My son sent home

I'm assuming this is a public school. If so, and if possible, put him in a private school, i.e., a Christian school. Discipline in such matters would probably be handled differently there because there is a different mentality than in public schools. Just my 2 cents.

 

SB

I think you are making a mistake to defend your son in this. And I know you are wrong about the word Hispanic.

First the word Mexican in itself is not a slur. But when you put it into the context your son did adding stupid he is useing the word "mexican" as and insult. In other words his only purpose in bring up the word mexican is to use it as an insult. That makes it a racial slur. It shows that he thinks to be mexican is something that should inslut another person.

Second. Hispanic is not the politicly correct form of mexican. As I said above mexican is not a slur and does not need a policical correct form. Hispanic is a term for all Latin speaking countries. This includes Mexico, Spain, Columbia, Chili, Peru, Urigua, Brizal, etc. So maybe this girl was Columbian.

It does not matter useing a persons race as an insult is wrong and a slur and if not corrected will cause you son problems in the real world. For example when he has a job it would get him fired. You job is to prepair your son for the real world, you need to make sure he understands this behavior is unacceptable.

Now this is the kind of trouble kids get into all the time, no big deal if you deal with it and correct it. But do not defend it. I suggest you take you son to the girls house and sit down with her family so he can appologise, make sure he is not hearing this in your house.

 

In a private school he may have been kicked out for good. "Stupid mexican" is a racial slur and a mexican family that paid alot of money to send their daughter to school will deffenantly not put up with it. Would you?

 

BTW, If your son had used the term "stupid Hispanic" it would have been the same racial slur and sould have been handled exactly the same. The issue it useing somebodys race as a slur and not the exact term he used.

 

I disagree, he called her stupid to say how she was acting and called her mexican thinking that is what she was. Your view would hold water if the gorl was black or white but because she was hispanic he was not calling her out of her race (by his view). I agree with SB, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and talks like a duck I should be able to call it a duck without fear of reprocation.

 

So you walk around calling everybody by their race. "Hello mexican, how are you today" It is obvious what the boy was doing. He was useing the girls race as an insult.

A racial slur is not calling somebody by a race they are not. A racial slur is not calling a mexican person black. IT IS making a disparaging remark about a persons race. He used her race as an insult.

He called her stupid that is a slur. He used her race as with the disparaging remark that is a racial slur

Now if you worked for me and called your co-worker a stupid mexican I would fire you, at the least I would discipline you. I think most employers would at the very least discipline you. It is important for this kid to know now that statements like the one he made will not be accepted when he has a job.

 

Ok I see what you are saying. If somebody would have said "whos sally" and the kid would have said "She is the mexican girl in the blue dress" that would have been fine. No racial slur because like I said the problem is not with the word mexican, it is how he used it.

But that is different then "stupid mexican"

See the difference. In the first example he uses her race to describe who she is. In the second he uses her race to disparage her.

 

Yes, I see. You can call her a mexican if you have a nice word in front but if your impression is negative then he should leave her race out??? Like I said, I understand your view I just don't agree. I would see it differently if he said all mexican's were stupid but in this case he was clearly referring to one person as being stupid who so happened to be mexican.

Not really but I am the kind of person who would call a guy old timer or call an old lady "young lady". I try not to notice race as a general rule but around here we have a lot of Mexican's that don't speak any english (or won't). Those I refer to as mexican because I feel if they were American they would speak the language. I feel a mexican is one from Mexico.

EDIT... I don't think what the boy did was right but I don't think the punishment fit the crime. Speaking to him would have gone a long way.

 

I am not white. I am brown. I look Hispanic, but I am not Hispanic. Sometimes I even get mistaken for American Indian.
Having said that, I think the whites in this country are having a raw deal with all these political correctness. They are walking lightly as on broken glass in a house which is supposed to be just as theirs as the hispanics/latinos, or the African-Americans, and are forever reminded of how they "enslaved" the African-Americans and gave them a raw deal and all that stuff.
They are made to endeavor not to "see color", to always be conscious of what the next word that comes out of their mouths will be especially if the person they are speaking to is a person of "color", or of ethnicity. The slightest mistake on their site brings suit crashing down on them.
I side with Southern Belle on this issue.
Stupid school system. Can't call a spade a spade, and a broken spade a broken spade, when that's exactly what it is ?
What do we call it....beautiful earth scoop ?

 

That is indeed a slur. Your son was rightly sent home. It also sounds like you need to educate yourself. As pointed out, Hispanic is not a PC term for Mexican, a perfectly fine word. When coupled with derogotory adjectives, it becomes not just a personal insult, but a slur on an entire group of people. Your assertion that only fat, white, conservative, southern christians cannot use such language is plain wrong. I bet if someone said, "You fat cracker redneck", they would have also been subject to discipline.

This is not called walking on eggshells, it is called respect for others.

 

I disagree. Perhaps you have not had too many dealings with private Christian schools. The behavior that led up to the provocation might have been dealt with (had it been brought to the attention of teachers, etc.) and therefore, the so-called racial slur incident (& I do mean so-called) would not have been provoked to happen. So you are wrong.

What if she would have called him a "stupid gringo" would the punishment have been just as harsh? I do wonder, but I doubt it.

Yes, we are so politically correct in America that it will some day be our undoing.:BangHead:

 

It should be. Are you trying to suggest that because the world is has a hard time discerning right and wrong that Christians should go ahead and sin anway? If anything, the standard at the Christians school should be much higher, not lower, than the public school.

 

Isn't "Latino" the PC term for those who hail from Latin countries and "Hispanic" for those that hail from Spanish nations?

 

Being polite will be America's undoing? I seriously doubt that.

The "they all look alike to me, so what's the difference" defense that LeBuick uses is insupportable.

Another added layer is that Mexicans are often looked down upon by other Hispanics, so if the girl had been labeled a "stupid Argentinan" or a "stupid Cuban", she may not have taken that as such an insult. If this were the case, then, ironically, the girl's own bigotry would've made the insult more stinging.

Southern Belle, since you seem to feel that the girl was at greater fault, how do you think your son ought to have resolved this?

 

In this case, Latina.

 

By all means, we need to know what the correct PC terms actually are.

Any of us could make a mistake and be accused of being racist, God forbid!

Maybe someone should put out some sort of guide...

 

I thought you believe that CAIR and the Muslims would be our undoing?

 

Aaah. I stand corrected. Thus, it is Latina if she's from a Latin nation and Hispanica if she's from a Spanish one? I think I've got it now

 

Great post. Americans need to get thicker skin, and use common sense. The best way to relate to politically correct people is barf on them, since that is what they make one want to do.