A secondary-school pupil in Spain was so upset by the mention of ham in his geography class that his family filed a complaint with the National Police about the teacher’s “racism and xenophobia”. Guess what religion these folks practice?
Many thanks to Marian at La Yijad en Eurabia for the translations, and to Vlad Tepes for subtitling the news video. First, from Diario de Cádiz:
A teacher at the Institute Menéndez Tolosa in the city of La Línea de la Concepcion has been denounced by a Muslim family in the same city. The family believes that its son, a student in first year of secondary school, was offended during a geography class, it was reported to this newspaper.
The teacher was giving a normal lesson about the different climates on our planet, and he used the locality of Trevélez [Granada] as example of a cold and dry climate. For an anecdote, the teacher explained that precisely this climate was best for the curing of hams. Then the student demanded of the teacher, “Don’t speak about hams,” because this subject was offensive for him as he is a Muslim.
This paper’s sources at the center explained that the teacher answered him that it was “simply an example and that in his classes he doesn’t bear in mind the religion that his students practise.”‘
This might have remained simply an exchange of opinions, but the family of the minor, who never went to speak to the teacher, did not hesitate to file a complaint against the teacher with the National Police.
Though nobody contacted the teacher, apparently a relative of the minor went to the educational center to speak with the Director of Studies and to protest the example that the teacher had used in geography class.
The agents of the Court went yesterday to the secondary school and took an affidavit from the teacher with the facts about what happened during his class. In addition, the civil servants have requested the disciplinary and academic documentation of the minor in this educational center and in the previous one in which he was enrolled.
The teacher is accused of being an author of a supposed crime of mistreatment, and of having racist motivations and xenophobia.
The Provincial Delegation of the Council of Education also confirmed yesterday to this newspaper that it knew for certain that these facts had been produced, and that a teacher had been denounced to the National Police, but declined to elaborate any further.
Teachers and students are infuriated by this situation, because the teacher has taught with devotion for two decades now, and has never had a problem of this type. These accusations have affected him greatly.
In spite of going through a difficult moment, the teacher continues working at the center and he observes his obligation to his students
The State police have opened an investigation of these facts as denounced by the family of the minor, and it will be necessary to wait for the judicial authority to issue an opinion on whether the case “lacks merit” [a sort of tribunal with a judge].
The subtitled TV news story and a full transcript are below the jump:
Transcript:
| 0:00 | Larby [phonetic] receives us at home because he hasn’t gone to school. | |
| 0:04 | In the morning I don’t feel like getting out of bed. | |
| 0:07 | I feel quite bad. | |
| 0:10 | Their family denounced one of his teachers after he told his geography class | |
| 0:14 | that the cold dry weather of Trevelez [Granada] is favorable for the curing of hams. | |
| 0:18 | I said to the teacher: Teacher, would you not speak of the pig around me? | |
| 0:24 | He began to tell me that if I didn’t like it, I could return to my country. | |
| 0:29 | After the denunciation, the police went to the secondary school to interrogate the teacher. | |
| 0:33 | The teacher has been charged with mistreatment motivated by xenophobia, | |
| 0:37 | but he denies the charges, and in a press release has explained what was actually said. | |
| 0:44 | Here [in class] there are 30 students, and one of them must adapt | |
| 0:47 | to the 29 others, and not the 29 others to the one. | |
| 0:50 | And if you don’t agree with the learning and the knowledge that we impart | |
| 0:54 | in this center, you always have the possibility of choosing to go to another center. | |
| 0:59 | The child’s mother nevertheless denounces the xenophobic treatment. | |
| 1:03 | Never in all my life have I had any trouble with pigs, on the contrary. | |
| 1:07 | And the teacher assures us that in his 27 years of teaching he has never offended | |
| 1:11 | either students or members of the educational community. |
For a complete listing of previous enrichment news, see The Cultural Enrichment Archives.
Hat tip: Jano.
