This story, well reported by KVOA News, is disturbing on a number of levels. Let’s start with the facts.
During a class lesson, Spanish teacher Kristen Maurer at Vail’s Empire High School used a picture of Obama, distorted to mimic the crassest of racist stereotypes. The picture shows Obama with gigantic lips, exaggeratedly big ears and crossed eyes, the kind of portrayal found on the worst emails, websites and posters from Obama haters who want to add a racist flavor to their rants. (I won’t put the image in this post. You can see it in the news report.) It was part of a lesson where Maurer showed a series of pictures and asked students to describe in Spanish the emotions portrayed in the pictures. Among the other photos was one of Oprah Winfrey with a startled expression on her face and her head pulled into her neck in a way that created double chins. According to the student who complained about the use of the images, Maurer said Winfrey looked terrible and counted her neck rolls in Spanish. The other two photos shown in the article are of Jennifer Aniston with a big nose and Ronald McDonald.
One more detail. The class laughed loudly when the picture of Obama came on the screen.
The teacher was obviously going for shock value and laughs to spice up to her lesson and get her students involved. Racist stereotypes, as well as mockery of someone’s looks, can elicit laughs, in a picture or a well told racist, sexist or homophobic joke. Her use of the racist exaggeration of Obama’s face and her mockery of Winfrey’s looks, inappropriate anywhere, are wildly inappropriate coming from a teacher in a classroom setting. I have no idea if Maurer is especially racist or if she dislikes Obama, frequents websites and receives emails from the hate groups that spread these distorted pictures. If the images express her personal attitudes, then the racist stereotype she depicted is dipped in venom. If not, she’s clueless, unaware of her own latent racism and oblivious to the terrible message she’s sending when she legitimizes portrayals like this in her classroom. It’s OK to trot out racist portrayals in public, she’s telling her students, especially when they’re used in fun. As a teacher, she’s giving students license to accept these kinds of portrayals, even embrace them. When the students get to college, Maurer’s lesson will help them feel comfortable attending a come-in-blackface-and-wig frat party where fried chicken and watermelon are served because, “Hey, it’s all in fun, and besides, I really like hip hop music. When I was in high school, my Spanish teacher showed us this picture of Obama with big lips, it was hysterical!” She’s also telling them that ugly woman jokes and fat woman jokes are just fine.
There’s more to the story. Maurer has used the same images for the past few years, apparently without complaint. In past years, not a single student felt this was worth objecting to, or if any students told their parents, it went no further than that. In Vail’s mainly white, affluent enclave, the picture didn’t warrant a complaint to school officials. (I would hate to think the images were reported and nothing was done, though that’s always possible.) However, this year a black student was in the classroom. He told the reporter, “I was disgusted, embarrassed. I felt degraded as an African American male. Kind of felt humiliated.” He told his parents what happened and they complained to the teacher. It speaks volumes about the racist underpinnings of our society that other students would consider this kind of depiction acceptable as a part of their education. I’m not blaming the students, by the way. First, Ms. Maurer is popular with her students, according to the report. I’m guessing she’s a talented teacher. Even if they thought the photos were somewhat inappropriate, they wouldn’t want to get her in trouble. Second, they’re kids. They’re a product of their environment. I would have been proud of any white kid who objected formally, but this kind of thing isn’t unacceptable enough in our society to elicit a response. By way of contrast, if the teacher used a full frontal photo of a naked man, would it have gone unreported? That, I think, would offend some kids enough that the administration would have heard about it. But Obama with photoshopped big lips and ears? That didn’t rise to the level of a complaint.
The incident was reported to Superintendent Calvin Baker who did what he could to downplay it. In his interview on the news report, you can see how tense he is and sense his anger over the situation, but his words were cautious. He said it was a mistake, that Ms. Maurer won’t use those images again. He said, dodging personal responsibility by using “We” rather than “I”: “We also apologize for using that picture. We take responsibility for it.” Ms. Maurer sent an apology letter. And that’s the end of it, according to Baker. Using the passive voice favored by politicians when they screw up, he said, “Changes are being made, improvements are being made.”
Baker is a competent, savvy administrator, and he used the time-honored tradition of defending a teacher against a complaint as much as he can, then doing most of the corrective work behind the scenes. In many circumstances, sticking by a teacher is a good strategy. In this case, Baker was wrong ethically and educationally. He threw away an important teachable moment by ducking the controversy. His actions told every student and teacher at the school that you probably shouldn’t indulge in racist stereotypes or mockery, but it’s really not all that bad. If you do, try not to do it again, but don’t worry about it too much.
At the very least, Baker should have given Maurer a one week, unpaid suspension — at the very least. He should have issued a statement saying, “Ms. Maurer is a good teacher and we will welcome her back, but she made a serious mistake, and she must face consequences for it. We will not tolerate the use of racial stereotypes or racist language in our district, from teachers or from students. I want everyone to understand this: anyone who indulges in this kind of ugly behavior should expect serious consequences.” The fact that students saw these pictures for years and did nothing should have given Baker pause and led to some training for staff members and the inclusion of relevant educational material in class curricula.
As a thought experiment, let’s take this teacher and this lesson and move them to a high school in Ferguson, Missouri. Imagine what would have happened if Ms. Maurer showed the pictures in a predominantly black classroom in the racially sensitized community. Students might have reacted in immediate outrage. If not, they certainly would have told teachers, administrators and parents afterward. Parents and community members, angered by the blatantly racist lesson, would demand the teacher be fired immediately. At the very least, she would be placed on paid leave as the school district decided what to do. National news reports would carry the story, and many commentators would tie the teacher’s lesson to the institutional racism in the government, the police and the schools. Many of us would shake our heads and ask, “How could that teacher be so stupid? Wasn’t it obvious to her how inappropriate it was to use that image of Obama in class? Hasn’t she learned anything?” My question is, if the image is inappropriate in a school with a majority black population because of its blatant racist undertones, how is it any less racist, any less worthy of serious condemnation in a mainly white, suburban community in Southern Arizona?
This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2015.
Overreact much, David?
Racism is something that is determined according to YOUR specific race. I’m a mix of two and I get two different reactions from living. I understand the derogatory things being said about both. I strive to live in my own best manner and to not let either side bring me down. Kids have been offended since the beginning of time. Shit or get off the pot…
I well understand the dangers and distortions inherent in one-sided, sound bite reporting. So as someone who teaches at UA, I mentally tried to construct a scenario, a context, a narrative that could make it reasonable to use that image of Obama. The only one I could contrive is this: the image was an externally created artifact, conspicuous in the public domain, and it was used as part of a discussion of culture and sociology and political images, something along those lines. But that is not the scenario suggested by the public discussion of this incident. And in that case: it makes no sense. (Whether the teacher is a bigot, in her private thoughts, is irrelevant; whether there was malicious intent is equally irrelevant.) Ridicule, much less ridicule that taps into ethnic stereotypes, is a cheap hook for catching students’ attention.
…and I’m just thrilled that I found a public high school that could recognise who the POTUS is. They did recognise him didn’t they?
Safier, your an idiot pure and simple. Would you have ranted, god know how many mindless word, if the cartoon was of a bloated white person, Chinese, Purple, Green, or spotted? Granted, portraying a cartoon with extreme distortions may be poor judgement, but by gosh, to pile on race is a stretch. Who the h—l are you trying to impress. Your the one with poor judgement – get a life.
Ciro Verdi
Imagine being the only student of your race in a class full of any every other race…imagine your race was mocked physically by the person in authority. Imagine everyone in the class laughing except you…then imagine how you’d feel.
This teacher flat out failed. I wonder if she would have showed that photo to African-American adults. If she only was mocking the President, that’d be one thing…still inappropriate because politics and race should stay out of the classroom unless that is the subject of the class. But photo shopping big lips and the rest makes it racist and shows a clear bias.
Teachers do not just impart knowledge; they should also teach responsible citizenship. There is no context that excuses this. Additionally, the superintendent who claims he wants “10 more just like her” has demonstrated failed leadership at a much wider level.
This young lady should not be “your” teacher or “my” teacher or “our” teacher. ..she should be everyone’s teacher. If she is as good as everyone says, someone needs to have sone straight talk with her. I did and said things in my 30s that I should not have did and said. I learned…and I stopped. Perhaps she will learn…there is less hope for the superintendent who has proven himself to be a poor leader…if the term leader can even be applied.
You folks all screamed when you saw Bush posters with the Hitler mustache didn’t you?
What a two faced bunch of liars.
I have a lot of respect for teachers, but when they are apparently clueless to how their actions may affect some of the students, then they obviously are NOT good teachers. This teacher should be held accountable for her thoughtless depiction of the President. I guess there aren’t any pictures online of the President smiling or scowling or whatever, so she had to use that picture to get laughs, at the expense of one students feelings.
Too many whiney peeps on this one.
I’m sure glad I’m not a teacher today. Between touchy students, busybody parents, the test-crazy feds, the unsupportive legislature, and the gotcha press, nobody is on your side.
Yes, maybe she hasn’t kept up on the very latest racial sensitivity memes and made a bad call here. It’s an incredibly high standard to expect every teacher to be up to date with the continuously evolving standards of racial sensitivity which seem to have the goal that no one anywhere, any time, feels uncomfortable or offended.
Let’s withhold judgment and look at the body of her work which appears to be excellent.
If Maurer was doing a lesson on insidious racism then the props might be appropriate. If they were used as part of teaching Spanish then totally wrong. has anyone asked Maurer why she used these particular props?
Since when are big ears racist? And Obama’s got big ears.
Since when is being cross eyed racist?
And why are big fat lips that are all the rage racist?
Safier has so much white guilt I don’t know how he gets through the day.
Aldo C: The Bush image that you mention, if used in a similar way in a classroom, would raise similar issues. There is a difference between constitutionally protected speech and what is appropriate for a teacher in a classroom. Mistakes of this kind occur on both sides: neither the right nor the left has a monopoly.
This is a teacher who thinks that it is funny and appropriate to get cheap laughs by presenting racist images. The same images that are passed around by race baiting websites. What else do we need to know about her. Someone who would do this should not be teaching anyone.
I thought the Bush poster was hanging on the wall in the MAS classroom at Tucson High, a couple years ago. Or was it Che the terrorist?
Some posters at Tucson High were inappropriate and were removed. If similar posters are there now, then they are still inappropriate and should be removed again.
I can only imagine the outrage, demonstrations and speechifying if the offending image had been of someone of Mexican ancestry. Thank goodness it was only disrespectful of a black/African American person (sarcasm).
David & commenters criticizing this teacher — Sounds like, in trying to catch students’ attention and make them laugh, this teacher made a couple of big mistakes. She’s no doubt well aware of it by this point. But should she be hounded out of the profession? Please keep in mind that all of this ongoing public discussion and JUDGMENT of something she did in her classroom may end up having that effect, if it continues to snowball.
The incident discussed here is one example of things that happen when our teaching force has insufficient awareness of racial stereotyping and its effects. The constructive way to move forward is not to focus on this specific teacher and what the district’s disciplinary response to her should have been, but to ensure that as part of the the district’s follow-up on this incident, it formulates policy that makes what is acceptable clear and gets this across to its teachers through effective training that will prevent incidents like this from happening in the future.
Mark Stegeman:
Have you ever taught in a K-12 public school classroom? It’s a very different place from a classroom that is part of a public university business school, so when you “mentally [try] to construct a scenario, a context, a narrative that could make [using such images] reasonable,” I submit that your experience is not broad enough to make your reflections relevant. (I’m not saying that what happened in this classroom was was acceptable, just that I find it hard to understand why you should be weighing in here on the topic of this teacher’s choices, or why you would assume that your experience teaching at the U of A provides you with a valid frame of reference for commentary on this subject.)
To people who know the history of the TUSD governing board, there’s a sense in which your first comment in this stream seems to be trying to launder your own public image, to win over portions of the public who formed a bad impression of your racial / cultural sensitivity during the MAS debacle. Sorry, but in my opinion jumping on board with the pillorying of a teacher (and calling her classroom techniques “cheap”) is not a respectable means to accomplish that.
Racist = Anti-white.
Wow! I recall a hearing in another venue where a racist cartoon was placed in the workplace and everyone else thought it was just “good fun.” A member of the hearing panel, now a federal judge, said, “I know racism when I see it.” The analogy is appropriate here. This may be a wonderful teacher in many ways. But in this instance her actions were indicative of a view that racist, politically biased, humor was an appropriate way to teach a language lesson, and that is unforgivable. She could just as easily have used any black basketball player to be someone her students related to, but she chose a politically charged photo. The fact that her legions of students all thought this was fine because she was a cool teacher is irrelevant. She caused pain to a student who had a right to feel it, and was brave enough to confront it to the administration with the help of his parent. He is now being made to suffer the scorn of his classmates. Anyone remember Anita Hill? She was right also. That Calvin Baker would not at least issue a Letter of Reprimand, let alone a Suspension Without Pay for Unprofessional Conduct in the Classroom is appalling and changes my opinion of him for the worse. The acknowledgment that she has done this for years and since “nobody else complained” it went unpunished is equally appalling. Teaching is a human business and those who don’t see the harm probably thought slavery was okay because the slaves got food and housing. I am sickened by this action and lack of action.
Pillorying:
You are right that university teaching is different from K-12, but there are similar responsibilities and I think, in this case, that the main difference is that the boundaries should be even tighter with the younger audiences in K-12. (No, I have not taught K-12.) Also, I do not think that my comment amounts to “pillorying” the teacher but am sorry if it read that way. (I tried to emphasize that my comments were based on the limited information available in the public domain.) Whether my reputation needs laundering is a matter of opinion, but I believed and still believe that some of the MAS instructors used inappropriate methods in the classroom, and from the public evidence this was also inappropriate. Teachers at all levels and coming from all viewpoints should respect boundaries reflecting the diversity of their captive audiences, the importance of promoting genuine critical thinking and dialectic, and their responsibility (in my view) to be role models for a civil society. Of course there is much I do not know about this teacher’s class, but I stand by my original comment.
p.s. I agree with your (“Pillorying”) first comment about not hounding the teacher out of the classroom. That was not my aim nor probably neither the aim of many others who have made critical comments here and elsewhere. I think almost all of us who teach have had some classroom moments that we wish we could retract!
True or not, Maurer sure comes across as racist, antisemitic, and bigoted through her odd portrayal of African Americans, Jews, transgenders, and plus-sized women in her slide show. And superintendent Baker doesn’t help matters by saying that he wishes he had 10 more like her. Sounds like a sweeping-under-the-rug response instead of a serious look at the issue at hand.
(Note to Kristen: Jen isn’t Jewish. You put a big nose on the wrong person. Contrary to what you hear on Fox, not all people in Hollywood are Jewish. Try using Barbara Streisand in your next presentation. You’ll get bigger laughs.)
Perhaps Maurer is actually on to something, though. Maybe she represents the cutting edge of education by tapping into the inherent racism in all of us–a Jungian Sambo archetype that can’t be pushed aside and should, in fact, be embraced–in order to help students learn. It sure seems to be a successful method, based on the comments from Maurer’s former students. They fondly remember and love the racist pictures, and they love this gal! Don’t know how their Spanish is, but they’ve apparently retained the hate.
I think that Boykins is right. The only way to move on from this is to sit down with Maurer and ask her the following:
• Do you think this picture of Obama is racist?
• If yes, why do you use it in the classroom?
• If not, why are you so obtuse that you don’t realize that this picture is racist?
Maurer should be fully vetted in this manner before being released back into the classroom. Until that happens, I urge parents to pull their children from the class. Who knows what other deviant lesson plans ole Kristen has up her sleeve. I certainly wouldn’t chance it.
As for Nazareth, I applaud him for standing up for himself and his beliefs. The Man doesn’t take it kindly, as Nazareth now well knows, when blacks youths act so uppity as to try to get an education, and not simply take their rightful place in the chow line of the prison-industrial complex, so it’s a brave thing to do.
I also commend the KVOA team for reporting that is so simple and concise that even the citizenry of Tucson can understand it. It only takes a few obvious, well-placed questions to expose ignorance and racism. And KVOA hit it out of the park with its interview with superintendent Baker. And David’s article is spot-on too.
Nazareth, is obviously a person of character, and his potential is unlimited. My bet is that he can get into Harvard or any other school of his choice. Hell, Nazareth, send the KVOA video to Harvard with your application. Worked for Elle Woods.
And to be honest, it sounds like Nazareth has a good potential lawsuit against the Vail school district for this incident. Baker may be saying that this is a dead issue, but I doubt a good ACLU lawyer will.
Mark Stegeman:
I did not say that I thought your comment “amounts to ‘pillorying’ the teacher.” I said your comment was “jumping on board with” pillorying a teacher. The pillorying is what various representatives of the local media are doing. After this teacher wrote a letter of apology and her Superintendent admitted publicly that what she did was wrong, KVOA and Safier have created a space into which various members of the general public can pour all kinds of negative, shaming commentary, and that is what many of those commenting here are doing. It is the figurative modern equivalent of the literal practice of our ancestors, locking someone who had committed an offense into “the stocks” in the public square so they could be held up for shame and subjected to public abuse.
The fact that the images in question were used more than once before they were brought to the administration’s attention points out that there are systemic failures in this district’s policy, communication with teachers, and oversight of teachers. The emphasis now — both the district’s and the media’s — should be on correcting those systemic failures, not on further shaming this individual who admitted that she had made a mistake and apologized for it.
I did not write that your “reputation” needed laundering. I wrote that, “To people who know the history of the TUSD governing board, there’s a sense in which your first comment in this stream seems to be trying to launder your own PUBLIC IMAGE.” Public image is different from reputation. I don’t think there’s much doubt that your PUBLIC IMAGE did suffer some damage or that “portions of the public…formed a bad impression of your racial / cultural sensitivity” during the MAS controversy. That statement falls within the realm of fact, not opinion.
One concluding thought: I do think that you should make more of an effort to understand conditions for K-12 teachers. You are too apt (as in your flippant remark in the ADS comment stream about “bankers, priests and politicians,”) to jump on board with those who are finding reasons to criticize people who are doing very difficult and critically important work in a profession which is, in this state, outrageously underpaid. Public K-12 teachers spend approximately 30 hours a week standing in front of a group of students, delivering lessons, serving as disciplinarians, and trying to make what they are doing enjoyable for a group of young people who are compelled to attend school. All the while, the knowledge that their competence will be measured by the results of standardized tests is in the back of their minds, as well as the knowledge that various figures like you are in the background, ready to stand in judgment, believing that “the boundaries should be even tighter with the younger audiences in K-12” and that these teachers “have a responsibility …to be role models for a civil society.” It’s a very tough job and it deserves more compassion and more support than it generally gets. It behooves an elected member of a school’s governing board to take more care to understand the profession’s demands and be more respectful of those practicing it than you generally seem to do in the comment streams these days.
Point (last paragraph) taken.
Since Pillorying mentions Maurer’s letter of apology, I’m putting it below in its entirety as it is presented in the KVOA article. See if you think this apology indicates that she understands how inappropriate it was to use that image of Obama in the slide show, or any indication that she realizes the image is a racist stereotype:
“During a recent lesson I used a slide show composed of a variety of celebrity images and asked students to identify the emotion depicted in the image. I was made aware that the parent of one of my students was offended by some of the images used. I immediately contacted the parent to apologize and shared that I would be changing the slide show for future use. I also shared that I had no intention of offending anyone, but understood her concerns.
“During my ten years as a teacher at Empire High School, my number one focus has been on building positive relationships with my students. I love working with young adults and having a positive influence on their lives. I am deeply sorry for offending anyone with the images that I selected and want all of my students and parents to know that i have their best interest at heart.”
To me, it’s a typical “I’m sorry if I offended anyone” letter and not an acknowledgement that the image itself was offensive. Saying she “understood [the mother’s] concern” simply says that Maurer sees why that student might have felt uncomfortable. The implication is, if that one sensitive child wasn’t in the classroom, the lesson would have been fine. For me, that’s not an adequate acknowledgement of her error, so it’s not an adequate apology or,more important, an adequate assurance that she understands why she shouldn’t do similar things in the future.
Wow! has this ever stimulated a lot of discussion and even some “cussin”.
Here’s my take: David, you are correct that Maurer’s statement is not an apology for the wrongful use of the images, but rather is an apology for offending. It’s quite possible that her apology to the parents of the offended student was different. I don’t think she owes the public an apology but I would like to see an admission of error and statement of lesson learned.
That’s right, David. Back in the stocks with her! Because, though she did apologize, writing, “I immediately contacted the parent to apologize and shared that I would be changing the slide show for future use. I also shared that I had no intention of offending anyone, but understood her concerns. […] I am deeply sorry for offending anyone with the images that I selected and want all of my students and parents to know that i have their best interest at heart,” it’s not good enough! She has not used the right language, and she has not assured you, someone with no known relationship to the district where she teaches — as an employee, parent or a constituent — that she “understands why she shouldn’t do similar things in the future!”
Wrong. For the record, I don’t see how you can wring out of what she wrote the interpretation that she thinks “if one sensitive child wasn’t in the classroom, the lesson would have been fine.” It’s pretty clear to me that she knows there was a problem with what she did. It’s quite possible that she doesn’t understand the details of what was wrong with that image — yet. It would be hard for her supervisors (principal, superintendent) to engage in a systematic, detailed, comprehensive program of education with this individual teacher as part of their damage control in response to this incident. There was an immediate written apology (“I am DEEPLY sorry”), a statement that she understood the parent’s concerns, and a statement of intent to change the presentation. That was the required “emergency” response.
Now, it falls to the board and administration of that district to ensure, going forward, that there are no negative after-effects of this for the brave family that rightly brought this to the district’s attention, and it also falls to the board and administration to ensure that every teacher in the district is given the opportunity, through well constructed and deliberate education, to become properly and comprehensively aware of these issues. It falls to the media to do the tedious work of follow-up to see whether that takes place. This may involve tedious things like attending and speaking at board meetings and phoning district offices to make inquiries of administration. Not as fun or sensational as re-posting a KVOA piece and using it as provocation to pounce on a teacher’s mis-deeds and throw her into the figurative stocks, bringing down all kinds of shaming commentary (“unforgivable” “clueless” “cheap” “racist”) on her head. We used to put kids who made mistakes on a chair in the corner with a “dunce” cap on their heads, too. At some point we realized that’s not a valid method of education.
The real question here is: will the local media do the kind of follow up needed to see whether the Vail district is putting programs in place to educate teachers? Will SAFIER do it? It will be interesting to see.
I agree that the inadequate apology is the crux of the matter. Maurer and Baker are acting as if somehow a wardrobe-malfunction photo unknowingly ended up in the slide show and offended some old lady from Peoria who just happened to be walking by in the hallway and caught a shot of Tony Orlando’s armpit hair.
So it is no wonder that they are continuing to get pilloried until they fess up to the picture being an incredibly racist depiction of blacks that has no place in the classroom. They are adults, and Nazareth is a child. If Maurer has to take some heat for stonewalling about the truth, big deal. She’ll eventually move on. But you only get scarred for life once in your life. And Nazareth had to sit in class looking at a hateful, cartoonish, racist picture of an African American while his non-black teacher and classmates laughed. And then he had to suffer the additional injustice of having people pillorying him for getting upset, for not going along with the festivities. Maybe if he breaks into a little softshoe, he can turn the Vail crowd around. Who knows.
Every day that Maurer and Baker stand by their non-apology is another day that they are throwing Nazareth under the bus and keeping open the floodgates of ridicule directed at him. They should be ashamed.
But Baker said the case is closed. So this is no longer about Maurer or Baker. It is about the Vail Board of Education. I hope David follows up with them to see where they stand on the issue. A quick look at the board’s web page, however, shows very little diversity (none really). Not so good. But, hey, a couple of them have something called “Masters in Boardsmenship.” Wow! Now that’s what I’m talking about! BizBangBoom! Surely, they can wrap this issue up in no time. Damn!
milquist:
Why is the quality of the apology the “crux” of the matter? How would an adequate INDIVIDUAL apology solve the systemic problems in the district, problems which enabled images like this to be presented to students repeatedly? There are other people involved with creating the institutional conditions that make that sort of thing possible: the board (setting policy), the district’s professional development requirements and / or programs (ensuring teachers have been made aware of these issues), and the administration (overseeing teachers, observing their lessons, taking confidential student surveys), etc.
This teacher and all teachers need training. They need to learn to look at images and texts they are thinking of using in the classroom and to get into the habit of thinking about them in a different way from how they would think of them as individuals, a way that takes into account the variety of perspectives from which their students are viewing things. This kind of training only takes effect properly when it is undertaken systematically and deliberately by the whole community — not on the fly, with an individual, in an administrator’s office, in response to a parent complaint.
At this point, the issue IS about the Vail Board of Education. David and others in the media who take an interest in this issue should follow up with them — but not to ensure the teacher and superintendent are further punished or that they are forced to revise their apologies. Rather, to ensure that the right kinds of programs are put in place, going forward.
Pilliorying…
I would think that a valid apology could serve as a cornerstone on which to build true reform.
If the issue isn’t clearly defined but only spoken about in self-serving measures, how can reform occur? What issue would the Board address? According to Maurer and Baker, the issue is thin-skinned people. OK. How does the Board address that? Do they call in LA Fitness at the beginning of the year, armed with calipers, to identify at-risk students, and then steer those students into German or French classes, away from the slideshow (for some reason I keep wanting to say sideshow).
Maybe Maurer just doesn’t get it. That’s OK. But it would be nice if someone would step forward (Baker’s not going to do it) and articulate what really occurred here. To say to Nazareth, his parents, the students, and the community that the picture of Obama was in no uncertain terms racist and that there is no excuse for having presented it to the class. That Nazareth shouldn’t have been degraded in front of his peers in that way. And that, over the years, with this slide-show nonsense, they have helped to lower the bar for what constitutes an education in Tucson and contributed to racism in the community. Otherwise, the Board may very well construct reform that is a house of cards.
milquist:
Read the comments on the KVOA piece. It will take you a while. After reading most of them (which I had not done before writing my earlier posts) my opinion is even more strongly that systematic, community-wide education would be helpful. It’s not my understanding that Baker and Maurer are taking the position that the complaint was thin-skinned, but there seem to be many, many students, former students and Vail community members taking the position that the complaint was “thin-skinned.” It’s troubling. It seems to me that — in addition to the “pillorying” approach being wrong in principle — it should not be pursued because pushing the teacher further for a revised apology will only make students who believe she is being persecuted “dig in” more firmly in defense of her. If the community is to learn anything from this, the first step will be to take the focus off this individual teacher, give people a little time to settle down and recover from their immediate defensive reactions, and then to develop some programs that take a systematic look at issues of stereotyping and racism more broadly.
Maybe TW can impose a 200 word limit on posts. These are getting a little long in the tooth for this German fighter pilot.
Pillorying, we clearly have areas of disagreement, but we also have areas in common. The most important common ground is that the community needs to learn something from this, including both students and adults. To me, it’s only marginally important what Baker and Maurer take away from the experience.
I think, however, that a weak response from Baker and a weak apology from Maurer actually “educate” the community to think that this kind of thing may be wrong but it’s not really all that important. I’m not terribly interested in punishing Maurer, with a suspension or something similar, for the sake of punishing her. I’m guessing she got the message loud and clear already. But I think indicating to the community how wrong the Vail district believes it is to use racial stereotypes as a source of laughter in a classroom is important, and that’s what a strong statement followed by strong action from Baker — and/or from the Board — would accomplish.
I agree with you that there’s a danger here of polarizing the Vail community. But there was the same danger in electing Obama president. There was the same danger in passing civil rights legislation. Both created a more polarized society. But if you worry too much about who you’re going to anger or what muck you’re going to stir up from the bottom of the pot, you’re going to perpetuate problems and injustices which should not be perpetuated.
David:
Your approach is very “top down” and authoritarian. I don’t agree that the goal of educating the community would be accomplished by forcing a stronger apology from Maurer and a disciplinary action from Baker. After reading the KVOA comments it seems pretty clear to me that the collateral damage if the media keeps pushing this could be that Nazareth’s senior year will become a nightmare of peer resentment and various forms of backlash. The administration will have a hard time protecting him from that, if that’s what certain parties in the student body decide they want to pursue, and the resentment engendered by continuing to publicly discipline a popular teacher will make accomplishing any permanent change for the better difficult if not impossible. So from my point of view, stirring up the “muck” is both unfair to the student who made the complaint and counter-productive to the justice goals you say you support.
Meaningful change has to get buy-in from the grass roots and the base. Backing off on the righteous anger, letting everyone cool down, and then pursuing a reasonable program of community discussions / education is the approach that carries the best chance of actually changing the climate in a way that can ensure these kinds of things don’t happen in the future in that school district. Helping Ms. Maurer get solidly behind the justice goals and become a leader in that effort, instead of continuing to make a negative example of her, would help ensure success.
I have nothing further to say here except that I hope to see you following up with the Vail Board to advocate for the installation of teacher / student education programs. I will be reading your continuing coverage of this issue with interest.
Jishian, a very well argued, well written comment. Also very sensible. I don’t agree with you, but it’s more a matter of emphasis — how important this issue is weighed against the negative outcomes of pursuing it further — than of basic disagreement. I hope you’re following the Black Lives Matter issues closely. I also strongly recommend you read the recently published book, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, which puts a perspective on the issues of race and racism in the U.S. which is the most insightful and profound I’ve read in years, maybe decades.
Oh nothing like true journalism in the making!
So, would this be an issue is my daughter was offended by Jennifer Anastons big nose….of course not. My daughter goes to this school and told me of another situation where a boy came into class wearing a hat with a rebel flag on it. Of course he was told not to wear it because of some isolated situation (on TV!!) blown out of proportion for the sake of propaganda implemented by our own government to divide and conquer plain and simple but most people are too stupid to see it.
So sad that this PC crap has taken over and worked its way into our lives. I used to think PC crap was just a social media thing. Now I see the phycological warfare propaganda is for real and people are feeding it. Stop being a follower, think for yourself, grow some balls and grow up because it is going to destroy us.
I can find thousands of things worthy of offense other then an exaggerated facial feature!!! Really!! Shame on the parents of the “offended” child, shame on Baker and shame on the author of this fodder for throwing the race card into this unfortunate unessesary blown out of proportion circumstance. These people and anyone supporting this ridiculous BS local “supermarket tabloid news” should also be ashamed of yourself. All this at the expense of a teacher trying to do her job. This has nothing to do with being “racist” and you all know it!!!! YOU! are the problem with our so called “racist” society and the downfall of our country!
As a recently retired high school Spanish teacher in a another state, I have read the above comments with degrees of interest and jaw-dropping shock at the lack of sensitivity to the issue. I am sharing a bit of my own experience not to showcase but rather in contrast with Ms. Mourer’s teaching prowess touted by several other readers.
I was not the perfect teacher; however I was admired by some and respected by many (or so I continue to be told). I, too, spent countless hours outside class searching online for appropriate material to supplement the lessons and pique students’ interest in Spanish culture and language. Many times I injected humor into a lesson.
More importantly and without exception, at the start of each new school year, I explained and posted the standards of behavior people in “my” classes would be expected to follow. It all boiled down to two rules:
First, you will respect and treat other people as you wish to be treated, including their property, their personal boundaries, and their feelings, because everyone in here has the right to learn without interference. Second, there will be no ridicule of any sort and no put-downs, in particular for those things about us that we cannot change (where we were born, the families we were given, our homes, our parents’ finances, our heritage, our physical appearance). I then said that a person who belittles others is actually telling us that s/he feels superior to them. All of us are equal and will be treated with respect. They needed clear explanations and examples of ridicule versus respect. In each class we had a discussion about appropriateness of comments.
Now for teenagers who thrive on the power of using well-timed, sharp, and shocking words, it was initially a challenge to force themselves to stop and think before making personal comments in my classroom. Soon each class took shape as a cohesive group who seemed to respect one another and themselves.
School personnel must always model and teach personal respect to children, if only to counteract those adults who encourage and teach the use of ridicule as acceptable, even as entertaining.
I have no comment on Ms. Maurer or the super except to ask is there a powerful teachers’ union which might be reason for the Board to decline taking further action?
P.S. To Christine E: re: the “rebel” flag I invite you to the southeast area of the US to witness the frequent small cavalcades sporting the rebel flag (technically the confederates’ battle flag), with the word “Winners” printed across it. You are dead wrong that it is to be overlooked as mere government propaganda
Mary B., welcome to the state of Arizona and the greater Tucson metropolitan area. Congratulations to you on your PC / progressive classroom practices. I’m guessing you grew up in a family or attended a teacher education program that prepared you to address these issues more adequately than many of our teachers in this state have been prepared to address them by the homes they grew up in or the certification programs they attended prior to beginning their service in the classroom. In this state, the role the PUBLIC DISTRICTS play in educating their teaching forces on these topics is more critically important than it is in many other states. In Arizona, if the DISTRICTS fail to deliver effective training, what students end up receiving in the classroom is pretty mixed in terms of its ability to successfully address issues relating to diversity and stereotyping. This is one reason among many why what’s appropriate in response to the incident discussed here is not more PUNISHMENT, but the development of appropriate district-wide education programs.
Now let’s address your question about why the teacher has not been disciplined more strongly: Do we perhaps have a teacher’s union striking terror into the hearts of the Vail board? Nope. We have a weak teachers union with membership at an all time low whose most conspicuous function in the community seems to be to celebrate the achievements of an unpopular, embattled board majority and Superintendent in the troubled urban school district (Tucson Unified, TUSD) that is the largest district in town. The union has little credibility among the majority of the teaching force (who do not belong to it) and it seems able to accomplish next to nothing in the way of advocacy for the teaching profession, which, in the state of Arizona, is one of the lowest paid and least entitled in the nation. That last fact mentioned is probably the most relevant here in explaining the Vail district’s action or lack thereof: if they provoked the teacher in question to resign, where would the district get a fully qualified replacement? Arizona has one of the worst teacher shortages in the nation.
Here’s another relevant piece of local information that may be of interest to a progressive like you: the author of this article, “Racist Image Used in Vail District High School !, etc.” is one of the chief local supporters of the TUSD Board and Superintendent. These folks, among other noteworthy achievements, have repeatedly found ways to get themselves in trouble with the Special Master appointed by the judge in an unresolved, decades-old desegregation order the district is under. Why would someone who supports and excuses those who seem to have a hard time cooperating with the implementation of a desegregation order, someone who conspicuously avoids covering issues in TUSD relating to racial justice (e.g. the disproportionate number of minority classrooms covered by rotating subs rather than permanent certified teachers) take on the role of an anti-racist crusader when it comes to issues that arise in Vail, another local school district? Interesting question. I don’t know the answer, but to those of us who’ve been following various local issues related to the treatment of minorities, the phrase “diversionary tactic” does come to mind. Another possibility is that this writer’s compelling desire to serve as an advocate for racial justice, a desire which his ties with the Pima County Democrats force him to relentlessly suppress when it comes time to report on the TUSD board majority and Superintendent, has been so painfully dammed up in recent months that it came bursting out in an inappropriately punitive way when he came across this story about a hapless teacher in another district who had made a racial sensitivity mistake.
Whatever the case, if you’d like to become more broadly informed about issues in Southern Arizona relating to social justice and the treatment of minorities (including TUSD and desegregation), I suggest you visit the Three Sonorans website. In recent years it has seemed to provide more comprehensive coverage on local school districts and how they are dealing with diversity issues than Tucson Weekly has done.
>Welcome: Thank you for your response. I appreciate the insights into Tucson’s public schools system and will commit to checking the Three Sonorans site. Now I am beginning to understand how complex the problems of Tucson schools are. I don’t quite understand the dislike votes my earlier comment received, unless it’s because some feel I am not entitled to comment as I live in another state. I am interested in Tucson schools because I have family members living in Tucson. When my son pulled my grandchild from the Tucson public school system to homeschool her, I was disappointed that they did not adopt a more proactive position and work for change.
After living in the midwest most of my life and completing teacher training at a top ten university, I moved to an impoverished coal mining town in southwest (state unnamed) where a teacher with a postgraduate degree and 12 years’ experience earns $35,000, even though eastcoast teachers with the same qualifications earn nearly $60,000 . It is not the pay that makes teachers here dedicated. Neither do we have a supportive teachers union, nothing like the Federation of Teachers stature “up north”. The retention rate of first-year teachers is dismal like that of Tucson, too.
In truth, my classroom was not the norm. I set it up with the no-ridicule rule because initially I myself was the target of student and parent distrust of northerners, or a damn Yankee as I was called. I am not overstating when I say many people here believe the South won the Civil War. Some of those people in the community regarded me with suspicion and even staff members (jokingly?) referred to me as the Yankee. Thus, I adopted the classroom policy of respecting one another and not making remarks against others because of where they were born, among the many other acquired human biases on a list, using my real experiences as an example.
I was not taught in college or teacher training how to counter stereotypecasting or prejudices or racism in a classroom. I was simply reacting to my own indignation at the unwarranted, judgmental remarks thrown at me. Even though that ridicule may seem slight, it set me apart as an easy target and I found that at least within the walls of my classroom I could try to change attitudes. Former students have contacted me to thank me for the impact I had on their lives so I know the message got through to some. Reaching out to racist or prejudiced people on a personal level was for me the most effective way to show how damaging ridicule can be. Perhaps wearing another man’s shoes and feeling his pain is the only cure for racism. If teachers could adopt that humanistic attitude, we might see a changed country before some feel they have no recourse but a second tragic civil war. And there is the tie-in to my last comment about rebel battle flags suddenly making more appearances here. It is a very real thing.
Mary B. You are welcome. It sounds like you did a lot of good in the lives of your students.
If your son withdrew a child from TUSD, he was in good company. Here is an article with graphs on the district’s attrition rates for the last 10 years:
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2015/08/05/tusd-enrollment-2000-to-2015
My own experience with the district — and that of many other “supporters of public education” I know — is that it is not worth wasting time on advocacy. Through the years, many have tried and many have failed. The problems persist.
http://tucson.com/news/opinion/guest-column-tusd-has-yet-to-remedy-its-disgraceful-history/article_0f298d80-f231-566a-ba1d-2171060b9a34.html
http://tucson.com/news/local/education/desegregation-overseer-faults-latest-tusd-plan/article_3e31696c-55a7-56c7-b72d-6cbed09bfbc0.html
http://tucson.com/news/local/education/tusd-plan-to-expand-sabino-fruchthendler-rejected/article_aa0cbbc7-b60d-55df-88e8-a3721f47a0c6.html
http://tucson.com/news/local/of-tusd-playgrounds-are-unsafe-audit-finds/article_0ec0e889-2187-5224-b25c-2348c914df1a.html
http://tucson.com/news/local/education/tusd-moves-to-outsource-its-substitute-teachers/article_a6cf8196-558b-5d26-a5bc-0e45a54345cc.html
Here are links to some of the articles where the author of this piece on Vail’s use of racist images is attempting to do “damage control” for TUSD and its current board majority and Superintendent. The commentary following the articles is generally more informative and interesting than the articles themselves, and the commentary will give you a sense of the push back this author gets when he attempts to defend the current leadership:
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2014/10/16/notes-from-the-tusd-board-meeting
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2014/11/10/is-tusd-a-failed-school-district
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2015/03/30/sen-steve-farley-this-is-not-your-fathers-tusd
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2015/06/16/i-got-it-wrong-when-i-defended-sanchezs-contract-salary-package
As for why your earlier comment was “disliked,” it seems that most of those who’ve been reading the commentary on this piece to the bitter end don’t agree that Safier should be focusing on punishing this teacher in the Vail district. Part of that feeling no doubt comes from what many of us know about how many times he’s “pulled punches” when it comes to the desegregation issues in TUSD. If he can’t hold the TUSD board president whose candidacy he endorsed accountable for implementing desegregation goals, why is he sticking his nose into the business of a neighboring district’s problems with the treatment of minorities — especially when what he ends up advocating involves the further punishment of a classroom teacher who has already apologized for her mistake? It’s disgusting, frankly.
I moved to Vail in 2009. As my kids progress through the school system (elem-hs), their views of & responses to bias, prejudice, slurs, and racism have evolved quite maturely. I was warned that we might experience it. I prepared my children (& I fretted), but they’re better off for having experienced it. It absolutely demonstrates three important things: Racially insensitive views are passed on from adults to adolescents, the commentary will occur from time to time, and the ignorance of a select few has no bearing on the aptitude/achievement of another. After all, perceptions are allowed to vary.
David Safier believes in “WHITE PRIVILEGE”.
This is a movement that teaches white people to be ashamed of themselves and to excuse racist and irresponsible behavior out of fear of being labeled racist.
IN THAT CASE, ANYONE WHO IS A MUSLIM, CHRISTIAN, OR ANYTHING AT ALL CAN OFFEND SOMEONE, SO WHAT DO PEOPLE DO IF THEY CANNOT HAVE AN OPINION, IT’S SO RIDICULOUS TO CALL THIS RACIST, MEXICANS GET CALLED BEANERS, THEY SHOW HORRIBLY DISTORTED PICTURES OF INDIANS WITH BIG NOSES, JESUS GETS MADE FUN OF IN MOVIES ALL THE TIME, REAGAN MASKS ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE, OBAMA DOES HAVE BIG LIPS AND HE HAS BIG EARS, SO WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE TO TAKE IT TO AN EXTREME? JUST GO WITH THE FLOW, WE CAN’T ALL WEAR WHITE CLOTHES AND SPEAK ONE LANGUAGE, WE HAVE DIVERSITY, AND PEOPLE JUST LIKE TO HAVE FUN, THERE WAS NO WRONG DOING ON THE TEACHERS PART, GET OVER IT, CLIMB INTO A CAVE IF IT HELPS.