LA VOZ DE AZTLAN
Los Angeles, Alta California
June 28, 2010

Teacher profiles 7th grader as an "illegal alien"
for wearing a Mexico soccer t-shirt says parent

Teacher Suzy Carpenter has been accused of racism, bigotry and anti-Mexican bias. Carpenter has apoligized for the incident to the class.
According to a local newspaper, Big Bear Grizzly News, a teacher at Big Bear Middle School in Big Bear Lake, California, berated a Mexican-American girl for wearing a Mexico soccer t-shirt to class. News reports allege that the teacher demeaned and insinuated that the student was an "illegal alien" in front of the whole class for wearing the Mexico t-shirt for the World Cup soccer tournament. The Big Bear Grizzly News obtained their information from a complaint the girls' mother, Diana Aviles, made at a recent School Board meeting.

According to the complaint, the teacher Suzy Carpenter approached the 12 year old Mexican-American student in class to ask about her t-shirt. “She asked me if I was Mexican, and I said yes,” the youngster said. “She asked why I was in this country, and I said, ‘why not.’” The teacher then responded, “Because people like you make me pay higher taxes and make my insurance rate go up,” the Big Bear Grizzly News reports. The 7th grader at this point ran out of the room crying says the mother Diana Aviles.

MAPA official Steve Figueroa at the School Board. He said MAPA will file a federal civil rights case if the matter is not resolved.
When Diana Aviles showed up to take her daughter home, she was told she would have to wait. Her daughter was being questioned about the incident by a group of school officials, including the teacher who made the remarks, and had to sign a paper, it is alleged, before her mother could take her home. The following day the 7th grader asked not to go back to that class, and she was given two choices: sit in the principal’s office and read a book, or pick up trash with the janitor. The Mexican-American 12 year old felt uncomfortable in the principal’s office so she opted to picked up trash, it is alleged. It is also alleged that there are much worse incidents of racism against students of Mexican descent at the schools but that the students have been intimidated not to complain.

Both Mrs. Diana Aviles and her daughter are US citizens. The mother said that she and her family frequently visit an orphanage in Mexico and that on her last visit she bought the t-shirt for her daughter. She adds that though she and her daughter are US citizens, they are very proud of their Mexican heritage.

Suzy Carpenter is a drama teacher. The photograph is her in a costume.
At the School Board meeting where the complaint was made, Mrs. Diana Aviles was joined by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and an official of the Mexican Amercian Political Association (MAPA) who called on Big Bear Valley Unified School District officials to investigate the June 11 incident. The superintendent made a promise to investigate the questionable behavior of the teacher and to report back to the School Board on July 2nd.

Relations between Mexican-Americans and English speaking citizens of European descent have been deteriorating ever since Arizona passed the racist and bigoted SB 1070 law that makes it legal to profile Mexicans. Mrs. Diana Aviles, operates a Mexican restaurant in Big Bear City, and she said she has encountered discrimination before and worries about her family's safety. A Mexican flag posted outside the restaurant has been torn down a few times, and people have shouted obscenities when she tried to replace it. "I'm tired of all this prejudice," Aviles said. "I am an American. But I come from Mexican heritage, and I'm proud of what I am." Big Bear Middle School has an approximate 25% Mexican-American student population.

UPDATE:

The situation is getting uglier and more dangerous as of July 14, 2010. The Big Bear Grizzly News is reporting that the Minutemen vigilantes have now involved themselves in the controversy (see http://bigbeargrizzly.net/articles/2010/07/14/news/doc4c3d22ab1a352394765595.txt ). The Minutemen are murderers of Mexican-American children. Last year the Minutemen American Defense organization invaded the home of a Mexican-American family in Arivaca, Arizona and murdered 9 year Brisenia Flores and her father. Brisenia was a third grader at Sopori Elementary School in Arizona ( see http://www.aztlan.net/minutemen_arrested_for_murder_of_mexican_family.htm )

* * * * *

MALDEF files civil rights complaint against Suzy Carpenter and the school district on July 21, 2011. See report at http://www.aztlan.net/maldef_sues_against_bigotry.htm

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