Dear Mr. Salcido,
You've made quite a name for yourself this weekend. I first heard about your rants when my husband, an Air National Guardsman, sent me a link to a news article. The headline was so astonishing, I really thought it was going to be click bait. It wasn't. As a fellow educator, I'm so disappointed and frustrated and disgusted by your behavior that I have to address it.
Let's begin with where your rant began. A student, a minor child you are responsible for educating, walked into your classroom wearing a shirt that said "Marines" and you decided it was time to go on a tirade. Is this for real? You used instructional time not to instruct, but to single out a student who was wearing a clothing item you didn't like. I'm so appalled by this. At my school if a student's clothing does not comply with the dress code, we approach them privately and quietly, treating them with respect, and asking them to change. We don't stop teaching to address student clothing. Teachers are responsible for creating a culture of respect and rapport. Even if you had ONLY publicly called the student out on his clothing, regardless of the reason, I would be disappointed.
Next, you openly disparaged other cultures, referring to people who wear "robes" and "throw rice" in an effort to establish that those cultures are not people to be respected and valued. Do you not have a variety of cultures and backgrounds in your classroom, Mr. Salcido? How on earth can you call yourself an educator when you are blatantly racist towards your students? I'm completely baffled.
In your rant, you called members of the military dumb shits. You said the ONLY reason they went into the military was because they couldn't do anything else. You called them the lowest of the low. Mr. Salcido, do you even know any military members? Your ignorance is astounding. Our military universities are some of the most elite schools in the United States. Only the best of the best are admitted. The training and education provided to our military is rigorous and intense. Our military members are some of the finest citizens our country has.
You also told your students (again, we are talking about minor children) that if they went into the military it was because their parents didn't love them enough to support them academically. How dare you? One of my most favorite young men just joined the Marines. He decided at a young age that he wanted to be a Marine, and he pursued that dream with passion. His parents got behind him and supported his decision, helping him meet the rigorous physical and academic requirements. His parents love him fiercely. That's what good parents do, Mr. Salcido: they help their kids meet their dreams. That's what love looks like.
Mr. Salcido, my husband has served our country his entire adult life. He has worked tirelessly in training exercises. He has supported this country during domestic emergencies and natural disasters. He's served honorably overseas, sacrificing time with his family. Of my daughter's 19 birthdays, he's missed eight of them in service to our country. When he's home, he volunteers in his community. He helps with 4H. He coaches track and basketball. He helps neighbors with big jobs. Mr. Salcido, my husband, and the men and women like him, proudly serve our country so that you and your family can sleep well at night. They defend your right to spew racist, bigoted, ignorant bullshit. The reason you get to speak like an idiot, Mr. Salcido, is because of this country's military members who protect your right to do so.
Mr. Salcido, I have many hopes for you.
I hope you lose your job and your seat on your local city council. No one who speaks to children the way you speak to children should be allowed to spend that amount of time with them.
I hope you stop, and think, and get it. I hope you really get it. I hope you apologize to your students, your community, the large groups of people you sweepingly disparaged, and our country's military community. I really do. I hope that you take the time to realize how ugly and ignorant your comments were, and I hope you start to work towards making things right.
I hope you raise your child to do better. I hope you teach your son about kindness to everyone. I hope you show him how to not abuse power he has been gifted with, and to instead use it to lift people up. I realize this is a really big hope, and so I hope that if you don't get it, your wife does, and that she works to counter the harmful impact you are surely having on him.
Mr. Salcido, to stand in front of a group of students is a gift. It is a privilege. To be entrusted with someone else's child is not something to take lightly. The weight of this responsibility overwhelms me sometimes, as it does all excellent educators. It is clear, based on your comments and the comments of your former students, that you have never taken this role seriously. As a professional who works so many hours making sure my students get exactly what they need to have successful and fulfilling lives, however they choose to do that, it crushes me that you will, at least temporarily, be seen as the voice of American educators. You do not represent me. You do not represent my colleagues. You are a disgrace, and you do not deserve to stand in front of students.
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