Letter: Stop racism in Prosser School District
The Prosser School District should be ashamed. Their action — or I should say inaction — to remove those personnel guilty of racism (“Prosser teacher returns to work after Facebook controversy,” TCH, March 16) in effect legitimizes their beliefs and gives them a footing for mainstream acceptability.
The teacher’s comments are not idle chatter. They are well-thought-out statements of a racist belief system. Sanctioning them or making them attend a touchy-feely seminar on inclusion won’t work. It has taken them a lifetime to form their opinions and they can’t be changed overnight. They should be fired and banned from teaching.
I remind you that one of them is a first-grade teacher. A person entrusted by the community to mold young minds into useful productive citizens. So if I understand your action, Prosser School Board, you want a racist to do this? By allowing them to return to teaching, you are in effect endorsing their beliefs.
No matter what you may say about affirmative action and inclusiveness, or how progressive you say your policies are, your action, or in this case inaction, speaks volumes of where your heart is and what beliefs you want to promote to our children.
Fred Freeman, Kennewick
This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 4:37 AM with the headline "Letter: Stop racism in Prosser School District."