Students Respond To Teacher's 'Speak American' Remark By Walking Out Of Cliffside Park High School

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Students walked out of classes at Cliffside Park High School Monday in response to a teacher there last week telling students they should "speak American."

"...men and women are fighting. They are not fighting for your right to speak Spanish," the teacher said in the 26-second-long video. "They are fighting for your right to speak American."

The video has been viewed tens of thousands of times on YouTube.

The student-organized protest took place during fourth period. Students brought flags representing their home countries, News 12 New Jersey reported. A fire alarm was going off at the school, and authorities responded after the protest started.

An English teacher reportedly made the comment during a math class, PIX 11 reported. The teacher was covering the class for another teacher.

A large number of high school students are Latin American and hail from Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, NorthJersey.com reported.

"Mostly every student here is basically from another country," freshman Seda Avci told NorthJersey.com Monday morning before classes began. "So it hurts other people, knowing that they don't want them to speak their own language."

High School Principal Lawrence Pinto held an assembly Friday to address what happened, according to PIX 11. Pinto could not immediately be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

In the past few days, students used social media to encourage their schoolmates to walk out of classes today.

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com. Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.

Photo: YouTube screenshot