A California teacher who raised eyebrows in January when a classroom recording of him calling military members a “bunch of dumb shits” emerged has been fired by the school board.
Class is out of session for El Rancho High School teacher Gregory Salcido, 49, but he still seems to think the rant, which you can see below, was misunderstood.
https://www.facebook.com/kimberlie.flauto/posts/10215001109124489
“We’ve got a bunch of dumb shits over there. Think about the people who you know who are over there — your freaking stupid Uncle Louie or whatever — they’re dumb shits,” he said, much to the dismay of many. “They’re not like high-level thinkers, they’re not academic people, they’re not intellectual people. They’re the freaking lowest of our low.”
He also said that “they’re not talented people.”
The Kimberly Flauto Facebook post featuring the videos of the classroom rant have been shared more than 96,000 times, but the story itself has had a much broader reach through cable and online news.
Even White House chief of staff John Kelly contributed to the narrative by telling Salcido to “go to hell.”
https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/958740832416337920
Although Salcido has 30 days to appeal Board of Education President Aurora Villon‘s decision, his comments after the videos spread would not seem to help that cause.
Salcido apologized at a February city council meeting while defending his remarks and suggesting that he was misunderstood.
“I don’t think it’s all a revelation to anybody that those who aren’t stellar students usually find the military a better option […] that’s not a criticism of anybody,” he said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Anything I said had nothing to do with their moral character.”
He also said “this is probably the most exaggerated situation I’ve ever seen,” that he’s received death threats and his wife has received rape threats.
Villon said Salcido was fired because his “comments do not reflect what we stand for, who we are.”
[Image source: ABC7 screengrab]
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