The Manhattan Beach Unified School District (MBUSD) Board state as part of its “Equity, Diversity, Social Justice, and Inclusion” goals:
As part of the work we do to build a District community of care, the MBUSD Board Goals emphasize equity, diversity and social justice. It is our duty to be active in fighting racism and other forms of discrimination. We also recognize the need to share this responsibility with students, their families and staff.
I have noticed that Black communicators don’t always reflect the so-called values they are pleading for. One would expect that the MBUSD Board would examine themselves if they are truly worried about these issues. This new reality series could have the School Board as its cast. Five Woke Crackers. Three blonde, white women, one brunette, and one white, “non-binary” biological male does not a diverse or inclusive board make. It is difficult to see how someone can be a leader if they don’t embody the values you hold dear.
After the 2020 racially fueled unrest in which riots broke out following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Breonna Smith’s deaths, the MBUSD Board felt compelled to review their own system and implement the changes they promised. The School Board appointed Center for Leadership, Equity and Research (CLEAR), to conduct an equity audit under the supervision of the MBUSD Board of Trustees and Superintendent of Schools. Nancy Akhavan is a self-described education consultant and led the audit.
Manhattan Beach has already experienced a very public racial reckoning with the return of Bruce’s Beach to the descendants of the Black family who originally owned it. It appears that the School Board is keeping this train of racial justice going. So they are revising and updating their curriculum and educational system to make them more fair, more racially-sensitive, and inclusive.
Like other schools, the MBUSD Board wants to integrate CRT language and measures in their curriculum. It is doing this without the input of the Manhattan Beach community or parents. A concerned group of parents has stepped up to stop this tide that is racially divided rather than unifying.
Fred Taylor, Lauren Harger, and Pamela Davidson have been chosen as WeTheParents’ faces. But the group includes concerns from many parents within the community, who would prefer anonymity. They are deeply concerned but want to safeguard their families and livelihoods.
Fred Taylor recently got a taste of what it means to stand up, when he received an “anonymous” email basically telling him that as a white, conservative male, he needed to sit down and shut up.
Anonymous letter to Fred Taylor. Screenshot. Use this credit with permission from Fred Taylor
Keep your focus on the task at hand. Keep it simple. You should stick to marketing. CRT is an advanced topic and a liberal white conservative buzzword that scares people. CRT is not taught to students at MB. CRT is not being taught in MB. They learn to think for themselves, and not to follow the ideas of their peers. The people who shut down a whole group of people’s voices are afraid of losing the privileged spot in society that they have, something which appears to be all too easy for white conservative men.
And this cowardly person who didn’t bother to identify themselves is using all the Leftist buzzwords to shut down any discussion or argument that CRT, or some variation of its tenets, are being inserted into MBUSD school curriculum. The hilarious part of this email is that if you live in Manhattan Beach, an area that embodies some of the highest income per capita in the state, it is the very definition of “privilege.”
Pot, meet kettle.
Taylor did not respond to the request, however, he sent the letter to the MBUSD School Board members. Taylor has yet to receive a reply as of writing.
“I’m concerned about my family, and I’m concerned about our physical welfare,” Taylor said.
“But I’m more concerned with the thousands of kids from Manhattan Beach Unified School District that will graduate in the coming five to 10 years, that will leave this district with poisoned thinking.
“It’s worth it to me.”
The MBUSD School Board tried to hide these diversity and equity changes from the public, but it did not help their case. These changes were announced, but not widely distributed. Under the cover of COVID-19, public participation and comments at meetings to discuss these changes was limited. California Governor used pandemics to suspend Brown Act. This Brown Act governs local, municipal, school district public meetings. To further undermine it, he has placed an illegitimate grip on emergency powers. These restrictions were used by the MBUSD board President to limit public comments and to block public access to meetings. According to WeTheParents’, the majority of planning for the MBUSD EDSJI Initiative, as it is called, was carried out on the low level, without much input from the community.
Taylor last week wrote a letter that was printed by the local paper. Beach ReporterYou can find this link:
A friend sent me a copy of the so-called ‘anonymous’ email about the MBUSD School Board last weekend. While it was rough on President Fenton’s leadership, here’s my personal experience with this Board:
It was this Spring that I discovered troubling happenings at the District. Following the George Floyd disaster, many parents were protesting Critical Race Theory in their local schools. And while this Board continues to deny CRT, it formed an ‘Equity, Diversity, Social Justice and Inclusion’ [EDSJI]December 2020, committee at the bottom
Every Board meeting I attended since June 23rd.rdThis is the official statement. Fenton allowed public comments for only 20-30 minutes at each meeting. She has also said, “If the views are similar, we’ll end your time [paraphrase].” On the 9/22 meeting, two supporting the Board and only 8 of the 16 opposing the Board were allowed to speak. That’s the first time I’ve seen her supporters totally outnumbered.
For the recent 10/6 meeting, an MBUnited team of ‘race-first, identity-first’ supporters showed up in mass. Some 30 or more parents and kids complete with masks and signs were conveniently photographed by a local ‘online’ newsletter which impugned the opposing parents. Fenton called the MBPD to assist and increased the time for public comments from 45 minutes to 75 minutes.
What would she do if it were for someone with opposing views? All I know is she didn’t do that on 9/22 when the protestors outnumbered the supporters 8-1.
Let the jury decide.
Lauren Harger affirmed Taylor’s allegations of the parents being impugned for taking a contrarian stance.
“Our local papers [Easy Reader and Peninsula News] did a hit job on our parents about the last school board meeting.”
The headline of the “hit job” piece contains the word “attack,” so that tells you up front that it does not plan to be favorable towards the parents group. The article contains the highly staged photos that Taylor mentions in his note: Lilly White men, women, and children holding up signs defending the MBUSD Board, and condemning any opposition to their goals as “hate.”
Fred Taylor, a humorless stalker, and gender cop is shown in the article. WeTheParents are dismissed with linguistic eyerolls and couched words, because they believe that CRT has been taught in Manhattan Beach Unified school District.
The MBUSD Board’s decisions are not only a way to put the board under a microscope; they also threaten any potential good the board might have to offer on issues of equity, race, inclusion or equity. The divisive nature of CRT and the hostility shown by schools boards around the country to parents are both concerns.
It has also not helped matters that Attorney General Merrick Garland has chosen to label parents who challenge their school boards as, “domestic terrorists” and threaten them with the full weight of the FBI. This morning AG Garland was rightly grilled by Congressmen. RedState covered the story, which revealed that this letter was written in collaboration with the White House. Most children spend more time in the halls of education than they do with their families, so parents concerned about the state of their child’s mind, well-being, and education is neither unfounded nor illegitimate. Some school board members, national leaders, and candidate candidates have different opinions.
Terry McAuliffe, Virginia’s gubernatorial hopeful said during a debate that parents shouldn’t have any input in what their children learn or are exposed to. Just pay your taxes and shut up—let the “experts” do their job.
It seems that MBUSD has the same message when speaking to Taylor and Davidson. Their actions express what the words of Taylor’s anonymous email stated: “stay in your lane.”
WeTheParents have drawn a line in sand. They will not be ignored and will fight for the wellbeing of all children.
“It’s an indoctrination, and it’s an indoctrination that we don’t want,” Pamela Davidson said.
“We want the educator to stay focused on the core subjects, and we don’t want them moving into this agenda that they’re moving into. We refer to these as the CRT principles and gender identity. We don’t want our teachers and our school leaders indoctrinating our students
“[The MBUSD board is saying] [w]e’ve got values and they’re political values, and we’re gonna interject those and impose those on you, [In order] to radicalize our young people in ways that the parents and the community really don’t agree with. So, we’re opposing it.
“Many communities across the country are standing up. This is not what we want!”
In Part 2 of this series, the results of the CLEAR Equity audit, and the MBUSD Board response to Davidson’s analysis will be discussed.
