‘Derogatory’ language against Asians on middle school test prompts investigation in Carrollton-Farmers - The Dallas Morning News

Three Carrollton-Farmers Branch teachers are on administrative leave after “derogatory and hurtful” language about Chinese culture was used on a middle school quiz.

Joy Lim, a 2018 Carrollton Creekview High School graduate, posted a screenshot to social media of a question that appeared on her sister’s sixth-grade online quiz.

The answers to a question about Chinese social norms played off racist stereotypes and generalizations, such as caning as punishment and the use of dogs and cats in cuisine.

Lim posted the picture to social media Tuesday afternoon, calling the quiz responses “ridiculous.”

“[H]armful rhetoric in our education system is exactly why anti-[A]sian hate crimes and racism persist today,” she wrote.

The school district issued a statement Wednesday saying the “inappropriate language about Asian Americans” was “derogatory and hurtful.”

The three teachers will be on leave until an investigation is completed, the statement continues. Meanwhile the district will enhance a recently launched diversity training initiative “in an effort to create a more inclusive and respectful environment.”

“Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD values our diverse community of learners and staff,” the statement reads. “Actions or language disrespecting any people group are not acceptable and do not represent our core belief system.”

Lim, a University of Richmond student who is attending classes remotely, said she worried about the social studies instruction for her 12-year-old sister, a student at Blalack Middle School, when the class started a unit on China.

“The language that was being used when the teacher was talking about the COVID-19 virus and where it had originated in China, very broad generalizations were being made, and I was uncomfortable where the teacher could take this,” she said. “This is a classroom full of 11- and 12-year-olds, and I was really disappointed that this language was being used in the quiz, painting such harmful and negative stereotypes.

“Even for the Asian American students in the classroom, how are they going to internalize this?”

Lim, whose family is Korean American, said several former teachers from CFISD reached out to her over the past 24 hours to offer their apologies and assurances that such language has no place in their classrooms. No apology has come from the district, apart from a copy of the statement, she said.

A report released March 16 — the same day as the Atlanta-area massage parlor shootings — from the national coalition Stop AAPI Hate found nearly 3,800 recorded incidents of verbal and online harassment and physical assault against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders nationwide over the past year, up 15% from the previous year. Chinese Americans were the most targeted group, accounting for 42% of the incidents.

In recent weeks, two rallies have been held in North Texas highlighting the spike in hate crimes against the AAPI community. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson proclaimed March 26 “Stop Asian Hate Day” in the city.

Lim said she’s definitely seen a rise in racist activity against the Asian community, but also an increase “in people speaking out.”

“That’s a really positive outcome of this,” she said. “We need people to be speaking out more, standing up against this and not just brushing it under the rug.”

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from The Beck Group, Bobby and Lottye Lyle, The Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, The Meadows Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University and Todd A. Williams Family Foundation. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.

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‘Derogatory’ language against Asians on middle school test prompts investigation in Carrollton-Farmers - The Dallas Morning News
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