A teacher in Texas assumed she could make a Hispanic student speak English because her classroom was situated in the United States of America. While English is not the only language spoken in America, it is the most widely used. Millions of people across the country rely on Spanish to help them with their everyday tasks.
A Socorro High School teacher in Texas is receiving backlash after scolding a Spanish-speaking student to use English while in her classroom. The teacher, who allegedly made racist remarks against a student, was working in the El Paso, Texas High school district as a substitute teacher when the video proving her viewpoints was recorded.
The teacher said to the student, “Speak English. We are in America.” The student is situated in a noisy classroom and seems to not mind if anyone hears her conversation with the Hispanic individual, even though many surrounding people are of Hispanic descent.
Carlos Cobian, a student at Socorro High School, was watching the soccer match between Argentina and Uruguay on his smartphone when he walked into his classroom. The teacher asked the student to hand over his phone since he was being disruptive by watching a video in class. The student replied with, “Por que,” which translates to “why” in English.
The teacher took offense to Cobian speaking Spanish in the classroom and said he had to use English while in class, even though Cobian used a common phrase that many people who speak English are familiar with. Cobian was surprised, to say the least–especially since the high school is located in a border town on the Mexican-American border in southern Texas.
“For her to come to teach at Socorro, being a sub, like ninety percent of the students here are Mexicans and Latinos.”
Cobian was confused as to why the teacher reprimanded him for using his phone during class when other students were doing the same thing. So long as students have a teacher’s permission and are only using their phones for educational purposes, the Socorro Independent School District allows pupils to utilize their phones however they want while on school grounds. However, few students follow that rule. Many people abuse the leniency of the school district by using their phones for entertainment instead of paying attention in class like Cobian had to watch an international soccer match.
The video of the incident quickly spread online after it was posted to social media. The El Paso area school district is now investigating the substitute teacher to see if she should be fired for her actions.
