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Thoughts on the 2/15 County Board of Education Meeting


Reposted from OPAA Facebook Group

Written February 15, 2017

Feeling angry. And shaken. And determined. And in very good company. Just got home from a County Board of Education meeting, where I went with several others to publicly call out this dude for lying on his election papers (he falsely claimed to have a college degree), using a public platform to espouse private political positions, and publicly supporting divisive legislation that foments fear and hatred. None of which really is what we want to see in our BoE trustees. I was the first to speak on the issue during the public speaking portion of the agenda, and from behind the dais, in his suit, behind his Trustee official name, he took out his cell phone and repeatedly took my photograph. To intimidate me? To shut me up? To post on some Tea Party platform somewhere to get his supporters to harass me? He then proceeded to smirk and sneer through over an hour of public comment (at 3 minutes per speaker), roll his eyes, photograph several more of the speakers, and, for the three speakers who stood up in his defense, to clap loudly - again, from behind the dais!! - as each sat down. Another attendee witnessed him making a rude gesture at the final speaker.It was the worst behavior I have ever personally witnessed from a public official, and I came away with a burning stomach ache.

The lovely young muslim pharmacist sitting next to me? Who bravely spoke about being bullied for her religion in our county schools after 9/11, and talked about her fear about putting her 4 year old daughter in school in the fall? She was terrified to speak, but she spoke beautifully, and she was in tears while she did so.

The Jewish grandmother who stood up, who confessed halfway through that she'd given her maiden name on the speaker's slip, because she didn't know if she'd be allowed to speak if she gave her married, Muslim name? She told him to stop smirking at her.

But my favorite was the tiny dark skinned man who stood up and said he was a Muslim, and then gave a long list of his scientific credentials? We all burst into spontaneous applause when he announced that he was the principal investigator on the Hubble Telescope. And then he told us how many doctors in our country are Muslim, how many police officers, how many armed services. And he didn't condemn Belle at all. He just said, gently, "brother, this is who your Muslim neighbors are. They are like me. I hope you will rethink your position."

So this is what we're in for, crew. We're going to stand up for our beliefs, and we'll face rude responses, we'll face opposition, we'll be screamed at or mocked or belittled, we'll come away with stomach aches. That is hard. That is hard, and I'm not going to lie about it. Keep standing with me, keep standing together, maybe it'll get easier, maybe we'll find something inside that takes the stomach aches away. I wouldn't do it if I didn't believe the cost of not standing will be so much worse. There's others out there tonight with worse than a stomach ache. But if you have them, I'm open to words of support.


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