A white guy asked if Hispanic kids learn American history. Now, he’s getting slammed. – NJ.com

Jack Fornaro said he was just being “inquisitive” when he raised the question at a state Board of Education meeting.

“With the demographics that you have indicated here, you know, the high population that is Hispanic, and, uh, I am just wondering, do you teach American history as a required course,” Fornaro, a state board member, asked Paterson school officials.

The answers is obviously yes. And, now, Fornaro is facing backlash from two state lawmakers who condemned his May 1 comments as “shocking” and “insensitive.”

“Given the national climate, we must be clear that New Jersey does not stand for this type of prejudice, certainly not from those in positions in power,” Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, and Sen. Nelli Pou, D-Passaic, wrote in a letter to the state education commissioner.

Fornaro called the response to his question overblown. He may have misspoke when he started off by mentioning Hispanic students, he said, but would have asked that question of any district because he’s heard complaints that students aren’t learning enough about history.

“I’m not that guy they are trying to make me out to be,” Fornaro said. “I am not a prejudiced person.”

The dispute comes amid rising tensions on all sides of the cultural and political debate. It pits the fear that national immigration policy has stoked and normalized prejudice against people of color against claims of hypersensitivity and political correctness run amok.

Hispanic immigrants often face constant doubts about their assimilation (are they American enough?), so the question of learning about American history may be received as especially offensive the way Fornaro phrased it.

Ruiz and Pou said they were specifically concerned that Fornaro also asked about the pass rate for American history, which they interpreted as a suggestion that immigrants and children of immigrants can’t pass the class.

But Fornaro said he heard no complaints about his questions until he began fielding calls from reporters when the lawmakers blasted him. He was mostly interested in what time periods are taught.

“How far does that go back?” he asked, according to audio obtained by NJ Advance Media. “Does that go back to the independence, when the county was declared independent or does it go after the Civil War? Where do you start?”

He also pointed out that he’s the son of Italian immigrants and grew up in Brooklyn in the 1940s and 1950s.

“I grew up in a mixed neighborhood,” he said. “I am fine with every population in the country.”

Fornaro had been on the state board since 2011, when he was appointed by then-Gov. Chris Christie. A former police officer and investigator, he now works as an aid for Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen.

In their letter to the education commissioner, Ruiz and Pou suggested all board members should be trained in cultural competency and cultural sensitivity.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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