1,000 attend school board meeting over racist tweets
San Francisco school board members gathered for the first time, since the rediscovery of racist tweets posted by one of their own, in a meeting attended by more than 1,000 community members looking to weigh in on the scandal.
President Gabriela López set aside time for each board member to address the issue of Vice President Alison Collins’s social media posts against Asian Americans, and then allotted 50 minutes for the public to speak as well.
Two school board members, Jenny Lam and Faauuga Moliga have called for Collins’ resignation as have dozens of public officials and community groups. In the tweets posted in 2016, Collins said Asian Americans had used “white supremacist thinking to assimilate and ‘get ahead.’ ”
“Where are the vocal Asians speaking up against Trump? Don’t Asian Americans know they’re on his list as well?” Collins had tweeted. Using asterisks in references to the racial epithet, Collins continued, “Do they think they won’t be deported? profiled? beaten? Being a house n **** r is still being a n **** r. You’re still considered ‘the help.’ ”
Collins, who is Black, said she wanted to again
express her “sincere and heartfelt apologies,” although she didn’t specify further. In a previous statement Saturday, she apologized for the hurt caused by the tweets, which Lam called a “nonapology.”
The tweets remained online Tuesday evening.
Board members Matt Alexander, Kevine Boggess, Mark Sanchez and López condemned the tweets, but did not call for Collins to resign. Instead, they said they supported a “restorative process.”
“I understand the real pain, the real fears, the real hurt people are feeling,” López said. “We are all victims of the racism that plagues our country.”
Lam, however, said restorative justice begins with an acknowledgment of harm, which she said she did not believe Collins had done, adding “words matter.”
“Being silent in moments of injustice allows injustice to persist,” Lam said. “We’ve been silenced by ignorant comments like this for far too long,” she said. “I do not have confidence in Commissioner Collins to govern.”
Without a resignation, Lam said that she and Moliga would introduce measures at the next school board meeting to strip Collins of committee assignments and her role as vice president on the board.
Against the wishes of Lam and Moliga, López limited public comment to 50 minutes, with 20 minutes each for those “supporting” and “opposing” Collins.
Lam said she believed this
presented a false equivalence when many of the 1,000 people came to call on Collins to resign, including parent Thomas Kim.
“How would I explain this to my children?” Kim said of the tweets. “I do want us to find a way to move on. I don’t know how to proceed, Vice President Collins, with you as a leader in this district. Please take leadership and resign so we can all move on.”
Speakers supporting Collins said the unearthing of the tweets was connected to a “political agenda” and is “opportunistic targeting.”
The San Francisco Berniecrats oppose those calling for Collins’ resignation, said Brandee Marckmann, cochair of the group.
“We are deeply saddened and disappointed that people in our community are using this issue as a wedge for political gain,” she said. “Divide and conquer techniques cannot help San Francisco heal.”
District officials also updated the board on plans for reopening
during the meeting, saying the timeline for reopening remained in place, dependent on how many students and teachers opt to return.
City health officials have inspected and approved 11 schools for reopening, district officials said, with another 35 schools inspected, but pending approval. In addition, the district has requested inspections at an additional 38 sites.
The first students are scheduled to return on Apr. 12, with additional school sites phased in through April. Families returning to inperson learning should receive an information packet with placement information 10 days prior to their first day back in classrooms.
A district survey of more than 14,000 students in grades or demographics prioritized to return first show a majority of families want to return to inperson learning including: 58% of preschool families; 67% of transitional kindergarten through second grade; 79% of third through fifth grade; and 53% of high needs middle and high school students.