The video: Georgia school officials are investigating a curious third-grade assignment at Chesney Elementary in Duluth. According to a local TV station report (see clip below), the teacher's lesson featured a multiple choice question asking, "What does the U.S. do with illegal aliens?" The answers included: "A. The U.S. puts them to work in the army; B. The U.S. shoots them into outer space; C. The U.S. puts them to death; D. The U.S. sends them back where they came from." After Kelly Avalos, elder sister to one of the students, saw the quiz and found answer C "very disturbing," she alerted the local NBC affiliate. A spokesman for the local school board has since said the quiz was "not appropriate," and promised an investigation into who approved its use.
The reaction: It's bad enough when children have to "imbibe hate speech through TV," says Mónica Novoa at Color Lines, but it's "much more atrocious" when it comes "from a source they trust and possibly look up to," as part of their education, no less. Yes, "this is just plain wrong," says Victor Landa at News Taco. The teacher apparently got the quiz from a popular "education website." But before we reflexively cry anti-Hispanic racism, it's worth noting: "The teacher, according to the student's family, is Latina." Watch the news report below:
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