A Barrington, Rhode Island, School and DEI committee member set off a firestorm of online criticism after an Instagram account that appears to be hers shared posts crudely bashing Israel, including implying Jews “weaponized their religion” for genocide.
Amanda Basse is an elected Democratic Party member of the Barrington School Committee, which functions as a “School Board” functions in other towns. There are three Democrats and two Independents on the School Committee. Basse also is the co-chair of the Barrington Public School DEI Committee. The DEI Committee promotes “intersectionality” as its 2023-2024 priority.
As described below, posts were shared on what appears to be her Instagram account implying Jews “weaponized their religion” to “ethnically cleanse Palestinians,” as well as other gross pejoratives about Israel. Basse has not responded to our multiple requests for comment.
The controversy swirling around Basse’s remarks is the latest to beset Barrington, where Legal Insurrection is based. Once known as “Borrington” because nothing much happened here, the town has become a hotbed of government and school activism in the past few years, as we previously covered. Controversies have included the town flying the BLM flag over the Veterans Memorial, and then stripping the local veterans group of its role organizing the Memorial Day Parade after it protested. The Town Council even sponsored as an official town event an appearance by Ibram Kendi, while refusing to sponsor an alternative viewpoint.
That activism, we also noted, has seeped into the school system, where “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” has reached near-religious dogma. In 2021, a high school teacher allegedly offered extra credit to students who spoke out against anti-CRT legislation. We later wrote about the parents’ revolt after the school district attempted to eliminate honors courses as part of an ‘equity’ and ‘deleveling’ agenda. And, in a series of posts, we covered the termination of three religious Christian teachers after the district refused covid-vax religious waivers, resulting in a lawsuit and large payout.
Basse’s social media posts have put the Barrington school system back in the spotlight in an unfavorable way.
In addition to her school committee and DEI committee membership, Basse sits on the Board of Directors of Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education (ARISE), an organization that trains Southeast Asian and other Rhode Island youth of color to become activists—“Youth Leaders”—supporting Critical Race Theory (CRT). ARISE promotes ethnic studies, a program for pushing CRT—and, more recently, anti-Zionist content—into the public school curriculum, as we explain here, by casting Jews and the state of Israel as “white” oppressors.
Basse’s social media posts gained attention after they were brought to light by the group StopAntisemitism.org. The posts cited by StopAntisemitism.org state:
According to StopAntiSemitism.org. Basse responded to complaints about those remarks by claiming that she is not antisemitic, but rather anti-Zionist, by posting this screenshot:
Just to clarify …i’m not anti-semitic. i’m anti-zionism, anti-colonizing, anti-occupation, anti-fascism, anti-dehumanization, anti-baby murdering, anti-civilian killing, anti-carpet bombing, anti-white phosphorous, anti-torture, anti-ethnic cleansing, anti-genocide. and no, it’s not that complicated.If you don’t know the difference between war crimes and antisemitism, READ A BOOK
The StopAntisemitism.org tweets gained several thousand shares and many hundreds of responses. Once those remarks went public, Basse came under viral attack, much of it crude, that we will not repeat here. But the controversy included calls for action by the School Committee to defend the town’s Jewish students:
We reached out to Basse several days ago to get her side of the story. In our email, we requested an interview, or alternatively, a written response to specific questions:
Hi Amanda,I’m a writer at Legal Insurrection, a Barrington-based website and non-profit foundation that covers, among other things, politics and education. I saw a controversy raging on the internet regarding your comments last month on Instagram about Israel that were captured here, https://twitter.com/StopAntisemites/status/1738253795971240219, and your response here: https://x.com/StopAntisemites/status/1738256574857035881?s=20.In writing this up, I’d really like to get your perspective and ‘side of the story.’ Would you be willing to have a recorded interview with me? If not:
- Please confirm or deny that the postings mentioned in the StopAntisemites tweets above were in fact yours?
- Would you like to elaborate on your views on Israel and your response, particularly sharing the claims that “Jesus was Palestinian” and that Jews “weaponized their religion”?
- Have you expressed your views on Israel and Jews in the course of your duties as a school committee and/or DEI subcommittee member, and if so, how and to whom?
- Are there any more tweets or Instagram or other social media posts by you or others you think I should be aware of?
- If there is anything else you want to add, please do so.
If you could respond to me by 5 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, January 4, 2024, that would be great.Thank you.
Basse has not responded as of this writing, despite a second request from us for her to comment. Meanwhile, Basse has taken her Instagram account private.
We also contacted two other members of the school committee, requesting an interview or written response:
Hi _________,I’m a writer at Legal Insurrection, a Barrington-based website and non-profit foundation that covers, among other things, politics and education. I saw a controversy raging on the internet regarding Amanda Basse’s social media posts about Israel and Jews that were captured here, https://twitter.com/StopAntisemites/status/1738253795971240219, and her response here: https://x.com/StopAntisemites/status/1738256574857035881?s=20.I’m writing this up, and I’d really like to get your comments on whether and how the school committee will respond to Basse’s social media postings. Would you be willing to have a recorded interview with me? If not:
- What is your view on Ms. Basse’s social media postings?
- Do you think Ms. Basse’s social media postings are compatible with her position on the school committee and DEI subcommittee?
- Has the school committee issued any statements or taken any action in response to Ms. Basse’s remarks?
- Is there any investigation regarding Ms. Basse’s social media postings, and if so, who is conducting that investigation and what is the status?
- If there is anything else you would like to add, please do so.
If you could respond to me by 5 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, January 4, 2024, that would be great.Thank you.
They have not responded as of today’s post, despite a second request.
[Update: Monday morning, January 8, School Committee member Patrick McCrann responded that he has no comment.]
Finally, we reached out twice to the party chairs for both the Barrington town Democrats and Republicans. The Democrat chair has not responded as of this writing.
Lisa Daft, chair of the Republican town committee, issued a statement calling on Basse to step down:
Sitting School Committee member and DEI Co-Chair Amanda Basse should step down from her role on the DEI committee based on her public stance regarding the conflict in Gaza. While it is understood she has a right to free speech, it is my opinion that elected officials serve all constituents and their public stances on divisive national political issues will face a higher level of scrutiny. Her comments could be interpreted by some as anti-semitic, condoning the events of October 7th. One of the roles of a DEI Committee is to promote inclusion. How can she continue to serve if this is how she feels about Jewish people in Barrington? DEI in Barrington is selective. It serves the purpose to promote the agendas of the far left who pushed to have these committees in our schools and town.Selective DEI was on full display when the Barrington Library Director purposely blocked all the library rooms on August 5 last summer ahead of Brave Books calling for a National Storybook hour. This was discovered by a resident who requested a room to host a Brave Book event. Pictures were taken of the empty rooms that day as well as a screenshot proving that all the rooms were blocked as early as July 8th. This information was brought to the Town Manager and after two meetings the library director still had no apology and there were no consequences for her actions. Furthermore, the event was listed on the agenda of the town DEI meeting the following week after the event was allowed. Is this Inclusivity? I think not. Are Amanda Basse’s comments inclusive? I think not.
The Barrington Republican Town Committee also called Basse out in a Facebook post:
“This is what sitting member of the Barrington School Committee Amanda Basse thinks about Israel. She is also the School Committee rep on the DEI committee. We deserve better! Please consider running in 2024. Come by our open house / presidential signature party January 6 to learn more!”
Legal Insurrection understands that a complaint has been filed following Basse’s remarks, althougth the exact parameters and process is still to be determined, and that the town’s lawyers are looking into the matter. We’ll be seeking more information in the coming days and weeks.
Meanwhile, as the town Republicans’ post points out, Basse’s term on the school committee ends this year. If she seeks re-election, her opponents will ask whether a School Committee member and DEI Committee member can serve the entire community after conveying such antagonism.
UPDATE: Amanda Basse has stepped down from her role on the DEI subcommittee for Barrington Schools (RI), according to StopAntisemitism.org:
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