Teacher reprimanded for telling students that Santa is White
A New Mexico high school teacher has been disciplined after telling a black student that Santa Claus is white. Officials at Rio Rancho High School declined to comment on how the teacher was reprimanded, but simply stated that he had been.
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 told KOB-TV 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 incident happened the same week that Fox News’ Megyn Kelly said that both Jesus and Santa were white. Her comments came after Aisha Harris, a black blogger, wrote a piece advocating for a more inclusive holiday figure.
A spokeswoman for Rio Rancho Public Schools told The Associated Press that the Cleveland High School teacher knows he made a “stupid mistake” and has since apologized to the Rougier family.
What’s a proper punishment? Is an apology enough?
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