Teacher who told student to 'speak American' returns to work

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Teacher who told student to 'speak American' returns to work
Updated 3:27 pm, Tuesday, October 24, 2017



CLIFFSIDE PARK, N.J. (AP) — A teacher who sparked protests at a New Jersey high school when she told a Spanish-speaking student he should instead "speak American" has made a school-wide apology and has returned to the classroom.

Cliffside Park School District officials say English teacher Laura Amico returned to work Tuesday after delivering an apology to staff and students over the school's public address system.

Dozens of students at the high school in the heavily Hispanic district walked out of school earlier this month after a video clip surfaced in which Amico admonished a student for not speaking English.

The teacher said on the video: "Men and women are fighting. They are not fighting for your right to speak Spanish. They are fighting for your right to speak American."

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/education/article/Teacher-who-told-student-to-speak-American-12302912.php

---

(Short article, no more at link.)



Laura Amico

https://everipedia.org/wiki/laura-amico/

[DonCoquixote]

1. her name is Amico eh?

It is sad to see so many Italians, Irish and even Spanish fall for the "be american" crap the Bannon types push, when they forget how their grandparents were not in any way considered 'white" by the power structure, and that the kKK gladly killed Catholics.

Guess what, if the Richard Spencer types get their way, a lot of people who thought they were "white" are going to get a rude awakening when they are killed and discard on the same pile of people they thought they were better than.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. THIS

They fought to shake off the brand of "other" by imposing the same type of systemic prejudice on people who could never assimilate based on the idiotic criteria of color or ethnicity.

[Drahthaardogs]

16. But here on DU it's cool.

You can call Italians "goombas" then make a post and tell everyone why it's not a racial slur cause italians are white and MIRT let's it stand AND about 200 DUers rec it.

[DonCoquixote]

17. just to be clear

I was not trying to insult Italians, just point out that some people are buying the white supremacist thin hook line and sinker, without realizing that their " friends " will never consider them white.

[Drahthaardogs]

18. I know, I got your point

But what I said was true.

[Cold War Spook]

12. A change in the census.

I have read that in the 2020 census, I will no longer be White, but it is not an idea the government came up with, but people from the Middle East. About 200 years ago, my ancestors moved from the Middle East to Turkey. Then Kiev, then England and finally to the US.

[Drahthaardogs]

15. Don't you dare!

Here on DU EVERY person whose name ends in a vowel is hit with a mafia slur. When I protest, I am told we are considered white now.

In addition, a well known posters here said Trump was hiring "goombas" in relation to Scaramucci, and MIRT let it stand because we're white this time.

When Columbus Day is villified and I point out it is considered Italian American Day here, and was accepted as a National Holiday to win their vote, and it's not about Columbus I am told to stand down. We are white and it needs to be Indigenous People Day.

Now we're NOT white when the argument flips? Hell No.

[KG]

2. need this country to drop the group-think the the military is fighting for 'our rights'

'our rights' are conferred upon us by the constitution, not the military.

[Xipe Totec]

10. Our right to conduct commerce in other countries

Well, the right of our corporate overlords to conduct commerce on other countries.

[Coventina]

4. I assume she means one of the Native American languages?

But which one?

[Loyd]

5. One of her Students?

And I agree with DonQuixote's point: Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Jewish-Americans, Polish-Americans, and even German-Americans need to bone up on history.

[left-of-center2012]

6. I'm just an old fart, but ...

Growing up near Pittsburgh in the 1950s and 60s I never found it strange when I got on a bus and heard other passengers speaking Polish, Slovakian, etc.

Why are some folks so much more sensitive today when people are not speaking "American"?

And by "American", do they mean Navajo, Comanche, etc?

[raccoon]

7. Speak American? And she's an English teacher? That's rich! Nt

[Honeycombe8]

8. Yeah...to say it the way she did was derogatory. She could have asked him to speak English....

It's possible that part of the school purpose is for the students to get used to speaking English, as part of their education and preparation for growing up, taking more difficult classes in the future, going to college.

But that's not the way you say it. It was clear she was shaming the student and bullying him with Trump crap.

[Xipe Totec]

9. Nice rapprochement. Glad her rendezvous went well

[BigmanPigman]

11. Ms. Amico isn't representing the meaning of her name in Spanish

to any of her students in any language. If she were from another country I possibly would give her a pass on this one. When I lived in Europe some people asked if I spoke "American" as opposed to English since there are subtle differences.

[summer_in_TX]

13. Telling a student to 'speak American' is plain old ignorant.

Not to mention tacky and rude.

The US has never adopted one official language. English is de facto but not de jure the language of the land. Makes it extra stupid, I'd say.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

14. "Fighting for...your right to speak American" ??

That's one of the most ignorant statements I've heard in a while.

Anyone with that level of ignorance of civics, government and American History has no business teaching anything in high school.

[xor]

19. I thought people only said "Speak American!" in an ironic way.

Although, I suppose there is some unintended irony in her statements.