On October
20th the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors (BOS) and School Board had
a joint meeting. Near the end of the meeting, Supervisor Winebarger said the
following:
“Dr. Clemons, glad you’re here.
I’ve gotten multiple phone calls from parents saying that they’ve heard; and I
want you to either tell me yes, or no or maybe so; that Gloucester is going to
start requiring a class in black history in order to graduate and that they are
going to start to teach history based on 1619 instead of 1609. Tell me it ain’t so.”
For those
who do not know, the 1619 date comes from what is known as the 1619 Project, a
highly controversial black history piece created by several “journalists”
at the New York Times. I strongly believe the Supervisor's, “Tell me it ain’t so.”
ending to his question was directed solely at the inclusion of highly questionable
content from the 1609 Project; something every American should be concerned
about.
Superintendent
Clemons responded, but did not actually answer Mr. Winebarger’s question, so
Mr. Winebarger sent Superintendent Clemons the following in an email:
“Rick, is Gloucester School
Systems one of the 16 pilot programs and will the program be teaching history
from 1609 or 1619? Mike”
At this
point, nothing appears to be unusual; right? Just a simple conversation between
a Supervisor and a School Superintendent. The Superintendent did respond with a
partial answer to the Supervisor’s questions, but he also had a lot more to
say. The following is the Superintendent's reply to the Supervisor:
Good Morning Mr. Winebarger:
As a follow-up to our
conversation from the meeting last night, I will provide the Board of
Supervisors and the School Board an outline of the course so all know the
framework and contents within. I will make sure all know the periods of history
that will be taught. In addition, GCPS is not one of the 16 districts piloting
the course this year.
However, I must tell you that as an African American/black man, notwithstanding the fact
that I happen to be the Superintendent of Schools in a majority non-minority
community, I found your comments last night to be racially insensitive at a
minimum if not downright racist in nature, and I am very disappointed, angry
and offended by such comments.
Please let me be clear. I have
no problem with anyone asking about the course, periods of time or content
within. However, your comments around the fact of what you heard and if it was
going to be required as a course for graduation is deeply disturbing. My question
to you would be, "So what if it was a course needed for graduation?"
Would you have a problem with that? Your comments in my view showed an
insensitivity to African American History and it came across that it is not
good enough or appropriate to teach in this community.
Please know that I do plan to
follow up with you, the Board of Supervisors and the Gloucester community on
this matter.
In closing, thanks for your
time and I hope you have a great day! Sincerely,
Dr. Clemons
I don’t know
about you, but I was floored by the Superintendent’s racial attack and the way
he attempted to label the Supervisor an insensitive racist. Why would he say such things to someone asking a simple question on behalf of a Constituent? The Superintendent’s comments were nothing less than “race baiting”. (An
attempt to deflect a conversation by implementing an assertion that the
asker is racist.) I also believe there are political motivations behind the
Superintendent’s unacceptable behavior. He, at least five School Board members
and four to five Supervisors would love to see Mr. Winebarger leave the BOS. They want him gone because he and Supervisor Bazzani are the
only two Supervisors who are constantly fiscally responsible in the way they
vote and are more than willing to ask the tough questions. A few days later, the Supervisor sent the following in an email to the Superintendent:
Dear Dr. Clemons,
I have given your email to me
dated October 21 some thought, especially given its concerning rhetoric. As the
old saying goes, "Don't shoot the messenger". As a Supervisor elected
by the citizens of this County, it is my duty to investigate and respond to
questions or concerns expressed to me by my constituents. I always ask these
questions in public, even though others may do so in private. I have done so in
the past and will continue to do so in the future because it is my duty.
At the joint meeting of the
School Board and Board of Supervisors on October 20, I relayed to you questions
which I had been asked by a constituent. You provided partial answers in the
meeting and indicated you would provide follow-up information. As a builder who
has worked construction my entire life, I do not have the benefit of multiple
degrees - I speak simply and plainly without any hidden agendas. On October 21,
the morning after the meeting, I emailed you as a reminder of the information I
was seeking. Your email response did not provide answers to enable me to
respond to my constituent, but instead expressed your feelings about my
question. In the joint meeting of the School Board and Board of Supervisors,
the forum is one where the Boards ask the questions and the employees provide
the answers. I regret that you attributed any insensitive or offensive meaning
to my words - none was intended - it was just a question asked by one of my
constituents about a course. I await your response to my inquires.
Your accusation that my
"comment in [your] view showed an insensitivity to African American
History and it came across that it is not good enough or appropriate to teach
in this community" is grossly misguided and false. In my view, American History
is the history of the American people. I believe that as Americans we are all a
great melting pot and any American history course should highlight the
participation of all Americans regardless of race, creed, or color, and the
African American experience is absolutely an important part of our history.
Please know that I am ready and
willing to have further discussions with you on this issue and encourage you to
call me at your earliest convenience.
Mike Winebarger
Supervisor, Petsworth District
The
Supervisor’s reply is pretty cut and dry. You certainly can’t blame him for
doing what he was elected to do, unlike numerous other elected people in
Gloucester County.
The story
does not end there. On November 4, 2020, the Superintendent and several school
employees spoke during the BOS meeting Public Comment period,
publicly attacking Mr. Winebarger, with some attempting to label him a racist. Mr.
Winebarger maintained his composure throughout the whole orchestrated ordeal.
The same cannot be said about some of the speakers.
Several
people in the community told me about the Superintendent’s email to the
Supervisor, so I submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the
school system asking for all the Superintendent’s emails between October 16,
2020 and November 15, 2020; essentially 30 days’ worth. I was shocked by the
following reply from the school system:
“the school division estimates
that the cost for accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the
records responsive your request is $2,926.00 based on 5,600 emails and estimated
an average of one minute to review each, at the hourly rate of the
Superintendent’s Executive Assistant.”
They sure
don’t want me or anyone else checking out their emails. That amount is ludicrous
and beyond what I am willing to spend on seeking such information, so I revised
my request to:
“all emails sent and or
received by the Superintendent of GCPS that pertain to, reference, mention and
or touch on the "1619 Project" and or African American history and or
Black history and or Native American history during the time period of Oct 16,
2020 thru November 15, 2020.”
I received copies of several emails
and a bill for $62.94. Like I've said before, transparency isn't cheap in
Gloucester County. The entire first part of an email was completely redacted.
It appears like the Superintendent forwarded the Supervisor’s question and the
Superintendent’s response to someone they claim is exempt from being identified
under the “Working Papers” FOIA release exemption. I have received many emails
and other documents containing redactions authorized under FOIA, but I have
never received any in which the sender, recipients, subject, date and 100% of
the content was blacked out. I sure would like to know who the Superintendent
forwarded the email to and what his comments were. One can only imagine at this point, but one thing is crystal clear, he does not want the People to know.
Gloucester County has always been a
civil place to live and raise children. Of course, we have had our moments and like everywhere, there are a handful of true racists of all skin colors, but
overall, most people tend to get along without a lot chaos and drama. It seems
the Superintendent does not feel that way. It seems like he thinks there is
significant racial divide and inequality in Gloucester and in Gloucester
schools and “as an African American/black
man, notwithstanding the fact that he happens to be the Superintendent of Schools
in a majority non-minority community,” it appears he has done very little over the last several years to adequately
blend his little part of the American melting pot into a unified culture of acceptance,
instead choosing in this instance to spew unwarranted accusations of racism. In
another instance he complained about his child not having a teacher of color
since attending Gloucester schools. In still yet another instance of having taxpayers
pay for his membership to the National Association of Black Educators. Of all
people to complain about ethnic diversity when he is the one person in this
community in the best position to cause effective improvements, not only in our
schools but in our County as well; if the need truly exists. As for
membership in the NABE; didn’t segregation end in the 60’s? Why does the
Superintendent feel he must belong to a racially segregated organization? Should
there also be separate organizations for each race of educators? The
Superintendent certainly does not reflect unity, diversity, equality, integrity,
civility and honor; all essential traits necessary to preserve American
freedom, liberty, justice and equality for all. Instead, he travels the path of race
baiting and exclusion to silence those who do not align with his ideals and agenda
and to silence those who question what is taking place in our public school
system.
When I attended Gloucester schools from the late 60’s
till the late 70’s, we were taught to get along and respect each other, despite,
nationality, skin color and financial or academic standing. We were also taught;
our personal choices and level of effort would determine our destiny. We had
black teachers and white teachers and thought of them all as just teachers. Their
color didn’t matter, just like the color of our fellow students didn’t matter. At GHS, Mr. Loring had a class in which the
students replicated the cast of “Welcome Back Kotter”. We watched the Jefferson’s,
Sanford and Son, All In The Family, Good Times and other shows that offered
moral lessons on race relations, among other things. Today Gloucester has an activist school Superintendent who, despite his own career success as a “black
man”, is setting a path for racial divide in our community in order to further progress
the Socialist/Marxist/Communist movement that is jeopardizing our great Nation.
Does anyone really want this kind of drama in Gloucester County? I know I don’t
and believe we owe it to the children of Gloucester to put a stop to it sooner
than later. Superintendent Clemons was welcomed into this community when he was selected for the job, but I believe because of this instance and other instances in other areas he is responsible for, he has worn that welcome out.
Below I have included a SlideShare presentation of the
emails responsive to my FOIA request. I have also included links to the section of the Joint
meeting where the Supervisor asked the question and subsequent section of the BOS meeting where the Public Comments were made.
Written By: Kenny Hogge, Sr.
Email Presentation
