100+ teachers support union president’s ‘white privilege’ remarks on reopening schools
Nearly 140 Pasco teachers have thrown their support behind their union president after he linked calls to fully reopen schools to white privilege.
While many may be outraged by Pasco Association of Educators’ President Scott Wilson’s comments at the Jan. 12 meeting, the new four-page letter said there are teachers, students and parents who applaud Wilson’s courage to speak up.
They said they “stand behind him in his addressing of how we see white privilege in who comprises our board, in our government leaders locally and in the decisions these leaders and our board continue to make without inviting more voices to the table to ensure equitable representation of all of our community members.”
Wilson linked “free to breathe” and “free to reopen everything” rallies to a “culture of white supremacy and white privilege.”
His statements came as the union leadership continued to push school leaders to move students back online because of relatively high rates of COVID-19 transmission.
In the most recent survey available, 80 percent of the nearly 790 teachers who responded, said they didn’t feel safe returning to classrooms with middle and high school students at current infection rates. Elementary students already are attending classes in-person part of the week.
The latest response comes after an anonymous letter circulated on Facebook calling on members to leave the union.
That letter said Wilson’s statements did not represent all teachers in the district and urged union members to quit the local and state unions.
It’s unclear if any Pasco teachers have taken steps to leave the union though some shared the letter.
Wilson’s supporters pointed out that Latinos comprise nearly two-thirds of the district’s population, but there is just one Latino school board member.
“It is not easy to talk about white privilege when so many still deny its existence and when so many refuse to listen to voices that belong to people of color,” the letter said. “(We) still cannot talk about white privilege without being told to be quiet, without being told we are unprofessional, without being told we are radical or outrageous or without being told we need to leave.”
Misinterpreted statements
The group claimed the anonymous letter took Wilson’s statements out of context. They argued Wilson used the examples of the U.S. Capitol riot and breaking into the state governor’s mansions as a metaphor for making a dangerous decision after barriers are removed.
“Scott Wilson then implores the board to consider how the culture of white supremacy and white privilege can be seen in our very own community in regards to the decision to reopen schools in a hybrid format, despite rising cases and community spread,” said the letter.
The Latino community has born the brunt of the disease and aren’t getting protected by local governments, said the letter.
“(White privilege) allows our board to not have to make sure they have clearly, consciously, and without fail sought out the input from the community that has been hit the hardest,” the letter said.
It argued that Wilson did not say reopening schools is an example of white supremacy but instead urged the school board think about all of the students and families and make sure everyone is provided with an education.
They also note that critics ignored that Wilson is a father of a son who committed suicide before the pandemic. They argued that Wilson was pointing out that simply blaming COVID for suicides ignores the mental health issues that can lead to suicide.
“They also imply that suicide is somehow detached from mental illness, that suicide can be blamed on others, and that suicide is only tragic when you say it is,” the letter said.