A Latino father who was describing racism faced by his young son in school was told to “stay in Mexico” by a white man at a meeting that was intended to be about inclusion and diversity.
MLive.com reports that Saline, Michigan resident Adrian Iraola this week told attendees at a Saline Area Schools meeting about the racist abuse his son had faced from his classmates.
“I went to his bedroom to say good night and he was crying because of the abuse that he was enduring in this school system,” Iraola explained. “Those experiences leave a deep mark in their memories and they part of who you are.”
At one point during his talk, a white man who identified himself as Tom Burtell interjected and said, “Then why didn’t you stay in Mexico?”
The comment drew immediate gasps from attendees at the meeting, and one woman told the man that “you need to leave,” while another called his comments about Iraola “disgusting.”
During the meeting, Burtell also complained about discrimination being faced by white people.
“You think that … whites are the oppressors,” he said. “Here’s the evidence. You’ve got black racism all the time… try to be white and walk in a black neighborhood and see what happens.”
[via Raw Story]