New Mexico teacher disciplined for 'Santa Claus is white' comment to black student



RIO RANCHO, N.M. – A New Mexico high school teacher has been disciplined after a parent says the man told his black son that Santa Claus is white.

Officials at the school in Rio Rancho, about 15 miles north of Albuquerque, announced Friday that the teacher recently was disciplined for his comments to the student, but they declined to say how, KOB-TV reported (http://goo.gl/GYqcJr).

The move came after students at Cleveland High School were told they could come to class dressed as Santa, an elf or a reindeer.

Michael Rougier said his ninth-grade son, Christopher, arrived wearing a Santa hat and beard, and the teacher asked the boy: "Don't you know Santa Clause is white? Why are you wearing that?"

The teacher's name was not released, and attempts by The Associated Press to reach school officials Saturday were unsuccessful.

Michael Rougier said the teacher's comments enraged him.

"There's no room for that in the classroom," he said. "Whether this teacher felt Christopher may have been wearing this out of context, there's no room for it. There's just no room for it."

The incident happened the same week that Fox News Channel's Megyn Kelly said on the air that both Santa Claus and Jesus were white. Her comments drew national attention and prompted a slew of heated comments on blogs and social media sites.

A spokesman for Rio Rancho Public Schools said the Cleveland High School teacher knows he made a "dumb" mistake and has since apologized to the Rougier family.

Michael Rougier said he still has concerns. "If he has that attitude, how is it affecting students, studies, grading habits, trending toward Caucasian kids?" Rougier said of the teacher.

The teacher still works at Cleveland, but Christopher has been removed from his class, KOB-TV reported.

I think he was out of line because of the CONTEXT in which he spoke

not because it was wrong

historically , Santa is based upon a white man,, however, if the students all were given Santa as a choice,,and especially if the other two choices were elf and reindeer,

it was out of line to chastise the black child for choosing Santa Claus

how many young girls dress as native americans or pocohontas? its dress up for kids and there shouldnt be such focus on race

Do we all remember that the institution of Christmas comes from Norse mythology about a generous chap in what was called the hanciatic league. This would some day be called Germany after the short sword, called the garman. Ttfn

actually,Saint Nicholas was a Greek!

Saint Nicholas (Greek: Ἅγιος Νικόλαος, Hagios Nikólaos, Latin: Sanctus Nicolaus); (15 March 270 – 6 December 343),[3][4] also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century Christian saint and Greek[5] Bishop of Myra (Demre, part of modern-day Turkey) in Lycia. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker (Νικόλαος ὁ Θαυματουργός, Nikolaos ho Thaumaturgos). He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of "Saint Nikolaos".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas

I dont think the issue was about santa being white,, so much as about making a student feel they shouldnt dress as santa because they arent white,,,,

The issue is the BS caused by PC

its not about being pc here, its about picking out a student based upon their race for picking a choice you gave them the OPTION To pick with all the other students,,,,if there were male and female characters available for males and females, I could see it

but of the choices given, santa, a reindeer, or an elf,,,, NONE were black,, so why make the students choice an issue because he is black,,,?

How does the teacher know what color Santa is?
Has he ever seen him?

Yes, the teacher needs to go with an apology to the student.

Perhaps because the teacher was simply an idiot, who spoke before thinking, which is much less credit than you give a certain someone when they make blatant racist innuendo to a whole nation.

An apology is all that is needed here, and that seems to have been done.

well, being it was done under the capacity of authority over a student,, discipline was needed, and doled,,,to the adult so he learns how to avoid similar errors in performing his job in the future,,,

but people are still going to talk about it,,,,even though it was handled correctly,,

does that mean the teacher should not have had reindeer as an option because they are animals so why would you come to class wearing antlers cause you cant be that neither

the teacher gave a choice thus the teacher should not have criticized the choice made

and

what about those that do not celebrate christmas did they have the choice to dress as a student


just a thought

hopefully, there was an option to attend or not,,,the theme party

I dont know, it said it was a christmas party,, which IM not sure they are allowed to throw during school hours

but IM not sure either

So what do you call this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO3NBqT3LBc&feature=youtu.be

a school song about historical figure:

According to school district officials, the video was shot in February 2009 and was part of a program to recognize famous and accomplished African-Americans during Black History Month.


like it or not,, he WILL BE and IS NOW a history making president because he is a first,,,,



quite different from singling out students over their race,,,

I told him that he was a duck that barked.

lol,,,that's cruel,,

Yep. What a legacy. The biggest liar and fraud ever imposed on America, and the 1st to order the killing of American citizens without due process....starting with a 17 year old boy.