Cali language teachers facing backlash for "cultural appropriation" yearbook photos

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Yearbooks released to seniors at San Pasqual High School in Escondido revealed what some employees were hiding in plain sight all year long.
Some students and parents were outraged when they saw World Language Department faculty donning ponchos, sombreros and fake mustaches in their yearbook photos.

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Two Hispanic parents who spoke with NBC 7 said they weren't offended by the photos, opting to reserve judgement until finding out the intention of teachers.

“It doesn’t look offensive to me," parent Merced Juarez said. Olivia Olalde, fourth from the right in the list of pictures, was Juarez's son's Spanish teacher.
“She’s a very good teacher. She was very strict with them because she wanted them to learn Spanish, to learn the language," Juarez said.

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Casas, whose Twitter profile says he was born in Tijuana, Mexico, later tweeted that "Cultural appropriation is offensive, even if the intent is not to offend, and has no place in our school. We have a lot of work to do @EUHSD."

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