New York parent says teacher's optional assignment focused on 'White fragility' told students they're 'racist'

Parents accused a high school in Westchester County, New York of calling students "racist" with an optional assignment focusing on tense topics such as "White fragility."

According to ABC 7 News, students in a 10th grade English class at Somers High School texted pictures of the controversial journal prompts to their parents, showcasing the handout's content. 

"Most of them weren't questions, they were statements: you are a racist," parent Sarah Kooluris said, according to the outlet.

The prompts focused on the Layla Saad book "Me and White Supremacy," and asked questions such as "How does your white fragility show up in conversations about race?" and "Have you ever weaponized your fragility against people of color?" the report stated. 

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Another parent, Dom DeMartino, said the district should value principles such as diversity, equity and inclusion in its classrooms, but the method of promoting such values is problematic.

"We want DEI, we want Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, but this person and the way the school has gone about things like this is what's causing the problem," they said.

But parent Elena Sofko stands contrary to the others, according to ABC 7, arguing that her children's struggles facing antisemitism means the community should promote difficult conversations about race.

District and school officials responded to the controversy by assuring concerned parents that the assignment was never authorized and goes against the district's instructional policies.

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"We discovered today that a teacher at Somers High School introduced a lesson in 10th grade English classes that included excerpts from the book Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad. The lesson was immediately discontinued, and the excerpts were pulled from use in the classroom. The district was not aware that this particular lesson was being taught, nor that the excerpts were being used. We immediately began an investigation to determine how the text made it into the classroom," a Nov. 1 statement issued by the district read.

"Somers High School staff will follow up with the students who were in class for this lesson to ensure that they are properly supported. We will also be reminding our faculty of our BOE policy as it relates to curriculum and classroom instruction.

"We are committed to ensuring that our classrooms are welcoming, balanced environments where all students are able to thrive."

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Officials issued an update to parents the following day, reiterating that the school had taken previous measures to ensure educational content was "ideologically balanced." 

"In the summer of 2020 that book was placed as a choice option on the summer reading list for English 10H. When that came to the attention of the Learning Office at the end of the 2020-2021 school year, the Learning Office collaborated with the Library Media Specialist at SHS and the English department, and a decision was made to immediately remove the book from the list. A process was started to ensure that all summer reading material is age appropriate and ideologically balanced," the statement read.

"In addition, the English Department was informed that this specific book was not age appropriate and should not be taught. As a result of this book’s initial appearance on the reading list, the Summer Reading List review now goes through a multi-layered process that includes input from the school librarian, building administration and the learning office."