New NYC Schools Chancellor an ‘anti-racism’ activist who enforced ‘Wakanda salute’

Porter said that she makes decisions about hiring educational staff based on race and gender.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

After New York Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza abruptly resigned last Friday, he said he was proud of the “anti-racist” policies he promoted during his tenure.

“We made true progress in dismantling structures and policies that are products of decades of entrenched racism — like suspending school screens [entrance exams for elite public high schools],” said Carranza in a statement.

His replacement, superintendent Meisha Ross Porter, is likely eager to carry on her predecessor’s policies, inspired by critical race theory.

In September 2020, Porter reposted a tweet by David E. Kirkland which read, “Critical Race Theory is the audacity to tell the truth in places built on lies. This truth will make us free, though there are some who don’t want us free and are willing to sever a nation to ensure that we stay chained.”

“Speak the truth brother!!” she replied to the tweet.

Porter, who will be the first black woman to head New York City’s public schools, was recently mentioned in two lawsuits from former school educators who claim the district’s embrace of far-left policies have led to a hostile and racist work environment.

Karen Ames and Rafaela Espinal, two veteran educators, sued the district for unfair termination, alleging that their careers were derailed because they had refused to go along with the new critical race theory-inspired agenda.

While Porter is not named specifically as a defendant, her name appears multiple times in both lawsuits as a person who created a racially hostile work environment.

Both Ames and Espinal said that Porter demanded educators perform “Wakanda”-style black power salutes, inspired by the movie Black Panther, at the conclusion of staff meetings.

Not long after Ames refused to perform the salute, she was summoned to DOE headquarters and given a termination letter explaining that “the district was moving in a new direction.”

Espinal, who has Dominican heritage and identifies as an Afro-Latina, also declined to perform the “Wakanda” salute.

Espinal explained that she felt uncomfortable with the gesture being used in professional meetings, as it “introduced a racial divide where there should be none,” according to her lawsuit.

She “was admonished and told that it was inappropriate for her not to participate.”

Shortly afterwards, she was abruptly terminated from her position as head of Community School District 12 in the Bronx.

During a 2018 speech at Fordham University, Porter explained that she makes decisions about hiring educational staff based on their race and gender.

“When I am selecting principals, teachers or leaders — after we make the list, we look at it and we count: how many women, how many people of color, and why. Who we chose, and why.

“I look at the makeup, and I literally count — and it’s OK for us to do that.”

In February 2019, Porter celebrated a promotion with a lavish gala costing some $45,000. Held at Villa Barone Manor in the Bronx, the event also served as a birthday party for Porter.

New York Cityrace relationsRacism