Yorktown Argues Over School District's Diversity Initiative

YORKTOWN, NY — The Yorktown school district became the latest locus for backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in public schools after a nationally popular activist posted a video conversation with a Yorktown parent about a guidance counselor who has been active in the local Black Lives Matter movement.

The video was made by Tatiana Ibrahim, the Carmel parent who became a darling of the right across the country after she accused her district of indoctrinating students by teaching critical race theory (which school officials deny) and by following New York State's diversity, equity and inclusion initiative.

She talked with a parent named Holly who complained that Yorktown High School counselor Daks Armstrong spoke at several local Black Lives Matter events in 2020. "He is trying to recruit kids, I believe," Holly said.

Ibrahim said Armstrong was "indoctrinating" students to "hate police" and treat one another unequally "based on color, sexism and classism."

More than 50 people showed up to the next Yorktown Board of Education meeting July 12 — its first in-person since the coronavirus pandemic shutdown. Most of the speakers said they wanted to show support for Armstrong and the district's diversity, equity and inclusion initiative.

The district's Superintendent Ronald Hattar told the audience that no one is teaching critical race theory in Yorktown. Critical race theory is a decades-old legal and academic framework that looks at and critiques how race and racism shaped the U.S. laws and institutions that remain in place today and help perpetuate racism and a kind of caste system that continues to the disadvantage of people of color. The phrase has become a catchall for various claims about racism and race relations in the United States having nothing to do with critical race theory itself.

Hattar said the district's diversity, equity and inclusion initiative advances core values it has been promoting for years, about kindness, understanding, empathy and respect, so that all children feel safe.

"There are some questions that have landed in my inbox, questions about whether children would be made to feel bad about themselves," he said. "That would be contrary to our work here."

He said he was also asked if the state's diversity, equity and inclusion policy would "result in this anti-American perspective in our schools. That will not be the case as a result of the work of our task force" which, he said, represents a variety of viewpoints.

Hattar said teachers may not project their political views on their students. However, outside of school, staff members are allowed to freely express their personal views.

He recommended anyone with concerns about something they heard happened in a classroom bring their concern to an administrator or even start with the teacher, because "there may have been context."

Those who spoke against the district's diversity initiative accused Yorktown educators of shaming white students. Nationally, several states have passed laws making it illegal to teach about racism if it makes students feel uncomfortable.

"DEI/CRT is trying to demonize the white race," said university student Richard Giannasca, a Yorktown High School graduate.

Parent Holly Davis quoted the counselor's speeches during 2020 rallies urging white people to take responsibility, and said families in town who oppose Black Lives Matter fear retaliation and are turning to private school or homeschooling.

Opponents also said the district shouldn't adopt values that conflict with the values their students' parents want to instill.

One quoted Martin Luther King Jr.'s comment about judging children by content of character, not color of skin out of context. In his 1963 "I have a Dream" speech, before he said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," he condemned continuing racial injustice in the United States.

The district's defenders disagreed with the opponents of the diversity initiative.

"We as people are too fast to act against what we think is an attack, when really it is a reminder of how far we've come, and what we still need to accomplish," said Rachel Eccles, YHS Class of 2019.

Resident George Price, angry that his daughter was called the n-word on the school bus in May, said "the school district's great. But it needs to be diversified."

He was also angry that Ibrahim called Armstrong "Daks-boy" in her video. "... calling somebody that looks like me a 'boy'. I'm offended by that," he said.

For his part, on Facebook, Armstrong shared a racist social media attack on him after Ibrahim's video, saying, "I'm sharing it because what is done in the dark should be brought to light."

Editor's Note: This article has been revised: to include a link to an article about Ms. Ibrahim's rise to national prominence, to remove an incorrect reference to Superintendent Hattar's length of time in Yorktown.