Arizona Senator Reads Racist Letter: Latino Kids Are Gangbangers

An Arizona Republican state senator, Lori Klein, decided to add her name to the list of racist politicos in that state last week when she read what she said was a letter from a substitute teacher in Arizona claiming that Latinos students refused to say the pledge of allegiance and most of them claimed not to have any papers.

Here’s an excerpt of her behavior by the Arizona Guardian:

The freshman Senator prefaced the letter by saying: “I think we all want kids to get a good education . . .” and then Klein began reading from the letter for about three minutes.

In the letter, the teacher described a raucous classroom in which students tore out the pages of textbooks, wadded them up and threw the paper and books at each other.

“I thought, ‘Are these the students we are trying to educate with taxpayers’ money?’ I have found that substitute teaching in these areas, most of the Hispanics do not want to be educated but rather be gang members and gangsters,” Klein quoted from the letter. “They hate America and are determined to reclaim this area for Mexico.”

The Guardian tried to get a copy of this letter, but one was provided with no name or contact information of the writer. This is suspicious because it means anyone could have written it, including a staffer or white supremacist — we won’t know until they release the name. Oh, and Klein carries a gun in her purse when she’s in the senate.

The good news is this didn’t go immediately without repercussions. The Democratic caucus voiced its concerns and since Klein’s actions have been widely condemned — although she’s repeatedly denied interviews.

Here’s a video of her comments:

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD