Note: This content was originally hosted at nobbs4ccs.com during the 2022 CCS school board election.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
As we get started, I think it’s important mention to have at least a bare-bones, general definition of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) at the outset. Since the Brake, Brown and Sharp campaign doesn’t actually offer one, I’m assuming they accept CCS’s statement on the topic taken from the page on equity & inclusion.
We are committed to educating our students to be citizens in a diverse and inclusive global community. Our students will develop empathy, respect for, and an understanding of those with backgrounds and perspectives different from their own while also learning to advocate for themselves and others. Our school community is committed to ongoing dialogue, education, and reflection to develop the understanding and inclusion of every member.
The Claim/Statement
CCS’s use of DEI:
is a political ideology.
marginalizes some opinions.
sows racial division.
creates division, discrimination, inequity and marginalization.
The Response
I’m actually not going to do the heavy lifting on responding to this one. Instead, I’m going to let Terri Roberts-Leonard handle that. As CCS’s diversity, equity and inclusion officer, she recorded a 30-minute video that provides an overview of how our schools use DEI.
If this topic is important to you, especially if it’s important enough to influence your vote, please make time to watch her video. It’s thorough, thoughtful and quite clear on what DEI at CCS is and is not.
Also, after watching the video, I would urge you to go back and re-read the BBS campaign’s statement on DEI that was in their Current in Carmel advertorial and has been shared by their Facebook page. Ask yourself if they actually claim that DEI is something other than what Ms. Roberts-Leonard says. To go even further, ask yourself if they even seem informed as to what DEI is, either in general or specifically at CCS. I’ve read their words at least half a dozen times and come away with little more than:
scare-mongering via buzzwords that are ‘in vogue’ with some national political pundits
general opposition to DEI with no tangible explanation of what it is or how it’s deployed at CCS
an out-of-context quote by Martin Luther King that demonstrates a lack of understanding of who he was or what he was talking about in the speech quoted
Without further ado, I’ll turn this over to Ms. Roberts-Leonard.
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