We can stop passing down hate, bigotry

Jonathan Greenblatt’s column, “The fight against rising hatred and bigotry must begin with teachers and students,” advocates for anti-bias education to combat racism and bigotry in school. In order to fight against hatred and bigotry in school, we need more immigrant teachers and teachers of color, but this may be difficult considering our current White House administration’s rhetoric toward minorities.

Social scientists suggest that one of the best ways to improve intergroup relations is simply through contact. By getting people to interact with a member of the minority group — in this case immigrant teachers and teachers of color — we would see that minorities are not so different from you or me. However, this is difficult to do when the teacher body is less racially and ethnically diverse compared with the students.

According to the Census Bureau, foreign-born teachers account for about 8 percent of all primary and secondary education teachers. By comparison, nearly three-fourths of students are third-generation Americans.

If we want to fight against rising hatred and bigotry, we need more foreignborn teachers and teachers of color. However, given the current administration’s stance on race relations and immigration in the United States, it is unlikely this will happen anytime soon. Ismail Nooraddini

Falls Church, Va. child returns home to a parent who practice bigotry and hate every day? It is the responsibility of the parents to teach their kids social skills — teachers sometimes get in trouble in their efforts to correct children.

Thomas H. Evans

Racism and resentment start by being taught from generation to generation at home, not in the school.

Bob Smith