Students from Cesar Chavez Elementary in Coachella were ordered to remove depictions of Mexican culture from a performance in September about Mexican Independence Day at the La Quinta Public Library, a school official said.

Superintendent Edwin Gomez sent a letter to the city of La Quinta detailing the treatment experienced by the elementary pupils. In it, he said the city ordered that the Sept. 15 presentation be changed after a resident complained about showcasing Mexican culture. Maria Hassan, the teacher who organized the performance, was told to remove the Mexican flag as well as references to Hispanic culture from the students' performance, Gomez wrote in a letter dated Oct. 11.

"I was informed that we could not proceed the way we had planned because they had received word from the city mayor that we couldn’t do anything with the Mexican flag or Mexican culture," Hassan said in an interview. "I was very emotional, and I had so many students around me."

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The children ended up giving a scaled-back performance that made no mention of Mexican Independence Day. They were not allowed to display the Mexican flag. Hassan said the 50 students performed in folkloric Mexican costumes without being able to provide the historical context.

According to Hassan, neither she nor her students have received apologies or communication from the city.

Gomez said in his letter that he was "dismayed at the reception that this voluntary and authentic performance has received, apparently due to the desire of one community member to limit the event."

According to the letter, Hassan was told that if her class wanted to perform at the library in the future, her students would have to "change their songs and dances to a more patriotic, American performance." The letter also states that songs like "It's a Small World" and "Yankee Doodle" were suggested over songs like "Marcha Zacatecana", a Mexican patriotic song.

"The group was restricted to their performance with no introduction of their program or the reason that they were in attendance and thus prevented from providing information about their dual language immersion studies or about Mexican Independence Day, the catalyst for their presentation," Gomez wrote.

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When asked if he felt this was an incident of racism, Gomez said, "our students and their teacher who worked very hard to perfect and bring this performance showcasing the richness of Mexican culture felt disrespected, and rejected."

"We wanted to display the flag to commemorate Mexican Independence Day," Hassan said. "What bothered us was ... we couldn’t mention why we were there."

Last week, Gomez met with La Quinta Mayor Linda Evans and City Manager Frank Spevacek. Evans, who is running unopposed for re-election, responded to a request for comment with an emailed statement explaining the district and the city are in the process of scheduling a second meeting on the issue.

Gomez said that an "explicit and direct apology was not provided."

According to Robert Radi, a La Quinta city council member, the city is preparing a statement regarding its investigation of the incident.

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"The city is currently engaged in discussions with the county, the district and all those involved, as we are taking this alleged incident very seriously," Radi said. He said the city is "very supportive of cross-cultural experiences to build strong relationships and propagate cultural knowledge."

Hassan, who said this was the second year her students performed at the library, said she will reconsider returning next year, especially if she and her students do not receive an apology from the city.

"We all noted we were treated differently," said Hassan. "We embrace Chinese New Year and St. Patrick's Day, but why not a Hispanic holiday? We should all be treated equally."

During the 2016-2017 school year, 996 of the 1,013 students at Cesar Chavez Elementary School were Latino, making up more than 98 percent of the student body.

Editor’s note: The headline on this story has been revised from the original version to clarify who alleged that students were told to sing alternative songs. An investigation commissioned by Riverside County after publication of this article concluded that library staff did not suggest the students sing ‘Yankee Doodle.’ The full report from January 2019 is available here, and the Desert Sun’s coverage of the investigation is available here.

Joe Hong is the education reporter for The Desert Sun. Reach him at 760-778-4655 or joseph.hong@desertsun.com. Follow him on Twitter @jjshong5.

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