Graham pens letter in support of Clearview superintendent

Lorain City Schools CEO Jeff Graham is supporting Clearview Local Schools Superintendent Jerome Davis following a letter he penned about racism which sparked criticism from members of his Board of Education.

In a letter to the community published Sept. 17, without using names, Graham alludes to a contentious Sept. 14 Clearview Board of Education meeting in which Davis defended his back to school newsletter where he addressed his experiences as a Black man in Lorain County through the lens of the protests and violence nationwide in response to police brutality and racial injustice.

Graham wrote that the circumstances called for him to educate and lead and acknowledged there are systemic flaws in access to equal education.

He described subconscious racism in schools as a virus.

“We’ve always known it’s there,” Graham wrote. “However, unless we’ve experienced it ourselves, it’s impossible to comprehend its impact.

“In this way, subconscious racism in our schools, like a virus, might not get your attention until it literally makes you sick.”

At the meeting, which Graham attended, Clearview Board President Heidi Adkins stated in response to Davis’ newsletter:

“If this were a white superintendent stating this about being especially strong for white students, would it be okay?”

Graham said in response that Adkins’ statement was clear she had missed the entire point of Davis’ letter offering support to Black and brown students.

“In my opinion, regardless of the color of a superintendent’s skin, he/she should place a higher focus on students who, statistically speaking, are underrepresented and vulnerable,” he wrote. “This means focusing on students who have brown or black skin, students who live in poverty and every other circumstance our children may face that we know to be barriers to learning.”

He characterized the issue as being about equity.

“Equality and equity are two very different things,” Graham wrote. “Equality is sameness - treating every student exactly the same.

“Equity is making sure that every child has what he/she needs to have access to the same opportunities as every other student. Spoiler alert: not every student has the same needs.”

It’s an unfortunate reality that all students do not have equal access to education and the challenge is to recognize the problem for what it is as systemic racism and create a system of equity literacy, Graham wrote.

“Let me put it another way: Equity literacy requires us to move beyond ‘caring for’ those we serve, to ‘caring about’ those we serve,” he wrote. “We’ve heard the stories of racial injustice across the country, but we cannot be so naive as to believe the disease of prejudice isn’t present in every community across the country, including right here in the Lorain City Schools as well as our neighboring school communities.”

Davis’ letter

The letter penned by Davis was mailed out in the second week of August and posted on the district website.

In his superintendent’s message, Davis discussed ending the 2019-2020 school year as the novel coronavirus pandemic grew and the “new normal” of COVID-19.

He continued by describing the protests and violence that erupted this summer in communities around the nation in response to racial injustice and police violence against African Americans.

The feelings of “feeling of sadness, anger, disappointment, and frustration” hit close to home, said Davis, who described his own experience as a Black man in America.

“There is too much hatred and unrest,” he wrote. “Trust me when I say, it happens right here in Lorain County. Yes, some of the haters, who happen to be cruel and evil people, are right here amongst us in this very community.

“Please do not be naïve enough to believe that this hatred and unrest is not in our backyards because it absolutely, positively is here.”

Davis pledged to stay strong for all students, especially Clearview’s Black and brown students.

Graham