Earlier this year, in Minneapolis, at St. Paul’s middle school, Tim Olmsted, who is a sixth-grade teacher, was placed on paid leave due to racial discrimination. Latasha
Tolbert, a mother of one of one of Mr. Olmsted’s students, said Mr. Olmsted
told her daughter that she would be standing on the corner with a sign begging
for money on the expressway. Mrs. Tolbert told the principle this and was
shocked by the lack action taken on Mr. Olmsted. Mr. Olmsted also told the
whole class that it is easier for him to teach rich white folks than poor black
people. This is complete discrimination and needs to have action taken to end
this discrimination. This can be related back to the segregation of schools
because even though this school is not segregated, this teacher treats kid poorly
if you are a minority group. Tolbert said the discrimination started in her
daughter’s class months ago. At the time, five of the students in Olmsted’s
class were black. Tolbert said all of them were singled out at some point for
the color of their skin. Meg
Kane, the attorney for the families that are filing racial discrimination
charges against Mr. Olmsted, says that known of the students have ever been any
trouble. The children told Kane that all of them had to sit at the back of the
class. Kane said Olmsted called them “fat, black, and stupid,” and said such
things as “You will never amount to anything” and “You only have one parent.” However,
this is not the only racial discrimination case in the U.S; Attorney General Erik
Holder is claiming that minority groups are being discriminated against in
schools everywhere. He is stating that some school administrators are enforcing
the disciplinary code more towards minority groups and only those groups. He
states “83 percent of African American male students
and 74 percent of Hispanic male students ended up in trouble and suspended for
some period of time.” However, Erik Holder ignores the statistics that 59
percent of white males are also disciplined. However, even Erik Holder
statistics are a little shady, if does not erase that fact that discrimination
is still occurring in schools. The integration of schools was meant to end
discrimination but clearly, there are still people out there that take it upon
themselves, like Mr. Olmsted, that ignore the fact that everyone is created equal
and there are no differences among any races, and are just racists and always
be.
Question: Do you think St. Paul's Middle school should have taken quicker action against Mr. Olmsted? Do you think discrimination against minority groups in schools should have more media attention?
I think Mr. Olmsted did not get a big enough punishment for what he did. He should have been fired not only did he discriminate against someone it was a poor innocent child in a Middle School. Discrimination against minority groups should be more in the media especially if it is against young children. They do not have a choice about what color skin they are and defiantly are not able to handle problems with older people when they are being discriminated against. There is a very large amount of discrimination against everyone and more media attention should help the problem I do not see any way that more media attention could make it worse.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely do believe that there should have been quicker action taken on Mr. Olmsted because obviously being racist is not a god thing to do and the fact doing it to a young student while you are an adult is pretty pathetic and should defiantly and should defiantly have a consequence.
ReplyDeleteAgain I do believe that the media should be involved, but only to some extent. The reason why is because you do not want to make the problem even bigger than it is.
I’m surprised that he didn’t get a bigger punishment. Putting him on paid leave will only stall the problem until he returns to St. Paul’s Middle school and will most likely continue discriminating against children of darker skin color. The problem should have been addressed quicker and with a punishment of Mr. Olmsted being fired. Discriminating is bad enough already, but directing it at the younger generation is ridiculous. If this problem wasn’t brought up before it started to get out of hand, I have a feeling other kids in the class would start to support Mr. Olmsted and his comments. Media attention could help direct the cause of the problems, but I feel like it has to be restricted. Too much attention from the media could create more issues that were unattended for.
ReplyDeleteI think Mr. Olmstead should have received a harsher punishment than he did. I believe it is not right to allow a teacher to keep their job after such racial discrimination in an American school. It is absurd that an adult would stoop so low as to take such action on a student; a child, just because they have less power than him. Media can't cover every story there is but I think that with persistent controversial action the media should absolutely inform the public. Action should be taken when powerless students are discriminated against in this way.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that St.Paul's Middle School should have taken quicker action against Mr.Olmstead. I think that there is no need for a teacher to discriminate in a school against young children. In my opinion, he should have received much harsher punishment for using racial discrimination in a classroom. Mr. Olmsted should have been fired much quicker because racial discrimination should not be condoned. In addition, I think that there should have been more media attention on this problem because people still need to be aware that racism in America is still occurring at this day in age. I think that the media attention brought to this situation would have caused action to be taken quicker and it would hopefully make people appalled that a teacher could treat his minority group students in such a negative way.
ReplyDeleteI can not believe that it took this school that long to punish this man for discriminating against children. I think that the actions taken towards Mr. Olmstead needed to be more severe, this man should have been fired. Its so shocking that racial discrimination can still occur to this level in schools today after all our country knows about races. Apparently our country doesn't know enough about races that they can be aware of the situations that occur such as this one. Without the media, this issue would have probably continued much longer. In this situation the media reporting about discrimination really helped this school.
ReplyDeleteYes I believe that this school should definetly have taken quicker action against Mr Olmstead. It is absolutely ridiculous that he got a paid leave. He should not just be fired, he verbally assaulted his students with derogatory and demeaning remarks and should face court and jail time. I am shocked that our country is not giving more attention to these sort of situations. The media should have made this a popular story to raise awareness and like Katie had said, it did locally but it should have been a larger issue nationally. If these issues happen as constantly as the article claims, then it seems that the media seems to have kept it quiet since people probably don't want to believe that racist incidents such as these persist.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that quicker action should have been taken because her was discriminating against them and making an assumption that they life with a single parent. This is extremely disrespectful and bringing their home life such as their parents into the classroom talk is so wrong. He embarrassed the children and probably made them become fearful of coming to school. There shouldn't be any room for a teacher making a student fearful, since school is supposed to be a safe, comfortable environment.
ReplyDeleteI think that all discrimination should have more media attention because people listen and get influenced by the media. So if we are exposed to things that people think are irrelevant and not happening, this will be awakening to the public.
I think it is quite obvious that the middle school should have taken quicker action against the teacher for the discrimination he participated in. To engage in such hatred towards a young student like that can't be tolerated. How does this student feel about himself now, after he was discriminated against? This kid and all the other kids are probably now scared to come to school. The fact that he still has a job and wasn't fired for this act, baffles me. School is supposed to be a safe place for a student to go and this does not serve that purpose. I definitely think that discrimination in schools should be given more attention in the media. I agree with Kirsten when she says that people listen and are influenced by it. If more people are hearing about these injustices than steps can be taken to stop them.
ReplyDeleteTo me paid leave sounds like a vacation, not having to work and getting paid for it. I agree with Rachel that it was suppressing that Olmsted didn't receive a greater punishment for his racist actions. I think that the school should have taken action on the matter sooner they did because racism should not be tolerated at all, especially in schools. I agree with Kirsten when she said that all discrimination should have more media attention. I think that people need to see and hear about the discrimination so people can know what's happening in schools around them. The stories of minority groups facing discrimination should especially be heard with all the other stories on discrimination, to get the word out that this is not okay.
ReplyDeleteIf the school was aware of the discrimination long before action was taken, then yes I agree with what everyone has said above, that quicker action should have been taken. From the numerous and serious incidents that the student's attorneys have described, it looks like the school let it go way too far, that is if they were aware of it at the time. Also, a more serious punishment should have been put on the teacher. Six month leave means he comes back,and a paid six month leave does not in any way guarantee his views on life will change. It is very likely that he will come back with the same attitude or maybe that attitude to a smaller degree, but either way it is still there. I think he should have just been fired to show how serious we take racial discrimination. I do not know if these kinds of incidents are getting enough media attention, I don't listen to the news enough to know. But also, from the president's agenda as well as other candidates, I think that racial discrimination is one of their priorities, so it's probably getting a good amount of attention.
ReplyDeleteI too, cannot believe that this went on for so long. The school should have taken action as soon as it was first reported, not numerous times later. The school giving Mr. Olmsted paid leave, may cause him to continue to suspect more paid extended vacations. It isn't really a punishment in my view, it's a privilege. He really should have been fired on the first account. Having the fact that, the teacher was insulting the minority groups is preposterous and discrimination amongst races was supposed to be ended along time ago, and agreeing with Rachel, they especially shouldn't take their racial hatred out on the younger generations, none at all at that matter. I believe that getting media attention could have negative and positive effects on the school. It could influence more racial discrimination being that some people may engross the media and like the attention, so they'd continue. And on the other hand, the school would be looked upon from the public perspective and see that the school administration is corrupt, and they'd be possibly losing enrolling students to other schools, but that is just hypothetical.
ReplyDeleteI think that Mr. Olmsted did not get a big enough punishment for what he did; he definitely should have been fired because not only did he discriminate but he discriminated against a poor innocent child that is in middle school. I think that discrimination against minority groups in schools should have more media attention, but to a certain extent. If a situation like this has too much attention from the media, it could potentially create more issues for this situation that it doesn’t need. But for this situation, I think the media reporting about the discrimination really helped the school and the situation.
ReplyDeleteIf the school knew about the discrimination happening, then yes the school should have taken quicker action against him. However, from what I just read about this, it doesn't seem like the kids were speaking up about the problem either so how would the school even find out about it if no one speaks up. I think media can make people feel shocked and disturbed but honestly, that's all it does. People don't see this story and the news and say, "Oh wow I need to do something about this, discrimination in schools need to be abolished for good now!" People just see or read it and say "Wow that's awful" but most don't do anything about it. So the media can do whatever it wants but for the majority of people, they don't do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteYes they need to do that next time and they should have this time. The things that he was doing there is no way that other teachers of the school administration did not know about it. Some of the things he did were very clear acts of racism. He should also be punished even more then she has been. What he did is not allowed and she should be punished for what he did. Also the way the school handled it was not good enough. They should have acted more harshly to set an example of him. Also I believe that this should get more media attention so that people realize that there is still a problem and we need to find a way to fix it. Giving it more media attention would help get more support for ending racism.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to the issue at this school, i agree with peers when saying that Mr. Olstead should have been punished much more severely than he was. Not only that, he should of been punished sooner as well. When a defenselessness kid is being discriminated against by his own teacher because of an issue that the child cant control, the teacher should be replaced as soon as possible. I also blame the school as well because in my opinion they should have been aware of these issues and done a better job wish this situation. Furthermore i think the media should pay more attention to this issue than it did. The media should show things like this which in affect's show people that racial discrimination is still a problem in the US. The media should focus its attention towards stories like this rather than the weather for next week like they usually do.
ReplyDeleteI do think that there should have been quicker action taken, but it might not have been clear in the moment if this was all true. No teacher should do anything like this and it is obviously wrong, but the school may have felt the mother was exaggerating because not normally does this happen. I do think that discrimination of minority groups in school should have more attention if a bad act happens because it needs to be known that stuff like it is not alright, but if the incident was just segregation in the schools between the races I think that it could be handled on a lower level.
ReplyDeleteI was astonished how the middle school did not take any extensive action against the teacher. Discriminatory racism should not be allowed anywhere, especially not in front of young kids in school. The fact that the hateful claims came from an authority figure such as a teacher makes the situation even worse. The school's inability to have taken appropriate actions against the teacher was questionable, since they declared no chargers against the racist teacher. In all this is only one case of racism of many that occur each day. I don't necessarily believe that this particular case deserves immediate attention from the media. Instead the social dilemma of racism should be taken more seriously by the public and the media. The media should focus on enabling many other racist stories and adding a negative tone toward discrimination.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article I was completely shocked that a teacher would act this way towards his students,especially today in 2012 long after the Equal Rights Act and segregation were put into place. I think that Mr. Olstead should have been punished much more severely and it should have happened a lot sooner than it did. Parents should bring this up as soon as they hear news about it and have something done immediately. Another thing to look at is the media and where it stands in letting the citizens of this country in on all this that is going on in our schools and I highly think that the media should be much more involved int stories just like this one. This way many people can be informed on what is still going on and how racially discriminating people are, even towards young helpless children. I think by doing so it will bring much attention to the people so they can see that this is clearly not right, and action will be taken much quicker to end this discrimination.
ReplyDeleteI do think Mr. Olstead should have been punished more. The things he said were awful, to minority groups or to anyone. Paid leave is somewhat of a reward, he doesn't have to work but he gets paid. I think he should definately have gotten a harsher punishment, its kind of surprising that he got off the way he did. He should have had a teaching suspension unpaid. I'm not to sure how much media attention should be brought to the issue also. I definately think it's important that people know that this is an issue and discrimination is still happening, but then again if too much attention is brought to it it will never go away. Like some people said in class, discrimination and prejudice are taught. If we keep pointing out our differences and how some groups are minorities, the idea of and treatment towards minority groups will never go away.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the school should not have let this go on for so long. Not only should the school have taken action right away but Mr Olstead's punishment should have been harsher. Giving him paid leave is kind of like saying we have to punish you for the public's sake, and that we don't think you did anything wrong. The students and parents should have reported it immediately, so that he would have gotten punished much sooner, and other kids would have been safe. I do believe that school discrimination should get more attention in the media because it will bring awareness to the situation. With more attention to school discrimination will come more action to stop it.
ReplyDeletethere is absolutely no need for these sort of remarks in today's word, never mind in a school. The school should have acted on the case as soon as it had happened, and after finding out that it was true, Mr.Olstead should have been fired completely, and not put on paid leave. Teachers should not be the type of person to make a racist remark like this. Teachers should be teaching students how to act and how to deal with race. I agree with Maddie when she says that the paid leave is sort of a reward. I think that gaining media attention was a good and bad thing. It was good because it came as a warning to the United States that discrimination is a problem. However i think the media could also put some bad views onto the school in which this all took place.
ReplyDeleteI believe that quicker actions should have diffidently been taken on Mr. Olstead. There is no need to say racist comments to a child, or to people in general. If he felt that way he should have kept his comments to himself. I am not sure if the media should take more action on things like this. It should be heard, so we can stop it in the future, but now that people no he is a racist, people will hold that against him which could hurt his life. So i'm not really sure as to what the media should do.
ReplyDeleteWho ever fixes these prices can really tip the scale in the voting booths. Gas prices are being raised to a scary number, and Obama better not let it get any higher if he wants the votes to be in his favor. The problem with gas is that it determins the price of almost everything else because of the cost of shipping. If gas is raised to 5 dollars a gallong we could be paying over 100 dollars everytime we fill up, and thats a very scary number in today economy
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