South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)

Amid calls for action, Orange NAACP mum on racism claim

Toolsie resigned as president after only three weeks

- By Desiree Stennett dstennett@ orlandosen­tinel.com

Nearly three weeks after Dr. Vanessa Toolsie resigned from her shortlived post as president of the Orange County branch of the NAACP citing antiAsian racism she said was levied against her by other leaders, the civil rights organizati­on has remained largely silent amid the fallout.

Toolsie, who was born in Trinidad of Indian descent, was the organizati­on’s first South Asian president.

Since she announced her departure plans publicly in a Facebook post and at the organizati­on’s most recent monthly membership meeting on Aug. 22, at least two NAACP board members — Education Chairperso­n Shiyana Valentine and Youth Chairperso­n Goddest Johnson — have resigned in solidarity. Meanwhile, a letter calling on the NAACP branch to take action was signed by 16 community members, Asian-American activists, and current and former Orange County NAACP members.

“It is disappoint­ing that a small group of people have worked to discredit and disrupt the work that former President Toolsie and the local NAACP has done... causing her to resign after continued harassment and abuse despite requests to the state and national offices to intervene,” the letter said. “We hope that the organizati­on is able to work together with local leaders to address concerns and find common ground in advancing justice and equality for all.”

Toolsie became president in March when former leader Tiffany Hughes resigned to run for political office. She ended her term Aug. 31, accusing a member of the branch’s executive board of purposeful­ly attempting to exclude her from events, ignoring her emails and purposeful­ly failing to send out meeting announceme­nts in a malicious attempt to impede her effectiven­ess.

After Toolsie shared her experience during the August meeting, one NAACP member briefly refuted the claims and another asked for evidence. Tiara Robinson, who became president when Toolsie resigned and led that meeting, did not publicly address Toolsie’s concerns.

Since then, Robinson has not responded to repeated requests for comment from the Orlando Sentinel to discuss either Toolsie’s claims or Robinson’s own plans for the organizati­on as the new leader.

The NAACP has issued just one brief statement on the matter.

“We are deeply troubled by the recent allegation­s of discrimina­tion within the NAACP Orange County branch,” the statement posted to the organizati­on’s website said. “As an organizati­on vested in civil rights and social justice, we abhor racial hate of any kind. We take seriously all allegation­s of discrimina­tion and have opened an investigat­ion into the claims brought forward by the branch. As an internal matter, we will make no further comment pending the investigat­ion.”

It’s not clear how long the investigat­ion will take but in her resignatio­n letter, Toolsie said the “racist marginaliz­ation” she endured happened both during meetings in front of other members and in emails.

Valentine could not be reached for comment but she did sign the letter in support of Toolsie, listing herself as a “former” committee chair.

Johnson, who was celebrated on the NAACP branch Facebook page just two months ago when she became chairperso­n of the organizati­on’s youth committee, confirmed that she and Valentine both resigned after witnessing how Toolsie was treated during meetings.

Johnson said when she joined the NAACP branch, she was excited to bring her perspectiv­e as a legally blind Black woman to the organizati­on. She was blinded in a car crash that killed her sister and her niece 11 years ago. After more than 40 surgeries, she has partially regained her vision and now travels the nation giving motivation­al speeches.

In her short time as youth chair, she said she started to revive the youth presence in the organizati­on, welcoming 15 young people, some with visual impairment­s and others without, into the NAACP.

But since her first meeting, she said she found the way Toolsie was being treated appalling, describing one particular­ly uncomforta­ble meeting that was supposed to be one hour on a Saturday but turned into four hours of attacks and distractio­ns before she finally left.

Johnson said Toolsie was met with pushback at every turn, even with simple requests like asking that people use the hand-raising function in the virtual Zoom meetings and wait to be recognized to speak or that new committee chairs be added to leadership emails.

Though Johnson resigned as chair, she said she hopes that current NAACP leaders in Orange County and statewide will address her concerns and stamp out the discrimina­tion.

For now, Johnson said she doesn’t want to bring the young people she was able to find who are energized to fight for civil rights issues into the Orange County branch but she has not given up on the historic organizati­on. She will instead bring them and her ideas for engaging youth to the national organizati­on and hopes that they will be embraced there.

“I honestly would like to see this particular branch represent what the NAACP stands for,” she said. “I’m still a member and I would like to be an active member and be able to be proud to be a part of this branch. I would like the heads to be able to put people in place that will represent the mission of the NAACP.”

 ?? WILLIE J. ALLEN JR./ ORLANDO SENTINEL ?? Vanessa Toolsie has raised allegation­s of anti-Asian racism against her when she was president of the Orange County NAACP.
WILLIE J. ALLEN JR./ ORLANDO SENTINEL Vanessa Toolsie has raised allegation­s of anti-Asian racism against her when she was president of the Orange County NAACP.

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