SHOULD NATIVE STUDENTS BE CALLED "SAVAGES"? MNN. Jan. 29, 2007.
The following declaration was made by a 16-year old female Mohawk student of the Kahnawake Survival School. We would like to know if this is happening to our kids elsewhere. Please write in your story. Do you think she should have been suspended? Do you think the non-native teacher should have been defended by the staff?
I, Goldie, of Kahnawake swear that the following information is true: On Monday, January 22nd, 2007, at the Kahnwake Survival School, in the morning, I was in a class conducted by a teacher by the name of "Gino". He is a non-native first generation Italian-Canadian from Montreal who teaches language arts. We were sitting in class. "Just relax, chill out and we'll talk", Gino told the class of approximately 20 students. To me, he would rather talk than teach. I have already complained to Ed, the Vice Principal, about his lack of interest in providing proper instruction. We were all talking when he was speaking to one small group. Tiny, Curt, Code and myself started talking amongst ourselves. Shorty suddenly turned from Gino's group, freaked out and punched the wall. I asked, "Shorty, what's wrong?" Shorty said that Gino had called us "savages"! I asked Gino why? He explained that it was to "identify color"!! I couldn't believe that he would be so racist. Shorty said, "Don't lie. You did say we were savages". Shorty then walked out of the class room by breaking the door. Then Gino said, "You guys are acting childish. You took it the wrong way by saying I called you savages. It is to identify colors".
