Students at a New Jersey high school walked out in protest on Monday after several students were told by a teacher to "speak American."
The incident happened last Thursday, when three students who were speaking Spanish were lectured by a teacher who told them that U.S. soldiers are "not fighting for your right to speak Spanish — they're fighting for your right to speak American."
A Snapchat video of the teacher's troubling remarks was shared later that day on Twitter:
According to students, the teacher in question, Laura Amico, is actually an English teacher who was subbing for an algebra class.
One of the students, 16-year-old Junior Vianery Cabrera, told NBC News that she and her friends "were speaking about the Yankees" in Spanish "because that's how we feel more comfortable." Cabrera moved from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. three years ago.
After Ms. Amico started ranting about speaking English, Cabrera was indignant. "I laughed, because, first of all, that's not a language," she recalled. "I have the right to speak Spanish. I have the right to speak English. I have the right to speak whatever language I speak, and that's my right. There's no law that says that I should or I must speak English."
In fact, according to NBC News, nearly half of the student body admitted to speaking Spanish at home in 2016.
Twitter users were outraged by the teacher's comments:
The school decided to have an assembly on Friday regarding the incident, but apparently Ms. Amico didn't show up:
So students decided to stage a protest:
In total, around 100 students walked out of the school in protest on Monday. Once someone tripped the fire alarms, however, the entire student body of around 1,110 was evacuated.
While students admit that most of the teachers and school administrators are very supportive, Cabrera wants something to be done.
"She should be fired," she said. "I don't think it's fair."
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