A middle school principal in San Francisco shocked her local community by suspending student council election results because she felt the winners lacked diversity and were too white.
The San Francisco Gate reported:
S.F. principal delays vote results, saying winners aren’t diverse
When San Francisco middle school principal Lena Van Haren saw which kids on her campus had been elected to the student council, she was disturbed at the lack of diversity among the winners. There were no Latino or black candidates chosen for the top four spots.
Her concern for a representative student government, given the preponderance of students of color at Everett Middle School in the Mission District, may have been understandable. What she did about it, however, swiftly raised a different kind of alarm.
Van Haren decided to withhold the results of the Oct. 9 election for more than a week, saying the school community needed to figure out how to have a more representative government.
“This is complex, but as a parent and a principal, I truly believe it behooves us to be thoughtful about our next steps here so that we can have a diverse student council that is truly representative of all voices at Everett,” she told parents in an e-mail Thursday.
The response was immediate and at times vehement. Parents complained; students were angry. It appeared, some parents argued, that diversity was trumping democracy.
What’s wrong with white candidates? All of the Democrats running for president are white.
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