Sacramento school newspaper quote draws controversy: "Hitler's got some good ideas."
SACRAMENTO — A controversial quote in a student newspaper has Sacramento Jewish leaders speaking out and a school principal sending voice messages to parents.
The quote printed in the C.K. McClatchy High School paper, The Prospector, reads: "Hitler's got some good ideas."
The paper published the anonymous student quote in a back page column. The quote was printed as one of nine "favorite" student responses to a question posed by newspaper staff. The question was: "Have you ever heard something while walking in the school hallways and thought 'That is the strangest and weirdest thing I have ever heard in my life?' "
Parent Amanda Banks read the quote.
"Freedom of the press is important, freedom of speech, we want to teach that to our students but I do think there are erratic topics that need to be put in context before they're just put out there," Banks said.
McClatchy Principal Andrea Egan sent a voice recording to parents following the publication, saying, "You are all likely aware of a deeply offensive comment."
Pam Herman is interim CEO of the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region. She is pushing for more education on the Holocaust during this Holocaust Remembrance Week.
"It's a gut punch, honestly. It's a gut punch," Herman said. "I'm sad that anyone would say that, clearly, but to have it out there without any information is horrific."
A 2020 Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness study showed that 63 percent of U.S. millennials and members of Generation Z did not know that 6 million Jewish people were killed in the Holocaust.
At McClatchy High School, the Prospector newspaper issued a statement about the Hitler quote on its Instagram page, reading, in part:
"We would first like to express that this quote does NOT reflect our ideals or beliefs; it was included to spark a conversation on how students here choose to use their words."
"I can't think of an appropriate context in a stand-alone statement," Banks said.
The Prospector posted another statement late Tuesday afternoon reading:
"We believe exposing the quote has led to much-needed conversation but that the situation has escalated into something we did not intend."
On Wednesday, the Sacramento Bee reported that the school's journalism adviser was suspended and has been ordered not to go to campus or communicate with students during that time.