Florida: Teacher suspended for calling Muslim student Taliban

A high school teacher has been voted to be suspended by a South Florida school board after she was accused of a racial slur against a Muslim student.

Youssef Hassan Wardani, the father of the Muslim student, Deyab-Houssein Wardani, 14, said: "She [teacher] called my son, on Feb. 2 as we walked into class, 'Here comes the raghead Taliban.'"

Youssef said his son recalled the French teacher, Maria Valdes, at Cypress Bay High School in Weston, repeating the slur several times.

After Youssef called for an action against the teacher, the Broward School Board voted on 17 March to suspend Valdes for five days without pay.

Tracy Clark, a Broward County Schools spokeswoman, said, reported CBS News: "The diversity of our students, our families and this community is of tantamount importance to us as a school district."

Disappointed by the short suspension, Youssef said: "You have failed every teacher and parent and child in this district just to hide Mrs. Maria Valdes and racists like her."

Deyab-Houssein shared his father's frustration and said the short suspension should have been "more severe" since five days will serve more like "a vacation for her".

The School Superintendent Robert Runcie, however, reassured Youssef that he too faced a similar situation shortly after his family moved to the US from Jamaica.

"[Our neighbor] walked across the street, turned around and without warning he started shooting a gun and shot my mother in the face," said Runcie.

"When the shooter was asked why he did this, he said that he was angry and hated Jamaican immigrants who were coming here and taking our jobs."

While the school district has said any stricter punishment cannot be enforced as it's following state and federal guidelines and respecting union agreement, the Wardanis are considering legal action.

"Our son is not a raghead Taliban. Replace it with something else. Our son is not a bully. Replace it with something else. Our son is not the n-word. Our son is not a KKK," said Youssef.