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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFlorida high school principal removed after comments about Holocaust
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A principal in heavily Jewish Boca Raton is out of a job because he refused to say the Holocaust was a real historical event.
Spanish River High School Principal William Latson told a parent that as a public school official he needed to remain politically neutral sensitive to both Holocaust education advocates and people who deny the destruction of 6 million Jews during World War II.
The Palm Beach County School District didnt see it that way and on Monday assigned Latson to another, unspecified position.
His email exchange with the parent created outrage in Boca Raton, the home of many Holocaust survivors and their descendants, and spurred an investigation by the school district.
A new principal has not yet been named.
Mr. Latson made a grave error in judgment in the verbiage he wrote in an email stating, I cant say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event because I am not in a position to do so as a school district employee. In addition to being offensive, the principals statement is not supported by either the School District Administration or the School Board, the district said Monday.
In an email exchange last year with the parent, Latson wrote:
Not everyone believes the Holocaust happened and you have your thoughts but we are a public school and not all of our parents have the same beliefs so they will react differently.
Latson detailed his efforts to implement the schools Holocaust curriculum, a state mandate since 1994, but wrote that not every family has been amenable to the lessons.
I work to expose students to certain things but not all parents want their students exposed so they will not be and I cant force that issue, Latson wrote.
https://www.bakersfield.com/ap/national/florida-high-school-principal-removed-after-comments-about-holocaust/article_319f3a43-350c-519f-9020-1510a9ca4bc3.html
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)I told that teacher that my kids were raised to believe that a hypotenuse can be as long as it wants, and Im not letting some old dead Greek guy say otherwise.
Niagara
(7,628 posts)After reading this article, I couldn't figure out why we have Holocaust deniers in this country.
Now I know why there are so many of these deniers.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)We dont accept the thinking which declares some triangles to be right and other triangles wrong.
Stuart G
(38,436 posts)They contacted me when I failed Geometry back in the day. They wanted to know why I didn't know a triangle from the Pythagorean Theorem. I tried to explain, but they wouldn't listen and they took away all triangles that I had in my house and in addition notified the school that I needed to be moved out of the class..And if you believe that one you need to get some rest from this idiotic world that we live in.
yardwork
(61,651 posts)Some triangles are more equal than others.
panader0
(25,816 posts)yardwork
(61,651 posts)Dr. Strange
(25,921 posts)Your geometric ideas seem a little hyperbolic.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)it must have simply never happened. Fuck Abraham Lincoln!
Nay
(12,051 posts)Niagara
(7,628 posts)Stuart G
(38,436 posts)To use the "administrative bullsh*t on whether or not the Holocaust existed..was actually quite "stupid"...And furthermore, this person will not get another job for being so "stupid." You wage your fights cautiously and intelligently for important reasons. Administrators in schools know this. But this one didn't know it.
..."Not everyone believes the Holocaust happened..." proves that he doesn't believe that it happened. Taking that stance is stupid beyond stupid. Hard to imagine anything so stupid. Maybe, saying there was no racism in Major League Baseball in the 1930s and 1940s would be similar.
...Or, Racism did not exist in Florida in the 1940s. Those two would be similar to this Holocaust non existence crap..But no one could possibly say that .."No racism existed in Florida in the 1940s." Only someone really stupid and ignorant could say that there were different opinions on the idea that... "Racism did and did not exist in the 1940s in Florida." Perhaps if this ex principal had seen it that way, he would have kept his mouth shut.
Niagara
(7,628 posts)This principal (now former) actually toured the Washington DC Holocaust Memorial Museum. I'll share this link from the DailyMail where there are images of him and the image text under the image states that he toured the museum. It's unbelievable that he toured it and doesn't believe it happened.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7220281/Mother-high-school-student-reveals-principal-failed-state-Holocaust-fact.html
On edit: This principal wanted to remain neutral on the holocaust because some parents believe it never happened.
yardwork
(61,651 posts)Apparently there are some wealthy Holocaust denying bullies in the community. It sounds to me like the principal tried to appease them by falling back on the "administrators have to be neutral" bullshit.
That was stupid. What's next, appeasing Flat Earthers?
In Germany, they teach their students about the horrors of the Holocaust. They want their students to be educated in this horrific history.
Initech
(100,081 posts)Where history didn't happen, science is a myth and the Constitution is a 404 error!
spanone
(135,846 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)Glad to hear he lost his job.
Thats inexcusable.
Niagara
(7,628 posts)Stuart G
(38,436 posts)topic with this principal, parents, and other administrators. Mr. Latson followed up several times with the same crap. Once in front of his supervisors and Board of Education members. He never changed his tune until after it became clear that he was in danger of loosing his job. Then he said something like, "I believe that the Holocaust happened, personally, but many parents still believe that there was no Holocaust."...something like that...
...So he had several chances to correct it, and say it was a wrong statement, but he followed up by saying again that some parents believe that the Holocaust did not happen , and that is why he took that stance. Of course that is not true. Yes, as said earlier...he is a moron. And like others doesn't know it.
But, my point on this post is that this "moron" had several chances in different meetings to change his views, but kept to them till after events happened. It was his administrative stance that was at stake, not his own personal views which were different than his stance.........................................or..........................................
................in other words......................................Mr Latson is a MORON
Niagara
(7,628 posts)So that I can read them. Thank you.
Stuart G
(38,436 posts)this subject. Some have long stories and other do not. But they are there Some, if you look carefully, are from Florida sources, Ft Lauderdale, and others. Some are from national sources. The longer ones verify what I wrote in the above post, but I did not keep those links. But they are still there and you can find them easily. or Mr. William Latson principal in Boca Raton...or , ... william latson boca raton , that will also give a lot of sources...Yes, the sources and links are still there...many..
Niagara
(7,628 posts)Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)Niagara
(7,628 posts)I wish I had found and shared this article first.