The entire senior staff in the San Francisco school district on Sunday condemned a racist tweet from a school board against Asian Americans, saying she did not accept adequate responsibility for it.
In an open letter to the district staff and school board that The Chronicle received, all 19 top administrators at the district’s central office, including deputy superintendents and department heads, condemned the second board’s vice president Alison Collins posted in 2016.
The top leaders work directly for the superintendent, but their employment contracts are approved by the school board. The contracts of all 19 administrators are awaiting a vote in the board, which is scheduled for a closed session on Tuesday.
The top officials said they were ‘united’ in the responsibility to share the ‘serious concerns’ of numerous colleagues and community members.
Administrators said they agreed with councilors Jenny Lam and Faauuga Moliga, as well as former councilors and city officials, that the tweets “perpetuate gross and harmful stereotypes and leave no room for nuance or possible misunderstanding.”
The letter from the district staff was the latest in a series of condemnations from officials regarding Collins’ tweets. On Saturday, the city’s top-elected officials, including the mayor, lawmakers and almost all supervisors, asked to resign, as did Lam and Moliga. Several community groups also asked her to retire.
The dispute over the tweets erupted when the district began getting middle-class students back into the classroom. The district – which is already facing a lawsuit over reopening and a second over a controversial decision to rename 44 schools – is now facing a possible third lawsuit over the Lowell High council’s decision School to be deprived of deserving admissions.
As of Sunday afternoon, Collins, who was elected in 2018, did not resign and the 2016 tweets were still posted online.
She did not return requests for comment on the letter on Sunday.
In the thread of tweets On December 4, 2016, Collins said that Asian Americans used ‘white supremacist thinking’ to assimilate and ‘move forward’. “Collins explained in the thread that she wanted to ‘fight anti-black racism in the Asian community’ and ‘at my daughters’ mostly Asian school.’
The reports also contain racial captions, including a reference comparing Asian Americans to ‘house n *** ers’.
Collins expressed regret in an online message Saturday morning about the pain her words caused. She did not want to identify her tweets as racist and repeatedly insisted that they be ripped out of context.
Several officials, including the mayor and Lamb, said Collins did not take responsibility for her words. Lamb calls it a ‘non-excuse’.
Superintendent Vince Matthews did not want to address the tweets specifically, but sent a note to district staff on Saturday saying, “We must cooperate and speak when we see or hear racist actions or behavior toward any member of our community.”
Council chairwoman Gabriela López defended Collins on Saturday, saying she appreciated her colleague’s apology.
A statement posted on social media on Sunday called for Collins’ supporters to sign their support, saying she was “one of the few consistent anti-racist voices among politicians in this city”.
“Commissioner Collins’ opportunistic target diverts attention from the national discourse surrounding addressing anti-API and anti-black hatred,” the anonymous authors said.
As of Sunday evening, 61 people had signed the declaration, including parents and teachers in the district.
In contrast, top district administrators said they were disappointed that Collins “does not appear willing to take meaningful responsibility for her actions.”
They appealed to the school board to condemn ‘racist, hurtful language’ with them.
School board members Matt Alexander, Kevine Boggess and Mark Sanchez have not responded to requests for comment since the tweets reappeared Thursday.
“As civil servants, we work for the Board of Education through the Superintendent, but we serve the students and families of San Francisco,” the 19 administrators said. ‘Although we believe it would be inappropriate for the resignation of an elected official who is part of the governing body of our district, our silence should not be interpreted as complicity or approval. We strongly condemn the statements made by Vice President Collins. ”
Jill Tucker is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @jilltucker