Update on the East Ridge High School Black Panther Announcement

On Thursday, April 25, 2013, representatives of the group of parents concerned about the Black Panther announcement at East Ridge High School on Feb. 14, 2013, once again addressed the South Washington County District 833 School Board.  The following is the video and transcript of the event, including video of two others who came into the meeting to show their support for the district administration's handling of the issue.

The Superintendent and Board were quiet and attentive during the reading of the presentation, but did not comment upon it (per meeting rules).  It is expected that they will issue a statement at the next Board Meeting on May 9, 2013.

  

One of the comments made by Superintendent Jacobus at the March School Board meeting regarding the Black Panther announcement at East Ridge High School was that “our children are watching.” I certainly hope they are watching because they need to understand that the world and the school district are governed by rules.  Each year, the students in the district are asked to comply with the rules found in the “Student Rights and Responsibilities” handbook.  Parents are asked to review this document with their children because children are most successful in school when they understand what is expected of them.

Rules, regulations and laws are important to establish a just society.  Just as students are asked to comply with rules, our Administrators and School Board members are asked to comply with policies and procedures as well as abide by a code of conduct. 

To ensure that we are all, “on the same page,” it is important that we begin with all the information necessary to make a decision as to who should be held accountable for the announcement and the resulting consequences.

Let us begin with the announcement itself:

"Good Morning, East Ridge! I'm _____________. 'Power to the People' and 'Black is Beautiful' are two of the slogans associated with todays "Black History Month" person, or should I say, "People" of the day.  Today we commemorate Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, co-Founders of The Black Panther Party for Self Defense. I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO MY BLACK PEOPLE.I PLEDGE TO DEVELOP MY MIND AND BODY TO THE GREATEST EXTENT POSSIBLE.I WILL LEARN ALL THAT I CAN IN ORDER TO GIVE MY BEST TO MY PEOPLE IN THEIR STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION.I WILL KEEP MYSELF PHYSICALLY FIT, BUILDING A STRONG BODY FREE FROM DRUGS AND OTHER SUBSTANCES WHICH WEAKEN ME AND MAKE ME LESS CAPABLE OF PROTECTING MYSELF, MY FAMILY AND MY BLACK BROTHERS AND SISTERS.I WILL UNSELFISHLY SHARE MY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING WITH THEM IN ORDER TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE MORE QUICKLY.I WILL DISCIPLINE MYSELF TO DIRECT MY ENERGIES THOUGHTFULLY AND CONSTRUCTIVELY RATHER THAN WASTING THEM IN IDLE HATRED.I WILL TRAIN MYSELF NEVER TO HURT OR ALLOW OTHERS TO HARM MY BLACK BROTHERS AND SISTERS FOR I RECOGNIZE THAT WE NEED EVERY BLACK MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD TO BE PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY STRONG.THESE PRINCIPLES I PLEDGE TO PRACTICE DAILY AND TO TEACH THEM TO OTHERS IN ORDER TO UNITE MY PEOPLE. (Shirley Williams, The Black Panther Newsletter, October 28, 1968)

 To understand the magnitude of concern for the inappropriate nature of that announcement and the two people honored on the morning of Feb. 14, 2013, it is important to realize that both Seale and Newton were convicted of violent crimes which include the following:

As a teenager and into his 20’s, Huey Newton worked as a pimp, strong-armed the weak, committed armed robberies and ran short-change scams

On October 23, 1967, Newton shot and killed Officer John Frey and wounded his partner during a traffic stop

In July of 1974, Newton shot and killed a 17 year old prostitute named Kathleen Smith

Newton’s violent offenses continued into 1978 with the rape of a 30 year old woman and mother of three and the murder of Betty Van Patter.

These are but a fraction of the heinous offences committed by these two members of the Black Panther Party.  This one way announcement failed to point out the violent and criminal behavior of these two individuals.  From what we understand, no honest balanced discussion regarding the Black Panther Party took place in any classrooms after the announcement was read.  It is the districts job to protect our children from bullies whether physical or verbal.  This one way announcement constituted institutional indoctrination.

After the March School Board meeting, Board members and the Superintendent stated that the Principal had been receiving “threats.”  We also heard the Superintendent shame parents with his statement, “our children are watching.”  These remarks may have been an attempt to point a finger at concerned parents as the source of these “threats”.  In an attempt to find the truth and protect concerned parents from further slander, a Freedom of Information Act request was presented to the district for all emails received or sent by the Superintendent and the Principal as a result of the Black Panther Announcement.  According to the letter received from the Superintendent, the District redacted all private educational data, including parents’ names and private information.  Under Minnesota Statutes Section 13.43, subdivision 1, the District stated that data on individual staff members, including allegations and threats against individual staff members had been redacted.  Redactions of threats are not covered by the Statute sited; therefore, the request has not been fulfilled.

It appears as if the District used a process of selective redaction not covered by the Statute leaving private data of parents along with some email addresses, including my own, unprotected.  Statements redacted from emails included benign words and remarks, such as:

“is acceptable and appreciated”

“Real nice work by the staff at East Ridge”

“What you’ve allowed to happen is a disgrace and reflects poorly on your leadership in this District”

My question to the District is:  Why were these statements removed?

The Principal asked directly in one email, if the parent had a concern about “celebrating Black History Month.”   Let’s be clear, no one has ever stated they had a problem with Black History Month.  Additional emails between the Principal and the District Communication’s Director indicate concerns over parents’ blogging or writing about the announcement. They seem to be attempting to guess the identity of whoever was responsible for the dissemination of this story, in an attempt to redirect blame and minimize their own lack of oversight.   Is it possible that the District wants only their voice to be heard in our community?

In a previous school board meeting, the Superintendent stated that the announcement was “student led.”  This was a misrepresentation as emails received contain specific information as to who was responsible for the content.  It was, in fact, a supervising faculty member, who is now openly boasting on her public Facebook page that she is “the teacher” responsible for honoring this violent, Marxist organization.  The fault belongs to the teacher and the students are innocent pawns.

It was up to the school board to investigate and come to their own conclusions without the interference of administrators.  Emails collected seem to indicate collusion between the administration and the school board.  It is the job of our elected school board members to represent all the citizens of District 833.  It is, according to General Statement of Policy, section 301, School District Administration Policy, Part II, Section D, the direct responsibility of the school board to provide oversight and effective leadership.

The people who elected you are requesting that you abide by this policy.

In the days following the East Ridge announcement commemorating Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, the district received numerous calls and e-mails from the community questioning how and why a subject of this nature was communicated in such an inappropriate manner.

The summary response by the school district to the public was that this was a student led event without proper oversight.  We are being led to believe that the students were solely responsible for the content of the announcement.  Where was the supervising faculty member?

The administration has attempted to change the narrative by questioning the motives of the concerned parents either by insinuation or by directly asking if those parents have an “issue” with Black History month. This seems to be a method to deflect the issue and marginalize those concerned parents that raised the objection.

In addition, some district representatives have tried to minimize the content of the message by discounting and re-defining the meaning of the word “commemorate”.   One official stated that commemorating can mean different things.  No it can’t.  To commemorate something or someone means – to honor, to celebrate, immortalize, pay tribute to – attempting to define it any other way, would be a deliberate falsehood.

Let’s be perfectly clear.  From the very beginning, the objections raised to the school district were in regards to the inappropriate use of the morning announcements to commemorate two of the founding members of the Black Panther Party.  This was not only poor judgment but a complete lack of oversight and guidance on the part of those in charge.  A topic of this nature needs to be taught through an open, honest and balanced discussion in the classroom and not over the one-way public address system.

There was never any issue regarding teaching students about the history of the Black Panther Party.  It’s only through exposing these and other groups like them to the light of truth that we are able to have a complete understanding of what they represent.

After the Feb 14th announcement, the principal took full responsibility for the lack of oversight – a step in the right direction.  However, taking responsibility without following through with action is not effective.  During a subsequent school board meeting the superintendent stated that the incident had been reviewed and the district considers the matter closed.  To the surprise of many, there was no obvious closure and no follow-up to the parents or citizens that raised the objection, which left many feeling as if they had just been scolded and told to sit down and be quiet.  Well, that’s not an acceptable response.

The teacher overseeing the preparation and reading of the announcement was responsible for the incident and accountable to the principal.  The principal was responsible for the teacher and accountable to the Superintendent who is in-turn accountable to the School Board.  The School Board is accountable to the taxpaying citizens of the district - and many are not satisfied with the outcome.

The students are required to adhere to the rules and guidelines established and enforced by the district.  My question to the Board is: “on the day of the announcement and in the subsequent time since then, did those in charge follow the policies and code of conduct established by District 833?

What transpired on Feb 14th warrants more than a cursory review by the administration and a quick dismissal of the issue.  It is the responsibility of the School Board, and an expectation by the taxpayer, that the Board conduct its own investigation through an independent review process, without administrative influence.

At a previous Board meeting where the superintendent said he considered the issue closed, he also comment that “the children are watching”.   That’s good.  They should witness how citizens of The Constitutional Republic in which we live, have the right to question and petition their elected officials in an open and honest dialog.  The children should also see that those elected officials have the responsibility to properly redress the grievances brought by their constituents.  One other additional thing they will notice – that the taxpaying community is watching too.

More information on this issue:
http://amnhockeymama.blogspot.com/2013/02/east-ridge-high-school-black-panthers.html

http://amnhockeymama.blogspot.com/2013/02/what-if.html

http://amnhockeymama.blogspot.com/2013/02/black-panther-honoring-school-district.html

http://amnhockeymama.blogspot.com/2013/03/offended-by-truth-too-bad.html