our history and heritage. Get over it.

[srellim234]

I agree with the educational part of your argument. As part of an historical assignment the teacher was correct and the shool administration is wrong in this case.

I do believe you are wrong about the displaying of the Confederate flag. It is no longer an appropriate symbol of a portion of the United States, every bit as much as it is not appropriate to display the swastika in Germany or for the Mexican flag to be flown in Texas. It should be relegated to the history books.

I'm perfectly OK with it being brought into the classroom. And displayed as part of history exercises like the one this teacher was doing. You are right in that you can't deny history but certain things shouldn't be allowed to happen again.

[WDRacing]

Man...I gotta agree with the upset parents. I understand that we should be tolerant and all that, but sometimes adults have to use some damn judgment. Allowing the kids not to just wear the costumes for the movie that was shot in school, but to walk through other parts of the school wearing the outfits.

I gotta ask the question. What the F were you thinking when you made that decision? If the teacher had used even 10 seconds of thought she would have realized that there were far better ways to to accomplish this particular task. Here's a novel idea, shut the damn door to a room and film the entire thing. Done...

It comes down to the teacher being an idiot. Are the kids being sensitive? Maybe, but what gives us the right to say what they can be sensitive about? When things can go badly they will. That's why adults are supposed to use their best judgment, especially our teachers.

This could have been done easily and done well. The teacher simply lacks the ability to think critically. Murphy is always watching and he is a dirty mofo.

She handled it badly and should be fired. I only say that because I know there are teachers looking for work right now. The opportunity to get paid for doing something should go to the person that will do the best job. I don't care what color that person may be, if they can do a better job and the person holding the position does something stupid, time to swap that dude out. If schools did this I'm positive that our current teachers would actually strive to do a good job. Not that all of our teachers are fools, but the ones that are should be ousted. Our kids will be better for it IMO.

[srellim234]

I apologize for not reading the entire story. The fact that the kids were led trough a general student population area does, in fact, change the entire episode in my opinion. The teacher should, at minimum, receive a severe reprimand and suspension. I would leave it up to that school board and the parents at that school to make the decision retaining the teacher's services at all.

[bigbadberry3]

Not the teacher's most shining moment probably but the article also says she has had a spotless creer otherwise albeit we don't know for how long she has been teaching. I'm good with it. It's not like the students were running into classrooms and assaulting black students. She was teaching andand the exerciset was directly related to educational material it wasn't something completely off base. Racism is US histroy and there's plenty of things in history that will anger plenty of differet groups of people. Seriously, you can get a teacher who cares and is trying to educate people or you could get a teacher like this http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Media/houston ... d=10649665

[AZhitman]

There's not a kid in that school who has EVER been negatively impacted by a member of the KKK. 90% of them know d!ck about the Klan, or the Civil Rights movement for that matter.

This is about a bunch of bored, whining parents who just have to have something to b**** about. They're unhappy with where they've found themselves in life, and are looking for a convenient factor to blame. In this case, it's more of the same. The race-baiting will continue, because God forbid we get to appreciate the progress we've made.

Firing the teacher? Sorry, B - That's insane.

[srellim234]

... 90% of them know d!ck about the Klan, or the Civil Rights movement for that matter....

and you don't have a CLUE if the 10% who have dinner as a family, listen to stories by their grandparents and are good students were among those frightened and knowledgeable. The story says another teacher approached that one with kids' concerns prior to parents complaining to the school. You have every right to feel the way you do, AZ, but I believe you're wrong. Some reprimand for the poor judgement is due in this case. The robes and hoods should have been kept behind closed doors in whatever they were using for a filming studio.

[AZhitman]

Lame.

If I got beat up by a group of Black kids when I was little, and they all had an afro with one of those black fist picks in it, am I justified in whining if someone strolls by with one today?

God forbid those kids go out on Halloween.

I'm just saying, it's highly unlikely the kids even know what a Klansman LOOKS like, so how were they traumatized? I call BS.

I'm fine with the teacher being pulled aside, and asked, "WTF were you thinking?" But to call for her JOB? WTF ever.

INTENT is key here. No one was harmed, no one was legitimately "scared", and no one had anything to be fearful of. PERIOD. People offend me EVERY DAY and you don't see me calling for someone's job. That's horse****.

[srellim234]

It isn't highly unlikely that they ALL wouldn't know what a Klansman looks like. You're making a very ignorant statement when you claim that.

Likewise, your analogy of being beaten as a kid is bogus. There's a huge difference between your individual case and an organized group gathering and systematically terrorizing and killing based on race and for a number of years. It's part of the history books; if the kids weren't being taught that part of history this entire incident would have never occurred.

The better analogy is a group of Jewish kids in the cafeteria looking up to see a bunch of jackbooted kids in Nazi uniforms complete with swastikas come cruising through. Without prior explanation you bet a lot of them would know what those uniforms are and be scared.

[AZhitman]

I'll give you that.

But read the article again. No harm was done, no one had anything to be afraid of, and most importantly, the teacher recognizes the judgement issue.

"That's when I heard there were a couple of students who were upset," she said. Ariemma said she wasn't able to find those students to explain the project to them.

Hmmmm. Maybe because it was just ONE, and maybe because it was blown out of proportion (by a bunch of grown-ups).

Monday, student Cody Rider told Atlanta's WSB-TV that his cousin was among those who saw the group in white sheets and was frightened. "I got mad and stood up and I tried to go handle it," he told the TV station.

Mmmm-hmm. Really? Sounds like someone's just happy to be on camera. His COUSIN was frightened. Well, is he still hiding under the bed?

She said the students who wore the sheets were shaken when they realized that other students were upset.

What have we here? Compassion? Hmmm. Looks like an excellent learning / bridge-building opportunity to me... UNLESS some busybody grown-up f****s it all up.

All they're gonna learn from this is that we sweep things under the rug, and we go out of our way to mollycoddle kids who have a hunger to learn. Maybe the Black kids WANTED to see the presentation? We may never know, now, will we?

And yet we're looking to END a teacher's career? I hope none of you ever make a mistake at work. God forbid...

[TurboSauce]

people don't like the truth.
Facts.

[srellim234]

I called for a reprimand, not for termination. I do agree with you that in this case it's not a firing offense, especially since the teacher has no prior record leading up this incident that would indicate it was premeditated with intention to intimidate.

[AZhitman]

I could go along with that 100%.

Like I said, this warrants an appearance before the school administrators, a "WTF were you thinking?" meeting, and everyone goes on their merry way.

Granting any additional attention to a few parents' "complaints" only serves to encourage their mistaken perception that they are an aggrieved party. They need to STFU, quit trying to cause trouble, and stay out of it.