Woke extremism is costing the struggling taxpayers of New York City in more ways than one.
Those who pay the bills in the Big Apple are on the hook for millions of dollars after three European-descent educators sued over anti-white discrimination schemes. The lawsuit was a response to an obsession by far-left city leaders with “diversity” and ending what officials view as “toxic whiteness” in education.
According to the lawsuit, the three educators — Lois Herrera, Jaye Murray, and Laura Feijoo — were demoted under the reign of then-Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza. Each was replaced by an unqualified “person of color” as top officials overseeing the “education” of close to a million children pursued “diversity” uber alles.
Carranza, the race-obsessed man in charge, was reportedly working to eliminate “toxic whiteness.” “If you draw a paycheck from DOE,” get on board with my equity platform or leave,” Carranza told educators at the agency’s headquarters, according to the lawsuit. “Equity” and “diversity” are two terms used by Marxists to conceal their agenda.
Each of the affected educators will receive $700,000 from taxpayers under the terms of the settlement. The decision came in response to a judge’s ruling that the plaintiffs had indeed offered evidence of what was described as “race-based discrimination” within the Department of Education run by Carranza.
The evidence seems overwhelming. For instance, Herrera, who served as chief of the Office of Safety and Youth Development, has a master’s degree from Harvard. Her replacement, who was of African descent, held only a GED high-school diploma equivalent, with the suit referring to the replacement as “less qualified.”
The other two educators endured similar discrimination based on their lack of melanin. In fact, Feijoo’s replacement did not even have the necessary license when given the job. And according to the lawsuit, the Department of Education did not advertise the positions or interview anyone else before appointing the unqualified candidates to the senior posts.
Installed by fringe leftwing Mayor Bill “the Bolshevik” De Blasio, Carranza’s regime offered clear marching orders to purge those perceived to not be “diverse” enough. In an internal email by then-Department of Education Chief Operating Officer Ursulina Ramirez, she declared that de Blasio, who appointed Carranza, was “fixated on diversity.”
So fixated on “diversity,” apparently, that qualified people were brazenly replaced by unqualified people whose primary qualification was having the right amount of melanin in their skin. That same Marxist ideology hiding behind “diversity” is also being pumped into the minds of children, with noxious “white privilege” propaganda becoming a staple.
Ironically, though, when it comes to real diversity, New York City “education” authorities are doing everything possible to destroy it. Consider the ongoing persecution of Jewish yeshivas. “Education” officials are working to destroy them under an arcane statute purporting to require that private schools provide “education” that is “substantially equivalent” to the indoctrination in government schools.
Still, the latest case was hailed as a major victory. “This landmark case is a resounding affirmation that discrimination of any form should not be tolerated in educational institutions, regardless of the race of those negatively impacted,” the women’s lawyer Davida Perry told The New York Post, adding that the trio “feel justified and vindicated by the resolution of this significant legal battle.”
The settlement allowed New York City to fork over its taxpayers’ hard-earned money without officially admitting wrongdoing. But still, the victims felt encouraged. “They hope the light that was shed on the DOE’s policies will help other institutions understand that every individual deserves to be treated with dignity and fairness,” Perry said.
Naturally, officials downplayed the racism scandal. “The Department of Education and City are fully committed to fair and inclusive employment practices, and we maintain that these claims lack merit,” a spokesman was quoted as saying in the press. “Nevertheless, settlement of this long standing [sic] case was in the best interest of all parties.”
Far more significant than the effects of this vile ideology on educators is its horrid effect on the innocent children of all skin tones stuck in the government schools promoting it. Teaching children to be obsessed with “race” as a cover for dividing and conquering the nation for tyranny should be considered a criminal offense — not “education.”
Unfortunately, the cost to New York and America will be incalculable. Even more tragic, it will not be possible to fix the horrific damage merely by extorting more money from taxpayers.