A New York school district has apologized after sixth-graders were given an 'unacceptable' homework assignment for their Spanish class
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- Buffalo Parents are outraged after students were given an assignment with "disgusting" language.
- The assignment asked students to translate a series of 10 sentences from English to Spanish.
- The assignment included sentences like "You (friendly) are Mexican and ugly" and "You (politely) are pretty and American."
School administrators apologized after parents criticized a disturbing homework assignment that went out to students.
The assignment, given to sixth-graders at Mill Middle School in Buffalo, New York, asked students to translate a series of 10 sentences from English to Spanish.
The second sentence on the list said: "You (friendly) are Mexican and ugly." And the final sentence said: "You (politely) are pretty and American," according to a image shared by a parent on Twitter.
—Allison Wainick (@AJ_WFlo) January 11, 2022
"Shocked at this Spanish homework assignment in Williamsville Central School District loaded with such blatant racism," Allison Wainick wrote on Twitter. "Can we even begin to unpack all that is wrong here? Who is developing this curriculum & where is the oversight?"
The school district called the assignment "unacceptable" in a statement posted to its Facebook page.
"We are addressing the situation to ensure this does not happen again. The District does not condone any instructional material that denigrates our students, families, culture, or beliefs," the statement continues. "This assignment fails to meet our standard and will be dealt with appropriately."
Parents expressed outrage on the Facebook post as well. A woman who said she's Latina and a parent to biracial children who attend Mill Middle School said she's "completley [sic] in shock."
Another woman who said she's the mother of a Hispanic kid attending a school within the Williamsville Central Schools District, which oversees Mill Middle School, commented on the school's Facebook announcement, saying the assignment "upsets me so much."
"We can't just be ok with an apology from the District, this is not something that can be undone or unseen by the kids," she said, adding that "we teach our kids not to bully, but what kind of message you think the teacher is sending with this assignment."
One parent, speaking with the Buffalo News, said he's "extremely disappointed" that the assignment with "disgusting and inexcusable language such as this" had been presented in the classroom.
The teacher who created the assignment has not yet been identified.
Williamsville Central Schools did not immediately respond to Insider's request for more information.