ONLY
$0.99
ONLY
$0.99
ONLY
$0.99
ONLY
$0.99
ONLY
$0.99
ONLY
$0.99
citizen-times.com
November 6, 2008
Former Asheville teacher accused of belittling student who supported McCain
Jon Ostendorff
A former city schools teacher filmed in a Swedish documentary talking about politics in the classroom is drawing fire from bloggers for belittling a student who supported Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
Diantha Harris of Fayetteville teaches fifth grade in Cumberland County.
She left Asheville in 2004. Bloggers on Thursday had identified her as an Asheville teacher and said she willingly browbeat and belittle a student in class for her choice of a presidential candidate, according to Tundra Tabloids, a blog about Islamic extremism.
Harris, in an interview today with the Asheville Citizen-Times, said thats not true.
A crew from Swedens public broadcasting company STV visited her classroom in May for the documentary From Bill to Barack.
The film aired Monday on Finlands Swedish language Channel Five.
The part with Harris made its way on to YouTube and quickly became fodder for bloggers on Thursday.
Harris is seen asking her class whom they support in the presidential race.
A student says, "Obama."
Harris encourages her class to speak up.
And if you are pulling for John McCain, thats fine, say him as well, she says.
Another student says Obama and then one girl says John McCain.
Oh lord, John McCain, Harris says in the film. Oh Jesus.
She then asks the student why she is pulling for John McCain.
The student says its because her parents are voting for him.
She asks one student why he is supporting Obama. He says he wants a black president.
Another student tells Harris she is supporting Obama because hell make good changes to the country.
Now can you tell me just a little bit more, like what type of changes?, she asks the student.
The student says like not having a fight between Iraq and having soldiers killed.
Harris nods her head in approval. So in other words Barack is going to end that war in Iraq, she says.
She then asks the class what they know about the war. She asks the girl who said she was supporting McCain to speak up because her father was in the military. The student remains quiet.
Its a senseless war, Harris says in the film. And by the way, Kathy, the person you are picking for president said that our troops will stay in Iraq for another hundred years if they need to.
The student doesnt respond.
So that means your daddy is going to be in the military for another hundred years, she tells the child.
Harris on Thursday said she wasnt advocating for one candidate over the other and that the footage of her lesson is heavily edited.
She said the films producers asked her to talk about politics that day and that she not only discussed the presidential race but all the races in North Carolina.
She said her comments of Oh lord and Oh Jesus were her way of engaging her students to spur discussion. She said the camera does not show her sticking her tongue out and throwing up her hands when one student said he supports Obama.
I wasnt necessarily pulling for one person or the other, she said in a telephone interview from her home in Fayetteville. If I was pulling for just one person then I would have never said the other persons name.
She said her comment to the child whose father was in the military was not meant to change the childs mind about supporting McCain.
At the end of the segment, Harris can be seen in her home wearing a Barack Obama button. She was also filmed at a May informance at the school, which is a cross between a performance and an information presentation, wearing an Obama button while talking to kids about voting.
Now I can support whomever I want to support, as long as I don't browbeat another person for the candidate that they supported, she said in the film. Like I have some students that support John McCain, and when they told me that, I said that's good' and I just moved on.
Harris was a subject in the film because President George H.W. Bush visited her home in 1992 after an invitation from her then-husband, Roy Harris, who was serving on the Asheville city school board.
She had not seen the documentary or the blogs until she was contacted by the Citizen-Times on Thursday.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081106/NEWS01/81106074&template=printart
Tags: Black Teacher Slams Soldier's Kid for McCain
Tags: Black Teacher Slams Soldier's Kid for McCain
