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'White power' chanted during
immigration discussion at school
Jeffrey Wolf
9
News
Friday Aug 31, 2007
BROOMFIELD – It started with a simple question and ended
with at least one student 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 at least one student
started a chant of "white power" and some said that
all Mexicans should go back to Mexico.
(Article continues below)
"Immigration is an explosive topic right now. It seeped
into the classroom," she said.
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.
The archdiocese says the four students who instigated the whole
thing have been talked to and supposedly are remorseful. The Spanish
teacher also met with administrators.
An e-mail sent to 9NEWS states the Hispanic students in the class
at the time asked to leave, but were forced to stay in the classroom.
Holy Family Principal Sr. Mary Rose Lieb, O.S.F. released a statement
on Thursday evening about the incident:
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
School leaders at Holy Family say their school is all about inclusiveness.
It is in the school's motto and in the spirit of their teachings.
"Holy Family is precisely what its name is: a family. And
they've always prided themselves on the diversity," said
DeMelo.
Holy Family has a large Hispanic population and the archdiocese
wants to make sure everyone is comfortable going to school.
"We are seeing the Hispanic population trust in the Catholic
school system and in the diversity that exists there," said
DeMelo.
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