Speaking against white supremacy at a school board meeting
My training as a "good" white woman means it's supposed to terrify me
Last night, I spoke during the public comments portion at the Board meeting for our local school district. If you’d care to watch, go here, click on the April 13, 2023 meeting, and my 3 minutes starts at about 36:00. (The text is at the bottom of this post if you’re interested in reading my remarks.)
I was terribly nervous going into the meeting. I was all hyped up because I had been warned that there are a pack of white women who often attend the meetings, waiting to pounce on anybody they don’t agree with. I’ve been to a couple of board meetings before, and I’ve seen that pack mentality playing out first-hand there too, so I was anxious.
It turned out to be anti-climactic. As far as I could tell, there was only one other guest there by the time the public comments portion started. (Insert sad trombone here.)
Setting aside the anxiety I typically feel when I speak in public - which I do a lot, so I know it’s normal for me - I was frightened. Frightened that people would yell at me or heckle me, scared that I would be making people angry, and even a little worried for my safety.
WTF?!
I know that’s what I’ve been taught to feel as a white woman. After all, a “good” white woman won’t rock the boat, and if she does, shame on her for confronting the structures put in place to keep everybody safe! A “good” white woman will only speak up if it’s been pre-approved by some committee and sanctioned by a supportive team who has her back. Right?
It’s all bullshit. All of it. Nobody physically attacks white women for speaking up in public. The worst anybody does to a white woman is yell at her - at us, I mean - but in a very real way, that’s what we’ve been taught is the VERY WORST thing anyway.
Because to be fussed at is to be rejected by our group. And, for a white woman, to be rejected by a group of “nice” white women is to be an utter failure. It’s a shame we’ve been conditioned to believe we can’t bear.
This is white woman tears and white woman nonsense. Even worse, it’s a LIE.
Being rejected by other white women isn’t something to fear. It’s a freaking badge of honor, especially when it’s done for the cause of rejecting our racist, white supremacist absurdity.
But I could never see or name any of this until recently. I’ve lived my whole life under the cloud of constant fear of being rejected by nice white women.
What a cruel trick, a cultural joke that’s been played on us. We didn’t know that we’ve been the butt of the joke all along, while our shame has rolled downhill onto the Black and Brown people who we continue to harm with our white nonsense.
After the meeting, one of the board members thanked me profusely and asked me to send him my sources, because I said a few things he hadn’t heard before. So I guess that’s some progress? Here are the sources I’m going to send him, and I highly recommend these to you, too: The 1619 Project (here) and The Second (here).
URGENT CALL TO ACTION: Whether or not you’re going to keep reading for my remarks, have you taken action to be in Denver on June 5th, 2023 yet to join the national anti-racist movement to ban guns? Go here for more info.
Here are the remarks I prepared, and I did a pretty good job of sticking to this script when I spoke:
My full name is Julia Kay Coughlin, but I go by Kay. I am a graduate of Olentangy High class of 1991. I was a “lifer” [in the school district] and in the first graduating class from the current Olentangy high school facility. I reside in the district and we live in the Berlin high school area.
I’m here tonight as an alumna, current district parent and resident, to bring to your attention two instances of cultural appropriation in the school district, and one culturally problematic use of an identity.
The cultural appropriations are the use of “Hawaiian” culture or clothing as part of spirit days and the continued use of the term “Braves” as part of the logo and identity of Olentangy High School.
The problematic use is of the identity “Patriots” for Liberty High School. Because “Patriots” in the United States is a politically-loaded identity that encourages believing in the supremacy of one group - in this case, foreign invaders from Europe - over both native peoples and the enslaved Black people who were already here at the time.
I am a white woman. I am not Hawaiian. I do not have native people heritage, I am not Black or brown, and tonight I do not represent anybody except me.
In fact, I have reason to believe my own ancestors fought in the war for America’s independence; my own family heritage is that of the white conquerors who fought in favor of the institutions of enslavement and oppression.
I'm not here as a white savior, but I will take that criticism it if that's what anyone thinks this is. Because it's clear to me that as a white woman, it is my responsibility to request that we stop using these problematic, violent, racist and disrespectful symbols and references.
I would like to read into the record a portion of the Olentangy Braves Creed that I downloaded from the district website on April 11, 2023:
I am an Olentangy Brave;
…I will fiercely protect the truth and what is right; and
…I will lead and be proud of my actions.
Sources say there were 6 main native tribes in Ohio: the Shawnee Tribe, the Delaware Tribe, the Ottawa Tribe, The Miami Tribe, The Wyandot Tribe, and the Seneca-Cayuga. We are directly occupying land that was traditionally theirs. We are gravely disrespecting their heritage and cultures.
I would like to request that, in accordance with our own Olentangy creed, you immediately announce that you are fast-tracking the identity changes to stop using the racist terms Braves and Patriots. These terms are racist, of white supremacist origin, and refer to our violent history of conquering native people.
I also ask you to immediately stop the use of Hawaiian culture for spirit days district-wide
I would like to encourage other people to express their support for ending the practice of cultural appropriation and culturally violent identities in use in the Olentangy Local School District.
Just over here in central Ohio, confronting the poison spoon of racism that’s in my mouth,
Kay
Wow, way to hit the ground running, Kay! I had not considered the appropriation of Hawaiian culture before, and you are right.
As for the Braves situation, there were many who spoke out about that very concern back while the district was rebranding. Parent Diversity Network (PDN) even hosted a Town Hall (zoom) with indigenous leaders who asked that Braves be changed...to no avail. I think the SB feared the reaction of so many who are also "lifers" who feel such strong connection to their alma mater and were extremely vocal. Check out the Retire the Braves FB page.
Very proud of you, Kay. That took courage. And your remarks were spot on.
I had my first experience at a school board meeting re: the masking fight during COVID. Myself and 10 others pro-mask, in a small room with 100+ anti-mask individuals, screaming for hours. It was terrifying.
We ultimately prevailed in a lawsuit (temporary restraining order) against our school board - but it was some of the hardest work I've done. I felt the same feelings of eyes on me, and being scared to speak up. But I did it anyway. For my kids, and for theirs.
Thank you for being afraid and doing it anyway.
-N