Rickie Pitre who wants to force students to use English only at graduations.
From a Houma today article
Cousins Hue and Cindy Vo, who spoke in Vietnamese during their valedictorian addresses during Ellender High’s commencement May 19. -- Cindy Vo faced the audience at Ellender High School’s graduation last month wearing a valedictorian’s vestments.
The American-born daughter of Vietnamese immigrants spoke of high-school memories, friends and the future. Then she recited a sentence in Vietnamese, dedicated to her parents as they looked on.
"Co len minh khong bang ai, co suon khong ai bang minh," she said into the microphone.
The 18-year-old graduate told classmates that the line, roughly translated, was a command to always be your own person.
That part of her speech has resulted in unintended consequences that may affect how local public-school graduations ceremonies function in the future.
Some Terrebonne Parish school officials now say all commencement speeches should be spoken in English only, and they want a formal rule that says so.
Supporters of proposed changes, discussed at a recent School Board Education and Policy Committee meeting, say they want graduations to be "uniform procedures."
(that's how they hide their bigotry methinks)
Board member Rickie Pitre is leading the charge for change.
"As board members, we get to observe the different ceremonies and there’s some inconsistencies I think the board or administration more importantly needs to address," Pitre said in committee.
He supports English as the only language at graduations. If a message is spoken in another language, it should be phrased in English first and then paraphrased in translation.
"I don’t like them addressing in a foreign language," Pitre said. "They should be in English."
"them"?, Rickie? How narrow minded you are. Looking at the makeup of the
Terrebonne Parish School Board , it appears that 5 out of the nine members have French surnames. Have you forgotten where your forefathers came from? You are indeed a scuzzbucket, Rickie.
More details of this story, including what other members of the School Board think of this idea, are at this link .
2 comments:
Um, I live in Washington state and have minimal knowledge of the history here, but...would a guy named Pitre and the school officials in a parish named Trebonne object if a student spoke in French?
For more of Terrebonne Parish School Board Member Rickie Pitre's issues after sleeping on the job for 10 years after the Board themselves removed a cap regarding employee's vacation pay, read this one:
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20080722/ARTICLES/807220330
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