Students taking a biology test at a Sacramento, CA high school found their names being used on the tests in a demeaning way.
Now that teacher, Alex Nguyen, has been suspended, according to the Sacramento Bee.
The newspaper reports the test taken by students at Luther Burbank High School included this question:
“For some reason, the African American culture has influenced most of the student body. How? In African Americans they have the gene for the pimp walk, which is dominant. What is the result if you cross (student name) homozygous dominant Latina with a homozygous recessive Hmong like (student name)?”
Nonwhite students at Luther Burbank make up about 97% of the student body.
The same test had also been given earlier in the day to another class. Someone alerted the principal who reportedly entered the classroom as the exam was being repeated for a different group of students, spoke to Nguyen and then collected the exams before walking out. Nguyen continued to give the test by projecting the test questions onto an overhead screen.
The Root bluntly described the test as “inappropriate and racist” while Facebook user James Hatton called for Nguyen’s teaching license to be rescinded.
“He doubled down on that bs biased attitude and racist mindset when he continued the test following admonishment,” Hatton continued. “Parents should not merely accept an apology.”
Another question on the test described students in the class as “weirdoes.”
“In high school, there are individuals who are cross-eyed like (student name) and (another student named) which is a dominant trait. We call those individuals ‘weirdoes.’ So, if you crossed two weirdoes (the two students named again) that are heterozygous for being cross-eyed, what is the offspring that would result?”
A student who complained about the test found out the next day he received a zero on the test and a “D” for his final test grade. That same student made the honor roll the previous semester.
“I’d want him to apologize to Burbank as a whole, because that’s the majority of our kids,” the student told the Bee. “So, for him to say those things, it’s pretty messed up.”
Nguyen has not responded to the Bee’s request for comment. The district said it is investigating.
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There is absolutely no excuse for this act. He should resign or be fired.
As I’ve said many times, because you have a degree doesn’t mean you’re smart! what a stupid thing to do in so many ways!