Not only did these racist parents in Midlothian make an embarrassing spectacle of themselves, but they also brought 3%ers to a school board meeting.
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First Southlake, then Frisco, Fort Worth, and now Midlothian. Far-right extremists all over Texas have been targeting school boards to push a white supremacist ideology and make sure that any form of diversity, equity, and inclusion doesn’t come to their local schools. This comes when the Texas Senate has passed a bill to eliminate a requirement that public schools teach that the Ku Klux Klan is “morally wrong.” In addition, that same bill dropped studying Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech as a curriculum requirement.
White supremacy is on the rise in America, and it’s in all of our back yards.
[mepr-hide] https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); [/mepr-hide]Respect Midlothian 1888.
Before the Midlothian ISD School Board meeting yesterday, a group of angry white women calling themselves “Respect Midlothian 1888” gave a press conference. Ellis County GOP Chair Randy Bellomy joined them.
They said they were expecting the following:
- MISD must follow all procedures and policies in the MISD handbook.
- Chalisa Fain, the MISD Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusionmust be terminated.
- Fain’s position must be changed to “Diversity Coordinator” with new responsibilities.
- MISD must hire based on experience, qualification, and skin color.
- Bias subcommittees will not be allowed.
According to Respect Midlothian 1888, they filed an open records request and discovered MISD violated several policies outlined within the MISD handbook. They claimed that MISD hired the least qualified candidate with the most social justice-driven agenda when they hired Chalisa Fain.
Chalisa Fain had over 10 years of experience promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion when hired.
A unanimous vote by the trustees hired Fain. So why do these angry white people think she wasn’t experienced?
We can only speculate. But in 2021, even the most Karenest of Karens knows it’s not socially acceptable to say, “we don’t like her because she’s Black.”
The first Karen speaking at the press conference is Monica Mote. Mote called the hiring of Fain one-sided.
Mote referenced the school board meetings from June 15, 2020, and July 20, 2020, multiple times in her speech. She said that there were several one-sided comments during the “Public Comments” and that those comments were never verified as factual.
If you go back and watch those meetings (linked above), the public comments were from Black Midlothian citizens and students who shared their experiences of racism in the town and while enrolled in school. Several speakers even recounted how MISD staff were racist to students.
In her press conference, Monica Mote asserted that Black Midlothian citizen’s experience with racism was one-sided. Her comment about how it was “never verified as factual” implied that she believed her Black neighbors lied about their experiences.
Shenita Cleveland was the Smash Reporter who recorded the press conference.
After Shelley Luther’s hate rally, where Cleveland was the lone protester, we all know she will go out and be where others aren’t. She was the only Black person outside, listening to Respect Midlothian 1888’s press conference. About five minutes into Smash’s video, a few elderly white men surrounded Cleveland and took pictures of her.
Why would these elderly white men take pictures of the only Black woman standing outside listening to the Respect Midlothian 1888 press conference?
Monica Mote listed “alarming statements” from Chalisa Fain’s interview notes that put parents in fear for their children.
- Disrupting equality
- Boots on the ground
- Parent contracts
- Expecting her biggest opposition to be affluent and color blindness in Midlothian
- Using students as resources
- A survey for parents to determine their cultural responsiveness
There’s more.
Mote spoke about how it was suggested to add in the MISD handbook that racial slurs and offensive language that targets specific groups are unacceptable. Then she spoke about how Respect Midlothian 1888 combed through Chalisa Fain’s social media and alleged that Fain used racially divisive language.
Mote claimed that those social media posts included:
- A statistic which said 48% of students are white, but 80% of our Nation’s teachers are white.
- Allegedly Fain said, “It takes one hire at a time.” Mote followed with, how that shows Fain’s intent to hire based on color.
Mote followed that statement the same way that all racists do, with a quote from Martin Luther King.
In addition, Mote said that Fain tweeted that she had no desire to speak with students in honor of Black History Month and how she was willing to speak with students the other 11 months of the year.
You heard that right, these angry white parents want the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion terminated for daring to speak about Black History outside of Black History Month.
This is not a bad idea for Midlothian; if they learned more about Black History, then the racists can find another Black leader to quote in their white supremacist agenda, aside from MLK.
Monica Mote said, “They should focus on traditional academic education.” She pointed out how Fain used the term “white privilege” and called it offensive and unacceptable.
Respect Midlothian 1888 gave one of the most racist press conferences you’ll see in 2021.
The next speaker, Lisa Gilley, who the locals have been calling “Libelous Lisa,” spoke about how MISD students were learning about slavery, and she didn’t think they should be. Gilley also expressed her outrage that in the MISD curriculum, they teach self-management, self-awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. She said, “These are things that are taught at home and should stay at home.”
Then as the press conference wrapped up, a group of 3%ers approached the group of angry white parents. The two groups mingled and then posed for pictures.
This chapter of 3%ers calls themselves “Patriot Boys,” based on Fort Worth.
By now, we are all familiar with the domestic Terrorist organization, the 3%ers. They were one of the organizations that planned and executed the domestic terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and are on the FBI’s watchlist. The 3%ers are also the group that planned to kidnap and assassinate the Michigan Governor.
The ADL has listed several domestic terrorist incidents they were involved in during recent years. Canada has put them on their terror list; it’s likely the US will as well after all of the January 6 investigations are completed.
While the SPLC lists the 3%ers as an extreme antigovernment militia, there has been plenty of evidence pointing to them holding white supremacist ideology.
[mepr-hide] https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); [/mepr-hide]What happened inside the school board meeting?
Take a look for yourself.
Nothing was surprising about what any of these people said. They sounded like a 4Chan board as they angrily shouted about Marxism, the 1619 Project, and Cuba.
It’s the same thing that racist parents in other school board meetings have said. It’s almost like all of these people fighting against equality are reading off of the same scripts.
What does “Respect Midlothian 1888” mean, anyway?
Do you know how the former guy did the racist 1776 Project to combat the 1619 Project? And how Texas Governor Greg Abbot has made the racist 1836 Project to combat the 1619 Project? I thought, maybe it was a play on that, so when was Midlothian founded. But, Midlothian was founded in the 1840s and changed its name to Midlothian in 1882 or 1883. The town was incorporated in 1888, but that doesn’t match the theme of 1619, 1776, or 1836.
I asked a few friends I have in the area if “1888” held any significance in Midlothian.
Apparently, local Midlothian residents are under the impression that the group’s very name is founded in hate.
18 is a white supremacist alphanumeric code for Adolf Hitler.
88 is a white supremacist numerical code for “Heil Hitler.”
White supremacy in Texas is on the rise and it will take all of us standing up against it.
This “1888” group has been making appearances at every school board meeting for several months. If you live in Midlothian or Ellis County, we encourage you to attend and stand against this racist attack on Chalisa Fain and all students of color in MISD. Let these people know, this is 2021, and we aren’t going to accept racism in our schools and our society anymore.
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