Right-wing politics inflamed local racists to chase away a respected black educator
Cecelia Lewis came to help our students and was met with hatred.
This newsletter was only a few days old when I covered a recent incident at a Lacrosse game that was just another in a seemingly endless string of “incidents” that make our community look incredibly racist to most of the country. It was only last year that I watched in cringing horror as bad actors stirred up hardline conservatives and closet racists to drive away a woman our district hired to spearhead programs for the benefit of our students—especially those with special needs or otherwise disadvantaged.
I have a list of topics I’d like to cover after the runoff elections, and the story of what happened to Ms. Lewis was near the top. I say “was” because ProPublica published an in-depth and well-written article that explains the whole situation, offers more insight into Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs, and lets us meet an experienced and devoted educator who was chased out of not one but two local communities because of what started in our county. We should be ashamed.
The piece by Nicole Carr does a far better job covering this topic than I could do it justice, so instead of rehashing I will send you straight there.
» Click here to read: “White Parents Rallied to Chase a Black Educator Out of Town. Then, They Followed Her to the Next One.” «
