Legal Insurrection Foundation has exposed multiple activities by the Providence, Rhode Island, Public School District (PPSD) that use racially discriminatory standards, including a new teacher loan forgiveness program open only to non-white teachers,Providence (RI) Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program Only Open To Non-Whites Challenged By Legal Insurrection Foundation.
Earlier this week, we also put the spotlight on an “Educators of Color Meet Up” sponsored and organized by PPSD that was only for non-whites and invited only non-whites by the terms of the announcement. In addition, the sign up form listed only non-white races and ethnicities. LIF sent a letter to the original venue, an event room attached to a bowling alley, letting them know about the racially discriminatory PPSD event and putting the venue on notice of the non-discrimination provisions of the Rhode Island Public Accommodations law. You can read the full letter here.
The story was picked up by Fox News and also we published the details, including how PPSD backtracked, changed location, and changed its sign up form and event description after being exposed, Segregated Providence (RI) Teacher Event Open Only to “Educators of Color” Challenged By Legal Insurrection Foundation.
I had a chance to discuss the issues on the Matt Allen Show, which airs from 12-3 on WPRO, one of the major Providence radio stations. In the interview, among other things, I explained how PPSD’s claims that this was just a sign up form mistake were not accurate, that the problems with the event persisted, and that someone in state government needs to monitor the systemic “equity” racial discrimination in the Providence schools’ DEI programming.
I pointed out the the original venue in particular was something of a victim here, because it probably didn’t realize when it booked the room to PPSD that the event was being promoted on a segregated basis. We don’t know why the event was moved, perhaps the bowling alley didn’t appreciate being put in this position.
“This is not teachers of color getting together and saying, you know, let’s have an event for ourselves. We’re gonna organize this. This is the government doing it. And the government can’t segregate students in school and they can’t segregate teachers in school or outside of school. This is an official government event……. this is a Providence Public School’s problem. And it’s not the only problem they have, they have the teacher loan forgiveness. And we’ve received tips about other problems that we haven’t gone public with. Of course, we always investigate things before we just write letters. But Providence has a problem with their DEI programming and it’s not enough for them to say, well, we are in favor of diversity. Well. that’s fine. Nobody’s saying that’s bad. In fact, that’s Rhode Island state policy. But you have to do it lawfully and you cannot achieve diversity through racial discrimination. You have to find a better way to do it. And that’s the message that for some reason hasn’t gotten through to the Providence Schools.”
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I also was interviewed by WJAR News 10 (“Turn to 10”), a major Providence TV station, Legal watchdog claims Providence teacher event discriminates against race:
A meeting for Providence Public School District teachers Thursday came under scrutiny this week, after a local legal watchdog group claimed it discriminated against white educators.Earlier this week, the Barrington-based Legal Insurrection Foundation, or LIF, wrote a letter informing the Nelson Event Center in Cranston that it believed the PPSD event the location was set to host Thursday discriminated against race. According to PPSD’s Facebook page, the event was called “PPSD Educators of Color Meet Up.””Because the Nelson Center is a place of public accommodation as a matter of Rhode Island law, they are not permitted to discriminate,” argued LIF founder and president William Jacobson. “This is an event that was segregationist in the way it was formulated by a government entity. We believe that violated the law and we put the Nelson Center on notice.”
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Has PPSD learned any lessons? Unlikely. So expect more reports.
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