Equity Chickens Coming Home To Roost for Seattle Schools - Part 1
Two major events have happened, both involving the equity work of Seattle Public Schools.
The first one is that some parents are suing SPS for racial discrimination, stemming from an incident at Pathfinder K-8. This was filed with the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights on April 11, 2023 by a group called Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) From the filing:
Pathfinder leadership has implemented several programs that separate students and other community members based on race or skin color in violation of federal law, as evidenced by the attached documentation. Specifically, the school has offered several opportunities that are racially-exclusionary or separate individuals based on race, including, without limitation:
- Pathfinder Community Cafe, which is meant to “connect and foster
relationships” and “bring community members together for a series of loosely
structured conversations that directly address issues important to the
community.” In September 2021, the school’s Racial Equity Committee
invited all “[f]amilies of Color, Black Families, Indigenous Families, and
Multiracial Families at Pathfinder to the inaugural Pathfinder Community
Cafe!” (Ex. A).
How is it a community cafe if it doesn't include everyone in the community?
- Affinity Groups, the following of which are offered this school year: “BIPOC,
Mixed Race, White, LGBTQIA2+, Disabled, and Jewish.” In the October 16
2022 issue of the Pathfinder Compass newsletter, Pathfinder’s principal, Dr.
Britney Holmes stated: “[s]imilar to last year, Affinity Groups are starting
soon! ...We realize folx can share more than one of these identities, so we
plan to offer groups on a rotation” (Ex. B). In the January 22, 2023 issue of
the newsletter, however, Dr. Holmes narrows the scope of offered Affinity
Groups, saying that “[t]eachers Timmesha and Fatuma are beginning our
Black affinity space. This too will begin with our Middle School scholars and
we will seek a similar path to including our elementary school student [sic]”
(Ex. B). There is no mention in the January 2023 newsletter of Affinity
Groups other than the “Black affinity space.”
If this includes everyone in the school, then I don't see the problem. There have been high school clubs for various groups and as long as there is one for every group as organized by school leadership, I say okay.
- Listening Sessions for “Middle School,” “Families Receiving SPED
Services,” and “BIPOC and Mixed Race Families” (Ex. C). Dr. Holmes
mentioned the Listening Sessions in the October 2022 newsletter, stating that
the school was “excited to re-start our Listening Sessions,” and that the school
“will use what you share with us to inform our practice and further consult
with teachers” (emphasis original) (Ex. C). The January 2023 issue of the
newsletter provided dates, times, and zoom links for the Listening Sessions
(Ex. C).
- Lunchtime Community Building Groups, which are for only “BIPOC &
Multiracial Scholars.” Originally announced during the 2021-2022 school
year, the Lunchtime Groups appear to be on-going today (see the live
registration link here). This opportunity is offered during lunch on the third
Wednesday of each month, and the registration page states: “WHO: All
BIPOC & Multiracial Scholars, K-8, are invited to join” (Ex. D)
The filing continues:
The separation of individuals on the basis of race and/or skin color in public schools is a direct violation of Title VI and the Fourteenth Amendment, from which Title VI is derived.
In announcing the various racially-segregated and racially-exclusionary events at Pathfinder,
Dr. Holmes has offered various reasons. They include:
● Offering a “space of connection and community for BIPOC & Multiracial
scholars at Pathfinder;”
● Providing “[a] time for White folx to embrace, excavate, and reckon with their
Whiteness, including their privilege and power examine how to center the
voices and experiences of BIPOC without harming and/or re-traumatizing
BIPOC;” and
● Offering “[a] time for BIPOC folx to take care of themselves and one another
while unpacking racism, internalized oppression, and racialized trauma,
discussing the impact of White Supremacy Culture and the pressure of
assimilation in the absence of Whiteness
I definitely see having groups OTHER than PTSA because not all parents feel welcome or like the structure of PTSA. But was the principal thinking the PTSA would organize the "time for White folx" in one of their meetings?
Looking into FAIR, I see a number of right-wing people on their Board like Megyn Kelly and Robert Pondiscio and Andrew Sullivan. That said, it is a big group of people. Oddly, there is already a group, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, that has been around since 1986. There's also the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
The FAIR group at hand wanted the Office for Civil Rights to tell the principal to stop sorting students by race, skin color and national origin.
I have not seen a comment from the district; I throw it up when they do.
I see from the school's PTSA page that they have a Racial Equity Committee; might be interesting to get their take on this issue. I also see they have a big fundraiser coming up, "Dream Big," dress code "sequins and denim."
Comments
Why not judge the actions of SPS based on whether they violated the law and not based on the perceived virtue of those bringing the lawsuit?
-FAIR is fair
I will judge BOTH sides actions because that's what you do in a lawsuit.
You might want to calm yourself.
What was the purpose of your description of FAIR if not to subtly question the motives of the group filing the complaint? Serious question.
If it isn't that, why not apply the same logic to both sides? Look up the principal of Pathfinder K-8 and you would find that she claims to be employed by this group which I think can be reasonably characterized as extremely left-wing:
https://www.andstillwerise.us/about-us
I'll leave judgements about which group seems to have values more aligned with their own as an exercise for the reader. (note that the affiliation comes from looking up the Principal on LinkedIn).
-FAIR is fair
Keep it up, please!
SP
Resign Thomas
However, I don't think any principal should so openly be dividing up the community. It seems like the PTSA should offer the different community groups since they are for parents and kids. I think the principal organizing all this opens it up to question.
“As a 60-year-old Black woman, I vividly remember affirmative action being discussed in my family home. My grandmother, a Garveyite in her younger years, was also Chairwoman of the Seattle CORE (Congress of Racial Equity) Employment Committee so I saw firsthand what the fight for affirmative action was in the late 60s and early 70s. My Grannie was a force. I remember how confident and persuasive she was when explaining why it was so important to hire Black folx at all levels in organizations. She successfully engaged and negotiated with Nordstrom, Bank of America, The Bon Marche (now Macy’s), Safeway and other major employers in Seattle to hire Black candidates.”
(https://www.andstillwerise.us/aswr-blog/is-dei-the-new-affirmative-action)
The woman they’re taking about (Roberta Holmes’ grandmother and Pathfinder principal Britney Holmes’ great grandmother) sounds like quite a lady and a true piece of Seattle history. Here's a write-up on her:
“Sarah Lynch (1896-1994) moved to Seattle from Jamaica as a young woman. She later married Joseph Lynch, from the island of St. Vincent, who was a follower of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). Together they raised five children and instilled in them the values of the UNIA and the Garvey movement. Joining CORE at age sixty-six, Mrs. Lynch committed much of her energy to opening job opportunities for African Americans, often serving as a ‘one woman’ negotiating team. She chaired the Employment Committee late in CORE’s existence. She received awards from the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle for her help in caring for neglected and abused children. She helped found the Central Area Chamber of Commerce. A believer in lifelong learning, she enrolled in classes at Seattle Community College at the age of seventy. Prior to her death at age ninety-eight she often acted as spokesperson for the Central Area Senior Center. Including Mrs. Lynch herself, five members of her family were active in CORE.”
https://seattleinblackandwhite.org/leaders.html
CORE’s Seattle chapter formed in 1961 to address racial discrimination in Seattle in housing policy, employment, commercial establishments, hospitals, schools, and restaurants. The group began as a nonviolent, integrated group in which white people played “a vital and equal role” but in 1967, disagreement arose in the national group concerning inclusion or exclusion of white members and Black Power. In March 1968, it was announced that CORE would become an all-Black organization. Later that year the fledgling all-Black Seattle chapter of CORE dissolved itself due in large part to a lack of continuity in leadership and a lack of money and participants, as well as the changing face of the civil rights movement.
https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/CORE_timeline.htm
There are certainly echoes of all of this in what’s been going on at Pathfinder and maybe other SPS schools.
Dr. Britney Holmes describes Sarah Lynch as being “a Garveyite in her younger years.” Her interest doesn’t seem to have been that fleeting, though, since she gave one of her kids Garvey as a middle name! Marcus Garvey believed in racial separatism. We’ll see, but I doubt the Office of Civil Rights does.
-CORE History
The problem with dividing kids up by race is that it is ignorant, harmful, and unconstitutional. But what better place to start teaching kids about political affinity groups than when they start kindergarten.
Also, who decided we are spelling it folx? "Folks" is already gender neutral. Ugh.
Ambiguously Brown Girl