Fresno leaders criticize hiring white teacher

People at the gathering said the new school, which is the first southwest Fresno middle school in decades, needs teachers who reflect the ethnic and racial background of its students.

Crozier and others were dismayed to learn the person hired to teach the school's three cultural studies classes is white. District officials initially considered hiring a teacher of color, she said, but ultimately hired Peter Beck, a former teacher at Hoover High School.

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Fresno leaders criticize hiring white teacher



Racism is a TWO-WAY street. Minorities in general raise heck if they don't have enough representation in congress, or complain when there aren't enough black nfl head coaches. And now, minorities in Fresno, California are complaining that the middle school hired a white teacher for "cultural studies".

There were interviews for the job. Peter Beck, a white teacher with over 10 years experience in Latin Studies, was decided as the best person to fill the job.

Yet it seems we are expected to look over a person's qualifications, look over their ability, look over their personality, and look right at their skin color.

The same people who complain the loudest about racism are the same people who feed it the most. This is getting totally out of hand.

I don't own a business, but I would hire the best person for the job no matter their race, religion, sexual preference, or sex. And I would sure as heck be mad if I was told I HAD to hire a certain percent of minorities, even if that means passing up better qualified individuals.

We as a group NEED to take skin color out of the equation, if we want a chance at harmony. Some of us already have, hopefully the rest can follow.

As a multiracial woman I would like to be the first to admit that while racism does work both ways this country is so PC that there will be topics a white man will have difficulty presenting to the class.

My favorite example is in h.s. all the ethnic students knew Dr. MLK's speech by heart before it was a topic in class. Study text books all you want family history will teach you more than the books I love ever will.

I have said before that if we remove the box that indicates race from applications of all types that we would remove alot of racism right there. Find a way to hire peopke based on their merrits and not even have race be an issue.

a reply to: lonweld

Just because he's received that assignment, there is nothing stopping him from inviting guest speakers in every week who have a special and preferably memorable contribution to make to the topic. That's what I've seen most teachers do who have that kind of course assignment. What he then would do is monitor the discussion and take it from there if the subject needs more examination. So no, I don't think his own colour matters if he's conscientious about his work.

Eh; you're probably right; a lot of the minority groups who make complaints/ or take issue with the lack of minorities in a given area are kind of whinning or racist themselves.

the reason for this specific instance seems due to the topic this teacher is teaching.

Latin Studies;


Keep in mind this present time seems to have a lot of bigotry coming from the right-wing against latin americans. Whether it's justified or not, much of this rhetoric, often aimed at illegal immigrants (many of whome may turn out to qualify for refugee status.) seems to target people of latin-american decent already living in the US.

this of course doesn't justify completely the actions of those who take issue with Mr. Beck's hiring, but it helps to explain it somewhat.

The criticism is completely unfair to the teacher, but it does reflect how the minorities feel, as in racism still is a big problem.

I feel sorry for him, though. It's not his fault that the society is screwed up.

They should always hire the most qualified candidate. End of story. It should not matter what the subject is. Who cares if he is teaching cultural studies. Should only people of British descent teach about the revolutionary war. Or only African Americans teach about slavery. And to how the minority community, in this case the Mexican American community, feels. Who cares. They are not qualified, unless they are part of the hiring department of this school. To say who is the better teacher based on race alone. Now before you call me a racist. I am half Mexican. I grew up in a Mexican American household. I do not hate myself or my race. Its just ridiculous to say a White man, can not teach a class on Latin American studies just because his skin is not brown. That is the same mentality that leads to whites drinking from one fountain and blacks drinking from another.

a reply to: lonweld

Interesting set of circumstances...the argument of the past use to be that you need to hire people of all racial backgrounds now you need to hire people to better reflect the students ethnic background...so with that said would a school that pushes a white candidate over a Hispanic or black candidate due to a low number of white teachers be permissible?

Can't have it both ways people...

a reply to: karmicecstasy

If the class is called Latin Studies, then it hardly matters what Mexico and the rest of South America thinks. Latin Studies ought to be about Rome, the vatican *hawks, spits* Spain, and THEN, in the last year of the class, the affect that the Latin speaking nations had on the southern half of the American continent.

If the class has been named correctly, then any scholar who has studied the classics is better placed than anyone who has not, regardless of race, to teach the class.

If the class HAS been incorrectly named, then maybe it matters.

The pastors od a couple neighbor hood churches hardly qualify as "Fresno Leaders".
As a person "of color" I am frankly offended at the assertion that a " white " teacher can't teach ethnic studies. What is the difference between them being white ir black or Asian or Hispanic.
A black teacher is not going to have any more insight into the lives of Hispanic studentsthan a white teacher, or an Asian.
Now a little about west Fresno, or the west side, as it is called. When I was born(1964) that part of the city was the remnants of , Chinatown, Japantown, little Armenia and little Italy., throw in some Greeks Russians, phillipinos and African Americans, it was a very diverse neighborhood. By the mid seventies it had transformed into nearly 100% black.
In the mid seventies, west side civic leaders sued Fresno unified for racial discrimination, because the schools in west Fresno were nearly 100% black. That is what lead to the middle school being closed in the first place, court ordered busing. The kids from that school were bused to other middle schools for the next 30 years, and kids from the neighborhood high school ( Edison) were bused to a school that had almost no black students and kids from that school were bused to Edison.

a reply to: lonweld

Why are kids being taught these various cultural studies when they don't even know about American history? Heck many can't even read at their grade level or do math at level either. Maybe we should stop with all this cr@p and teach kids basic skills they can actually use. Maybe we should teach them about where they are instead of where they came from. Then maybe they'll be able to fill out a job application and even get a job.

As a Native American...I find this to be idiotic. People are and always have been idiots.

If the person know his stuff, let him teach. The problem (at times), I find, is that a person who is the same race of the curriculum being taught, tends to be biased.

Sometimes you need a different race, to relieve the taught subject of bias.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Yeah the word Latino has always made me shake my head. Wouldn't that word refer to people who speak Latin or all people who speak a language derived from Latin. The way you described the class is how the class should be.

My nephew who is 1/2 white and 1/2 hispanic was turned down this summer for at least 3 principal jobs because he "wasn't diverse enough". He is not bi-lingual rather, he is fluent tri-lingual. His wife is from South America. But he was too "white" for the jobs in the major metro area schools. The people who did the hiring actually had the nerve to tell him this outright.

He finally got a job as a vice principal in a school in an affluent neighborhood.

If you don't fit the racial profile desired then if you are white, forget it. Doesn't matter how qualified you are, if a less qualified person of the correct racial profile shows up with the absolute minimum qualifications he/she will get the job. That's the way it is in today's America.

I thought we went through a bunch of legal cases and civil upheaval to end segregation but it sure seems as though some elements of society would like to segregate themselves right back off again.

originally posted by: ketsuko
I thought we went through a bunch of legal cases and civil upheaval to end segregation but it sure seems as though some elements of society would like to segregate themselves right back off again.

Where did you get "segregation" from in this thread? Well unless you feel having an ethnic teacher, teach ethnic children is segregation?

a reply to: Bilk22
Actually ,
The middle school that was closed in 1979 was closed because of a de segregation ruling, even though there was no policy of segregation involved.
The demographics of the neighborhood changed.

originally posted by: Bilk22

originally posted by: ketsuko
I thought we went through a bunch of legal cases and civil upheaval to end segregation but it sure seems as though some elements of society would like to segregate themselves right back off again.

Where did you get "segregation" from in this thread? Well unless you feel having an ethnic teacher, teach ethnic children is segregation?

The idea that instead of wanting to integrate and harmonize, we are slowly separating. I thought the idea of desegregation was to start learning that color doesn't matter, but clearly here it does. And what about the Asian and Black children in this school (or the white children for that matter)? Will there also be an Asian studies class with an Asian teacher, an African studies class with a black teacher, and a European studies class with a white teacher? After all, each ethnicity clearly has its own distinct racial experience in this country (instead of just an American one) and how can we ever understand it if we don't have separate classes for each possible flavor with a specially trained teacher of each possible racial background to teach that class?

How long will it be before all our children end up doing is taking 10 or 20 studies classes instead of actually learning important things like ... reading, science, math, etc.?

a reply to: grandmakdw

Such is the downfalls of being too PC today. I hope your nephew sues for descrimination because he was told he was the wrong color.

The pastor, being a community leader, should be ashamed of himself. He should have enough dignity, and sense of moral responsibility, to step away from the race issue. He is someone that people look to for guidance. for many children, he is one of the first authority figures in their lives. It's painfully obvious what he teaches his congregation.

Personally, I do not use the terms "African-American", "Mexican-American", ect. We are all here, therefor we are all Americans. Why do we feel the need to seperate ourselves any more then we already are? I use the terms black, Latin, Asian ect if I need to specify someone. And I really haven't found any anger with people from those groups. Those that I have met share my mindset. WE ARE ALL AMERICANS! We need to quit fighting ourselves!

a reply to: lonweld
It's not PC but I prefer to refer to myself as mixed, just so I can refer to my children as more mixed. I find it amusing.

To the post above about bringing in guest speakers, that's a pretty good idea! What you can learn from your own elders is amazing.

On a side note the Holocaust Museum in DC is very verbal about all of their volunteer speekers getting older and they won't have them much longer.