Early this morning, superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice reacted to charges of racism, addressed by Dr. Carol Felder and others at last night’s Board of Education meeting. He said:
During the Board of Education meeting last night, parents in our school community bravely came forward to share their painful experience of racism targeted at their children who are students in the Westport schools. In their remarks, they also challenged all of us to do better. For them and for everyone in our community, we must meet this challenge.
Let me be clear: We do not tolerate racism and other forms of hate in our schools. When we learn that a student has been targeted based on their identity, we first take steps to ensure that the student is safe and supported. Following an investigation, we take swift, decisive action and those responsible are held accountable.
I have had the privilege of meeting in the past couple of months with the parents who spoke publicly last night, and I want to respond to their question, “Can you imagine?”
In short, my answer is “no,” I cannot imagine what it would be like to suffer through their experience. I do, however, know this: No student, no person, should ever have to face discrimination or harassment based on their race. We will listen, we will learn, and while there is no cure for the virus of hate, we will continue to ensure that our schools do all we can to fight against it.
I encourage anyone within our school community who experiences or witnesses acts of hate or discrimination to report them. We will continue to engage with students, staff and families to listen, learn and take further actions that contribute to healing and reconciliation.
It is essential that we work together with the entire Westport community so that everyone in our schools and broader community is treated with dignity and respect.
Superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice.
Superintendent of Schools Thomas Scarice
The Atlantic published this yesterday morning. This took me about 20 minutes to read and it made me cry a little. Truly truly heartbreaking.
However, the last third is full of suggestions to tackle antisemitism in a meaningful way. If Mr. Scarice is serious about Westport doing better, I suggest he consider some of the ideas.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/jewish-anti-semitism-harvard-claudine-gay-zionism/677454/
This is not an article about anti-semitism, and the courageous parents who spoke up about racism in our schools deserve to not have the focus shifted.
So, Alex, are you saying that anti-semitism is not racism? If so, that is not only anti-Semitic, it is racist. Now, if you can call out elitism cropping up in the public schools (despite teachers doing everything they can to stop it) you will have achieved what we egalitarians in the heartland call “The Westport Hat Trick.”
No Eric, you said that not me. When we were discussing anti-semitism a few weeks back, with ivy presidents and a Westport parent article on Newsweek, the discourse was about anti-semitism. The brave parents who spoke up about treatment of their kids in the schools based on the color of their skin have the floor now, so let’s respect that and not shift the focus of this discourse to anti-semitism.
Alex, if a discussion on racism can sweep up a few antisemites in the same net it won’t harm the people who told their heartbreaking story at the BOE meeting or detract from their tragedy. In any case, the last thing Evan was trying to do was subtract from the impact of the meeting.
That is correct: Anti-Semitism is not racism, and it derails this conversation to equate the two. Racism is discrimination based on skin color, on the myth of separate races, and it is built into this country’s political, residential, educational, financial, and legal systems. Most Jewish people have light skin privilege. It doesn’t mean Jewish people don’t face discrimination, but that discrimination isn’t based in skin color. A Black mother of Westport children had the enormous courage to come forward and expose what is being done to her children: please don’t try to take the focus away.
I agree, Alex. While I still believe the article is important, I did not know the source material that Mr. Scarice was responding to until after I posted. The emails of Dan’s posts arrived in my mailbox out of order. It was not my intention to distract from the issue of racism in Westport against black people.
I can’t delete the post and I think the article it points to is still worth reading although not germane to the topic.
I blame bad parenting! This is awful! Parents: do your JOB! Being kind and a good human trumps what school your child gets into! Take responsibility for who you are raising!
The schools do NOT teach kids to be mean, bully, and be racist! Parents allow that to happen by being negligent parents!
Hold the parents accountable!
With this response Tom…..I’d rather you had not responded at all! Do better! Let me give you some verbiage that should have been used! Our Westport Schools have a zero policy for racism. Any child that does anything deemed in our code of conduct as racist will be expelled from our schools! FYI Tom just in case you need examples: placing a school prop to the back of someones head and telling them “this is what happened to people your color”, and calling a child a nigger and monkey are all grounds for immediate expulsion. We will not tolerate this level of hatred. Every child that walk through those school doors will be treated by staff, administrators and children with the utmost dignity and respect no matter their race or religion. They will leave our buildings physically and emotionally in tack. I myself will stand and block the doors of the schools if any of my x amount of students cannot receive a great education in a healthy environment.
Tom, I am absolutely appalled that this is happening in 2024. African Americans have earned their seat at the table and deserve to not only eat well but eat in peace and if that cannot happen it’s time to start flipping those tables. Let’s start putting action behind words Tom!! What are you going to do!!!! Why does it keep happening over and over and over again if you have a plan in place. Accountability is not an in school suspension Tom. DO BETTER WESTPORT CONNECTICUT!!
To my fellow black and brown parents. Now is the time to unite. If it’s not your child today, it will be your child tomorrow. I am in agreement with the people that spoke at the board meeting. It’s time to bring national attention to this matter. Let’s contact the NAACP and let’s block the doors. Enough is Enough!
NO I CANNOT IMAGINE!!!!!
I agree. He should not have responded. I was one of the parents who spoke at the meeting. He says he had the pleasure of meeting me and working with me. The conversations we had was a “pleasure” to have. It should have been a “saddening, frightening, anything but a pleasure! For him to release they have no tolerance is DISGUSTING. If there was no tolerance then families wouldn’t have had to come forward. If the children were taught at home and school that this is not ok there wouldn’t be a problem. Let’s get the NAACP involved and leave a mark for our children and the next children. Let’s let them know we made a difference. My two children are biracial and my oldest will go to school and not say he is part black because kids don’t believe him or make comments. Let’s block them doors.
Completely agree with the parents of these children. Words and acts of discrimination have to have last consequences for the offenders. That is what zero tolerance really means.
I guess my question, which only the students and their parents (and perhaps the teachers) can answer, is whether there is a general culture of meanness at Staples and many students are getting bullied, or if it’s mostly the very few (and therefore much more easily picked on) students with darker skin who are being targeted so viciously. Is there a culture of divisiveness and bullying that needs to be uncovered and addressed, and if so, how do you educate everyone involved in order to change it? Or is this a lack of understanding around the impact of racism and racist name-calling, which needs to be addressed by itself? As James Baldwin wrote, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can change until it is faced.” Gather your courage, Westport and Staples, and face this.
Nothing is worse than hatred and bigotry against anyone. I am shocked, perhaps naively so, that it is occuring like this in my beloved home town. My empathy and prayers go out to all those who experience this. My determination as a citizen is to support all those in power who can diminish this behavior. At the end of the day its about parents raising their kids the right way.
It is sad to hear that any child in our school system has to deal with this kind of disrespect and hateful speech from another student. A sad reflection on the offender and by association their family!!
But what is the extent of the problem – is it a few bad actors or rampant racism in our schools. I suspect and hope it is the former- just a few!
In the good old days when Dr Hightower and Mr Bludnicki were in charge at Bedford Middle School on Riverside Avenue, this type of racist behavior (as well as antisemitic slurs) would have resulted in immediate conversations with both involved students and both sets of parents present. They would have been told this will not be tolerated in our school, a lecture on respect would have been given, an apology demanded and a threat of suspension and or expulsion for any recurrences would have ended the meeting. And to seal the deal all parties had to shake hands on it!
Some kids have to be told what is right and what is wrong and that there are immediate repercussions!
I know most Westporters are outraged that this happened anywhere in our school system and most would offer apologies that it even happened!
WE all should pay more attention to the lawn signs- “Hate has no place in Westport whether it is racist, antisemitic, islamophobic or homophobic!”
I hope everyone reads the comment from “BMS Parent” on the other article, about last night’s BOE meeting. Obviously, none of us have first-hand knowledge of the incidents. It is valuable reading the thoughts of a parent of one of the accused.
Where can we find the other article?
Here: https://06880danwoog.com/2024/02/16/racial-incidents-raised-at-board-of-ed-meeting/
This takes you to the comment:
https://06880danwoog.com/2024/02/16/racial-incidents-raised-at-board-of-ed-meeting/#comment-223828
Thank you. I read and am underwhelmed and as a matter fact even more outraged. No new light on the situation was shed. He did admit that something inappropriate was said to an African American child was holding a gun AND what was said warranted an immediate apology.
I am always into sharing what could have been said. He could have said my daughter was the one that had the incident at the school with the prop gun. When I heard what happened I immediately talked to my child and then contacted the family and apologized on behalf of my child for what she said. I would have explained that what she said was not right and we hope that you knowing my child there was no malicious intent. Please Dr Felder-Anderson, Mr Anderson and victim accept me and my child’s sincerest apology as this will be used as a teachable moment.
Parents need to stop trying to justify their children’s unjustifiable behaviors!!! Take accountability, apologize and use it again as a teachable moment.
I don’t see it as justifying unjustifiable behaviors, but offering a somewhat different perspective while acknowledging a wrong.
There are only a few people who know what precisely occurred. Neither you or I are amongst them. None of the parents are, either.
As I said in a comment on the other post, I’m confident that all of the parents are telling what they believe to be the truth.
I’m not aware of what communications have taken place between the parents, so I won’t speculate about what was, wasn’t, or should have been said.
Once again, I’m reminded of the stunningly progressive stance of the Board of Ed back in 1971 when, amidst opposition you can easily imagine, it signed on to the Project Concern program, inviting a few dozen African-American (and other) children from Bridgeport to be educated in Westport. I’m also reminded of my mother, who signed me up as a “buddy” to an incoming student. We became good friends for years, and we both learned a lot from and about each other. It was such a good idea. You have to start early! I was only 7 years old! Thanks, Mom, and thanks, Charles.
There always have been, and always will be – complete a-hole middle and high school kids. Some of them may be your kid. Or my kid. It’s not unique to Wepo.
There’s no cultural problem in the Westport Public Schools, there are a-hole kids, always have been, always will be.
In the 70’s when I was an elementary school lad, on the same day we’d make dreidels and sing Frosty the Snowman. And our teachers made sure that we learned all about MLK and scrambled to teach us about Indian and Asian cultures (a bit) as Westport became slightly less White.
Stop acting like this is some transcendental problem, it’s not, some of your kids are assholes which they either learned from you, the internet, their friends – or more likely a combination of all three.
Get over all the shock and horror, thoughts and prayers. I am so impressed by the family who came forward, let’s listen, learn, educate the offenders, and become better together.
There are, David, few “middle and high school a-holes” who do not come from families headed by adult ass holes…few teens or pre- teens would, on their own, use words such as nigger, kike, wop. Hard to believe, perhaps, but such words are used in many homes and some of those homes are right here….take coffee some morning in a joint that ain’t Starbucks…you’ll hear it all.
The current environment does not help.
Children idolize and praise “trending,” “popular,” and “iconic,” individuals within the reality/entertainment world.
A lot of music uses derogatory words, and in group settings amongst themselves can lead to such outspoken behavior. While they may think it is okay because:
Someone else is saying it
It’s in a song/textual
It’s not okay, at all.
That’s just one example. It applies to comedy, self influencers on social media outlets as a primary source, even inherited behavior traits from parents.
You can listen to a song or a podcast, it’ll make you laugh or feel good, but it does not make it you. There’s a clear distinction knowing that these words are bad. However, in today’s society that is more risqué, exposed, unfiltered, there’s a lot of controls and “watchdog” approach that has to be applied.
Andrew, How old are you? Remember Elvis? He was the rage in the 1950s. Older people hated him ! How about The Beatles in 1964 with their long hair. Young people have always had their trending iconic people they looked up to.
Blame the songs lol.
It was the people singing the songs. They influenced kids. Just look at yearbook pictures of kids with long hair after 1964. Out with the crew cut; in with the John Lennon look. That’s one small example.