King School apologizes after racism allegations
STAMFORD — In the wake of accusations on social media, King School officials apologized this month and said they are making changes to be a more inclusive and diverse institution.
A flood of anonymous posts showed up under the handle BlackAtKing starting in June of 2020, often naming staff members at the private day school directly. The campaign was one of many across the country at various schools that sought to illustrate racism in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by police officer Derek Chauvin.
Black students told they couldn’t get into prestigious universities, students using racial slurs, and double standards for Black students are some of the accusations levied against King School last summer.
School officials have declined to comment on the posts, but this month, King’s
A social media campaign last summer called out instances of discrimination at the private school, which responded by creating a task force to address it.
administration and board of trustees released a letter referencing the “eye-opening and heartbreaking testimonies” from students on social media last summer.
“We deeply regret and apologize for the pain suffered by anyone within our walls,” the letter read.
In response to the campaign, the Stamford K-12 private school hired a law firm to investigate the accusations, as well as identify ways to make the institution more inclusive and diverse. One of the school’s initial responses to Floyd’s death and the social justice protests that took place across the country, was to create a task force on “diversity, equity and inclusion.”
The letter from King’s administration and board of trustees detailed some of the changes brought on by the task force in an effort to be “a more inclusive and antiracist school.” Those changes include a greater emphasis on increasing diversity among the faculty, student body, and board of trustees, as well as more training sessions and workshops for staff and administrators on implicit bias and systemic racism.
The administrator of the BlackatKing Instagram account did not wish to speak on the record, only saying the posts speak for themselves.
The BlackatKing posts include comments from Black students such as, “My friends refused to believe my grades were real.”
There were a number of microaggressions listed, such as Black students being confused for other Black students, as well as teachers and students repeatedly commenting on Black students’ hair.
In one story, a staff member allegedly mocked students for protesting the death of Eric Garner in 2014 at the hands of a New York police officer. More than one account described a simulation of the Underground Railroad, in which white school employees acted as “slave masters,” and shouted racial slurs at students.
When asked about the accusations in the social media posts, the school spokesman
said King School officials would not be commenting and pointed to the letter.
“The painful stories that we heard from members of our school community and the social unrest that took place during the summer of 2020 led us to take a deep look within ourselves, confront the mistakes of the past, and enact change,” read the letter from the school.
The school’s diversity, equity and inclusion task force also implemented new “affinity groups” in the middle school grades, including one for students of color,
and another for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer students.
After the social media posts gained traction, King School hired a law firm to investigate the accusations. The letter from the school stated that administrators cannot provide details about personnel matters, but did say that the process “involved candid and frank personnel decisions and proportionate actions behind which we stand fully.”
Curriculum at the school will also be updated as part of the inclusion work, as
an audit is underway to revise the content taught in classrooms.
“An example of this work is reflected in the English and History curricula, which have been significantly updated to include racial literacy and more diverse perspectives,” read the letter from school leaders.
It continued, “In addition to revising our curriculum, we are working to make our classroom libraries more diverse and culturally responsive.”