An English teacher in Sugar Land, Texas has some explaining to do after calling one of her students a “terrorist.” Whether it was a poorly timed joke or not, it could potentially have her out of a job.
Waleed Abushaaban’s seventh-grade honors English class at First Colony Middle School in this Houston suburb had just finished their state exams earlier in the week. On Thursday, they got a badly-needed breather by watching “Bend It Like Beckham.” Waleed said that he was laughing along with everyone else when, out of nowhere, the teacher said he really shouldn’t be laughing “because we all think you’re a terrorist.”
Waleed didn’t think it was funny. He tried to give the teacher a chance to apologize, but the teacher crassly told him that if he had a problem, he should take it up with the principal. As Waleed left the room, the other students joined in on the taunting, yelling, “Oh, I see a bomb!” among other things.
When Waleed told his parents about it that afternoon, they immediately alerted officials at the Fort Bend Independent School District. According to a district statement, the teacher claimed she was “trying to make a point about negative stereotypes.” To their credit, district officials didn’t buy it. They placed the teacher on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. District officials rightly found that the teacher’s statements didn’t display “the appropriate sensitivity” it expects from its teachers.
While the district considers this teacher’s actions to be “an isolated incident,” Waleed’s family wants to make sure there isn’t a next time for this behavior. They want teachers and students to undergo religious sensitivity training. Needless to say, they also want the teacher fired. Despite the sheer egregiousness of this teacher’s behavior, family attorney Husein Hadi says that his clients don’t plan to sue. Indeed, they wrestled with the decision to go public.
I was in two minds about whether a firing was appropriate. But then I wondered–if a teacher used a racial slur against a black, Latino, East Indian, or any other minority in the same context, would I be comfortable having my child in that classroom? Not just no, but hell no. This is no different. If it were up to me, this teacher should get her walking papers, and would have a very hard sell to make if she ever wanted to be in a classroom again.
