Obama-honored superintendent blasts White race as 'problematic,' who should feel 'really uncomfortable'
The superintendent said the American system needed to be 'dismantle[d]'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A superintendent in Arizona previously honored by the Obama White House for being a "champion of change" blasted the White race as "problematic" and said they should feel "really, really uncomfortable" in an unearthed media interview uncovered by Fox News Digital.
The superintendent of Scottsdale Unified School District – Scott Menzel – discussed "equity, inclusion and social justice" in an interview while he worked in the same position in a Michigan district. During the interview he said that the White race was "problematic."
"There’s a misperception that educational equity is really only for ethnically and racially diverse districts. But White people have racial identity as well, and in fact problematic racial identity that we typically avoid," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The superintendent said the system needed to be "dismantle[d]" to create a system of racial equity and that "privilege" needed to be called out.
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Scott Menzel superintendent, Scottsdale Unified School District Arizona (Fox News Digital | YouTube/screenshot)
"Because I had that advantage in this country, I have an additional burden and obligation to dismantle," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He went on to endorse a book called "White Fragility" by Robin DiAngelo, seen by critics as a diatribe against White people for being beneficiaries of and complicit in a "racist system."
Menzel said, "So thinking about how hard can we push on the system without a collapse that disrupts the progress of the entire work and sets us back 20 years, that’s a question we don’t talk about often enough in my mind. But also calling out the question of privilege. White people, Robin DiAngelo’s book "White Fragility" calls it straight up."
"White people . . . shouldn’t feel comfortable, we should feel really, really uncomfortable, because we perpetuate a system by ignoring the realities in front of us, and living in a mythological reality," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The superintendent raised doubts whether Americans can succeed on merit. "In this country it’s about meritocracy. 'Pull up yourself by your bootstraps, everybody has the same opportunity.' And it’s a lie," he said.
Menzel did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he continues to endorse these views.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}During the interview blasting White people, Menzel went on about the importance of "inclusion."
During the interview blasting White people, Menzel went on about the importance of "inclusion." (iStock)
He said, "creating that sense of inclusion or belonging, not including you at the table in a symbolic sense or a token sense, but inclusion as a sense of belonging, that everyone brings value to the table, and that we see them for their own inherent human worth and dignity."
The same Arizona district publicly released the names of parents requesting records, including the nature of the request, on its official website, leading to accusations the district was trying to humiliate them. Parents have since experienced online harassment following the disclosures.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Scottsdale Unified School District claimed the move was for the sake of transparency – but it did not intend to publish the actual documents requested when they are fulfilled – only "the name of the requesting party, the request made and the status."
The district also said the policy would be effective July 1, but parents' names starting on May 18 were originally released in the rollout.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Other district administrators have blasted White people in public and private communication.
Fox News Digital reported Sunday that a California district administrator involved in overseeing curriculum, Samia Shoman, called for "privileged White voices" to be removed from influencing against a far-left ethnic studies curriculum.
Samia Shoman is a pro-Palestinian advocate who called for Israel to be removed from ethnic studies curriculum. (YouTube/screenshot | Abid Katib/Getty Images)
Shoman oversees curriculum in the San Mateo Union High School district as manager of English learners and academic support programs. The email was dated March 2021 and was obtained via public record request by Zachor Legal.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We urge the [state board of education] not to give in to the pressures and influences of political lobbyists, racist & privileged white voices, and individuals," she said.
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Infamously, the chief of diversity, equity and inclusion who oversees 60,000 schools for military children blasted White people with derogatory terms.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kelisa Wing is a DEI chief at the Department of Defense. (Leigh Ann Erickson and Kelisa Wing | YouTube/Screenshot)
According to the Pentagon, Kelisa Wing remains under probe for the divisive tweets she wrote about White people.
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The Pentagon originally told Fox News Digital that the matter would be referred to Under Secretary of Personnel and Readiness Gil Cisneros for a final decision 30 days after the initial review, but after nearly four months, the case remains unresolved.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In another story, a Jackson County School board member, Kesha Hamilton, faced backlash for tweets blasting White people during a public comment on Tuesday, including one resident who called her "angry and bitter."