[Peace] Call to action TAKE II -- Fight racism in the Champaign School District.

[Sascha Meinrath]

Hi everyone,

On Tuesday, March 26th at 6 p.m. (tomorrow evening), the Champaign School
Board will be holding an emergency meeting to again attempt to fire
Deloris Henry, Assistant Superintendent for Equity and Education.  The
Board will meet at 703 S. New Street in Champaign.  This may sound eerily
familiar to another e-mail I sent out a few weeks ago -- that's because at
the last meeting, over 100 community members showed up to defend Dr. Henry
and the School Board was too scared to take any action in front of the
public.  Instead, they scheduled this emergency meeting while Deloris is
out of town recruiting teachers for the Champaign School District.

A strong turnout tomorrow evening will demonstrate our committment to
racial justice in our community and our refusal to be duped by the delay
and conquer tactics the Board is currently engaging in.  The NAACP has
begun circulating petitions in support of Dr. Henry and asking the School
Board and District Administraction (under the leadership of Carol Stack)
to address racial inequities in the Champaign School District immediately
-- you can sign on at tomorrow's meeting.

I cannot understand the administration's pursuit of Deloris Henry.
During the years I have known her, she has been one of the most vocal
supporters for addressing racial equity issues in the Champaign School
System.  If, in fact, the School Board believes its own rhetoric, they
should be applauding her efforts instead of attempting to fire her.

In a school district whose entire School Board is White, the perspective
and representation that Deloris brings to Champaign as the only African
American in the School District's higher administration is vitally
important.  Champaign's student population is roughly 40% minority, and on
January 30, 2002 the district signed a consent decree to address existing
racial inequities in our education system.  As I wrote before, I was
stunned that the Board of Education would be so blunt in its disregard for
equity issues and so blatant in singling out the lone African American
left in a major position of power in the school district.  But their
current behavior goes even farther -- holding a meeting to fire Deloris
while she is scheduled to be out of town is simply deplorable.  Refusing
to listen to the scores of people who have shown up in solidarity
demonstrates a committment to ignoring the concerns of community members
-- not addressing racial inequalities in educational outcomes.

I had hoped that the School Board would understand the gravity of this
situation; unfortunately, they continue to operate without regard for the
effects their behavior is having on the trust and respect of the
community.  If you have never come to a Board of Education meeting before,
if you believe in racial justice, or if you are concerned about the
quality of education students receive in our local school districts, then
this is a meeting you should absolutely attend -- the stakes are even
higher this time around.

--Sascha Meinrath
Concerned Community Member

P.S.  More information and coverage of this story will be posted to the
Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center's (IMC) website www.ucimc.org as
it unfolds.