Teacher tells students to boycott Beacon HS after white girl accused of racism
By Susan Edelman December 15, 2019
A black teacher at Manhattan’s Beacon High School told cheering students to boycott the elite campus Monday after an incident involving a white Jewish girl sparked complaints about a racist environment.
“What we’re asking of all students: Do not come to school that day to show solidarity for the support of not just students of color but all students at Beacon in providing a safe space,” said a teacher who identified himself as “Mr. Green” at Friday’s boisterous cafeteria gathering, which was videotaped.
“Until the demands are met, students are not to return to school,” the teacher — identified as science instructor Demetrius Green — exhorted the crowd of hundreds of teens.
Some Beacon students called for a sit-in instead, suggesting kids wear black and tape their faces.
But the teacher asked, “What is that going to do? Students before you, before I, have done the same thing, and nothing has happened.” …
Friday’s protest was set off by allegedly “racist remarks” that a black student claimed he overheard a white Jewish girl make in a confidential meeting Tuesday with two white Jewish guidance counselors.
The girl told The Post that she was only seeking support for her own college plan at the time. Disappointed that she was put on a waitlist at a top university, she and the counselors were reviewing Scattergrams, charts on admission data, showing that some students with less academic qualifications than hers were accepted, said the teen, whose name The Post is withholding. The counselors mentioned scholarship programs for minorities such as Posse and QuestBridge, she said.
“The context of my private conversation included my disapproval about the unfairness of students who were accepted to college without meeting the rigorous criteria that I and others worked so hard to achieve, because they might be athletes, afforded financial scholarships, and/or get seats based on affirmative action programs, as opposed to academic achievement as the first and only criteria,” the girl explained in a statement.
The black student barged into the meeting and berated the girl and her counselors, causing a commotion.
As word spread, the girl became the target of cyberbullying and threats, she said.
One Instagram post accused her of saying “minorities stole her spot,” and “Im not gonna go to schools for black and brown people or ppl who are retarded.” It concludes, “…she’s definitely Messing with wrong group of ppl. She CLEARLY don’t know how we grew up cuz that bitch looking to be destroyed LITERALLY.”