Parents and board members gathered in a near-empty high school cafeteria this week, the first time since a college professor’s remarks about black students disrupted a New York City school meeting and rocked the community.
About two dozen people gathered Thursday night in the basement of Joan of Arc Junior High School in the city’s Upper West Side neighborhood, and another 150 people logged on to Zoom. The atmosphere was tense and depressing. At the front of the classroom, two black students held handmade signs that read, “Student Dignity. Responsibility Not Optional.”
At the end of a two-hour emergency meeting, Community Education Board District 3 members voted unanimously to condemn the comments that sparked national outrage and called for clearer video conferencing protocols, anti-bias training for parents and increased safeguards to prevent future disruptions.
“The anti-Black rhetoric spoken by adults has been heard around the world,” said committee co-chair Jill Rackmill, who opened the meeting by reading a speech from the eighth-grader who was interrupted weeks ago. “But the words of that student who had the courage to come to what was supposed to be a safe, affirming space were not. They were drowned out. Adults failed her.”
The emergency gathering was the latest fallout from a Feb. 10 board of trustees meeting, where Allyson Friedman, a tenured associate professor at Hunter College, spoke via Zoom of black students who “are too stupid to know they’re in a bad school” and a black eighth-grade student pleaded to save her middle school from closing.
A recording of the moment quickly spread online, thrusting the contentious debate over local school closings and equity issues into the national spotlight. New York City Major Zoran Mamdani denounced the comments as “racist,” and just hours before Thursday’s meeting, Hunter College placed Friedman on leave pending an investigation.
“On the Upper West Side, they’re quicker to smile at you and do anti-Black things than they are to say anti-Black things,” said Noah Odabashian, a public school parent and CEC District 3 board member. “So I was a little shocked that they would say the quiet parts out loud.”
Friedman has not responded to multiple requests for comment from NBC News. Friedman said in a statement to The New York Times that she made the comments to teach children about racism.
Hunter College, City University of New York. (Drew Angler/Getty Images file)
(Drew Angler)
For months, school officials have floated proposals to relocate or close at least four Upper West Side middle schools, citing low enrollment, financial constraints, poor academic performance and compliance with a 2022 law requiring smaller class sizes by 2028.
Proposals to close or consolidate schools in New York City often generate backlash because they impact funding, enrollment and community influence and could deepen long-standing racial and economic divisions.
It’s unclear if and when the Upper West Side proposal will be implemented.
“At this time, no formal proposals have been finalized or circulated,” New York City Department of Education spokesman Dominic Ellison said in a statement.
The proposals have divided the Upper West Side community, with some parents and students arguing the changes would be disruptive and undermine the thriving communities each school builds.
Elizabeth Sofro, a parent in the area who attended the meeting, said the proposals left people feeling “pushed into a corner” and argued the closures would leave families with little time to absorb the impact.
“So, things come out. People come out for who they are, whether it’s good or bad,” she said.
Rita Joseph, a black member of the City Council who chairs the Higher Education Committee, told The New York Times that discussions about school closings and relocations are also about race. Twenty-seven percent of the district’s sixth- through eighth-grade students are black, according to the city’s Department of Education. Data show that 23% of the city’s middle school students are black.
“We cannot talk about school closings, equity or educational opportunity without confronting the culture and systems that demean Black students and communities,” Joseph told the outlet.
The Feb. 10 community meeting is intended to be a public forum for families to comment on the proposal. Throughout the meeting, Third District Interim Superintendent Reginald Higgins quoted Carter G. Woodson multiple times in recognition of Black History Month.
“When you can control a man’s mind, you don’t have to send him to the back door. He’ll walk away without being told,” Higgins quoted Woodson as saying. “In fact, if there was no back door, he would create one for himself. His education necessitated that.”
This quote reflects Woodson’s view that systemic racism can lead people to accept inequality without being forced to do so.
About 40 minutes later, as students began expressing their views on the proposal, Friedman’s voice came over Zoom. The meeting was also held in person, but students in the room did not hear Friedman’s comments.
In a statement to The New York Times, Friedman argued that she was “trying to explain the concept of systemic racism to her children.” The outlet noted that she appeared to be referencing Higgins’ earlier comments.
“My full comments make it clear that these abhorrent views are not my own and were not directed at any student or group,” Friedman said, noting that only portions of her remarks could be heard. “I fully support the efforts of these brave students to prevent school closures.”
Her explanation did little to quell the anger. Local lawmakers and activists held a news conference Tuesday to condemn the remarks, and the Hunter College Black Student Union issued a joint statement with four other student groups condemning the remarks and rejecting her apology. The host of the national radio show “The Breakfast Club” honored Friedman as “Donkey of the Day.”
“Whether it was spoken under the assumption of silence or not, this sentiment is itself rooted in a violent and painful history of apartheid and dehumanization,” the students’ union said in a statement. “Such rhetoric is incompatible with educators’ responsibility to shape the minds of young people.”
Hunter College confirmed that one of its employees made “abhorrent comments” during the meeting but did not name Friedman. On Thursday, the school said the employee had been placed on leave pending an investigation by the school.
Several parents who attended the Feb. 10 meeting told NBC News they were disturbed by Friedman’s comments and worried they would distract from policy issues.
“She said her remarks were not her own and that she was using that moment as a teaching moment to teach her children something. What, by calling students stupid?” said Felicia Reese Amos, also a CEC District 3 board member.
Sequoia Bilal is the mother of a black child who attends the district and is the secretary of CEC District 3. She said she was still shocked by the comments and the fact that parents talked about their children in such a way.
“I don’t know if I should forgive her, but I do hope that this heart can be healed,” Bilal said. “I just think it all stems from hurt and ignorance.”
This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com
