Peter Beck is an experienced teacher who has previously taught the three cultural studies courses (African-American, Latino and Southeast Asian) now being offered at the new Gaston Middle School in southwest Fresno, CA. As such, he was hired to teach them at Gaston.
But there’s a problem: Beck is white.
At an early morning news conference Monday, a small group of concerned citizens led by Rev. Karen Crozier met in front of the school on Church Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
People at the gathering said the new school, which is the first southwest Fresno middle school in decades, needs teachers who reflect the ethnic and racial background of its students.
Crozier and others were dismayed to learn the person hired to teach the school’s three cultural studies classes is white. District officials initially considered hiring a teacher of color, she said, but ultimately hired Peter Beck, a former teacher at Hoover High School.
“We’re just saying what the community wants. We didn’t fight for a white male or female teacher to educate our babies,” Crozier said. “We still are at these racial fault lines, and we want someone who will be able to think critically about those racial fault lines and how do we help heal, to restore the problems that have existed.”
A district spokeswoman said Beck “was the best pick for the job and one of only four teachers in Fresno Unified with experience teaching the three cultural studies classes.”
Rev. Paul McCoy of New Light for New Life Church of God had a meeting with Beck and admitted that he is “highly intelligent” and “qualified for the job.”
But, McCoy added, “We told him it’s not about him.”
h/t to Joanne Jacobs.
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