ago, about 2,000 protesters took to the streets in a St. Louis suburb and urged the mostly white Francis Howell School District to address racial discrimination. The school board responded with a resolution promising to do better.
“We will promote racial healing, especially for our Black and brown students and families,” the resolution states. “We will no longer be silent.” While a few others also will be canceled, the anti-racism resolution was clearly the focus. Dozens of people opposed to its revocation packed the board meeting, many holding signs reading, “Forward, not backward.”
The board’s vice president, Randy Cook, said phrases in the resolution such as “systemic racism” aren’t defined and mean different things to different people. Another board member, Jane Puszkar, said the resolution served no purpose.Since the resolution was adopted, the makeup of the board has flipped. Just two board members remain from 2020. Five new members elected in April 2022 and April 2023 had the backing of the conservative political action committee Francis Howell Families.
“In my opinion, the school board doesn’t need to be in the business of dividing the community,” Cook said. “We just need to stick to the business of educating students here and stay out of the national politics.” Kimberly Thompson, center, listens as Francis Howell School Board members talk in favor of rescinding all previously passed resolutions, including an anti-racism resolution, during a meeting on Thursday, July 20, 2023 in O'Fallon, Missouri. In 2021, the Ohio State Board of Education rescinded an anti-racism and equity resolution that also was adopted after Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020.
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