KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 — A middle school in Buffalo, New York has come under fire after a homework assignment asked students to translate sentences that included the phrases “Mexican and ugly” and “pretty and American” into Spanish.
The matter came to light after a parent of one of the students shared the homework on social media prompting officials to promise they are addressing the situation to ensure it does not happen again, Buffalo News reported.
The parent Allison Wanick said her stepdaughter, who is a student at Mill Middle School, was left upset after receiving the homework.
“I was stunned and speechless,” she reportedly said.
Wainick said she raised concerns about the assignment with Mill Middle School Principal Lori Jonas before the winter recess.
Wainick, who is Hispanic and was born in Colombia, also contacted Williamsville Superintendent Darren Brown-Hall and a School Board member she knows to address the assignment she described as “devastating and disappointing.”
“I’m extremely disappointed with Mill Middle for letting the disgusting and inexcusable language such as this to be presented in the classroom,” Wainick’s husband, Marcelo Florencio, who was born and raised in Latin America and whose children are multi-ethnic, said in an email.
“I believe there is no place for it in school or our children’s lives.”
Responding to the matter, a Williamsville Central School District slammed the assignment and described it as unacceptable.
“We are addressing the situation to ensure this does not happen again,” the district said in a statement.
“The district does not condone any instructional material that denigrates our students, families, culture or beliefs.”
