Oregon school board ban on anti-racist, LGBT signs draws ire

NEWBERG, Mineral. - An Oregon school board banned educators from displaying Black Lives Matter and gay pride symbols, prompting a torrent of recriminations and threats to boycott the city and its businesses.

Newberg, a city of 25,000 located 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Portland in a beautiful wine country, has become an unlikely focal point of a nationwide battle between the left and right for education. .

The City Council has condemned the action of the Newberg School Board. So did members of color in the Oregon Legislature and House and Senate Democrats. The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon threatens to sue. The Oregon State Board of Education asked the school board to reverse the course, saying that student identities should be welcomed and affirmed.

But the four conservative members of the seven-member board are digging in their heels. Member Brian Shannon, who proposed the ban, said Portland lawmakers should steer clear of school district affairs and instead focus on Portland, where homelessness is a problem.

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Opponents say the junta has emboldened racists. On Sept. 17, a special education staff member at a Newberg elementary school showed up to work in black and said he was portraying anti-segregation icon Rosa Parks to protest a state vaccination mandate for educators. She was immediately placed on administrative leave.

The same week, news broke that some Newberg students had participated in a Snapchat group in which participants pretended to buy and sell fellow black students. Newberg Public Schools Superintendent Joe Morelock said an investigation will be conducted and disciplinary action will be imposed.

Underscoring how deeply the board's action has cut itself off, the raw emotion was on display during a virtual board hearing Wednesday night. Some speakers said the board's action is harmful. Others said the signs have no place in schools, saying they are political.

Local resident Peggy Kilburg said posters that support any political position, such as posters of the National Rifle Association, should be banned from schools.

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Robert Till, who is gay and a sophomore at Newberg High School, said he is ashamed of living in Newberg. He cited an estimate from the Trevor Project, a group that aims to end suicide among LGBTQ youth, that at least one LGBTQ person between the ages of 13 and 24 attempts suicide every 45 seconds in the US.

"A simple pride flag or BLM in a classroom shows the love and acceptance we need," Till said, his voice shaking with anger. "Pride flags can literally save someone's life, and are you just going to take that away?"

School board president Dave Brown, who voted to ban the signs, stated at an earlier Zoom meeting that "I'm not a racist."

"I work with those around me and I will always accept them, whatever happens," said Brown, an American flag flying behind him. “I don't care if they are gay. I don't care if they are white, brown or black. I work with everyone. "

Shannon defended the ban, which has yet to be enforced.

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"I don't think any of us can deny the fact that these symbols are divisive," Shannon said. “They have divided our community and taken our attention away from where it should be, simply by teaching the basics of education. "

Opponents of the ban say it is the board that divides and distracts from the challenges as educators begin in-person instruction with safety protocols after a year of remote teaching due to COVID-19.

“It has been difficult to see a divided community. You can see the anguish on both sides. It makes being an educator more difficult than it already was, ”said a Newberg High School faculty member.

Speaking on the condition that she not be named for fear of being harassed online, she said more students than ever are displaying gay pride and the Black Lives Matter symbols on lockers, water bottles and laptops since the board voted in August. . The ban does not apply to students.

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Alexis Small, a 15-year-old high school student who is black, believes that the members who backed the ban simply do not approve of people who are not like them.

"The message I feel is hate," Small said in a telephone interview. “I mean, I can't say that this decision was made out of love or what is best for people. I really think they did it out of hatred. "

In June 2020, when the Black Lives Matter protests rocked the nation after the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the board took a completely different stance, condemning racism and pledging to be an anti-racist school district. But the Conservatives won a majority in the school board elections last May amid low turnout, and everything changed.

Tai Harden-Moore, a black candidate who lost, remembers an unpleasant election. Comments on social media supporting his opponent called Harden-Moore anti-American and claimed he hated whites, he said. His campaign posters were ripped from the ground or left in place, with tree branches placed on top.

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"My sign, I have my face on it, so for them to put the branches on it, it was like this strange link to lynching for me," Harden-Moore said.

Harden-Moore has joined a group called Newberg Equity in Education, which advocates for inclusion and equity in Newberg schools.

The Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce told the school board that it has received numerous phone calls and emails from people saying they will boycott Newberg, the main city in the valley.

"As business leaders and owners, we are very concerned about the impact this has on our businesses and on the reputation of our community," the chamber said, the Newberg Graphic newspaper reported.

Newberg Mayor Rick Rogers told the four conservative board members that their actions could harm the city, which has a dozen wine tasting rooms and a university founded by Quakers.

“While you may believe that your actions only affect the school district, truly know that your actions impact all of us. To thrive, Newberg must be welcoming to all, ”he wrote.

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Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky