Yes, Racism Still Exists In Hinsdale D-86: Official

Darien IL

19 January, 2022

9:09 AM

Description

HINSDALE, IL — A Hinsdale High School District 86 board member last week promoted the effort to hire a consultant to train staff on equity, anti-racism and diversity issues. At a board meeting, member Erik Held disputed arguments that he said painted the hiring of a consultant as an "insidious Marxist plot to overthrow public education." A 1999 graduate of Hinsdale Central High, Held spoke about racism then and now. "As a graduate of this district, I can that, no, I didn't experience racism. It's true," said Held, who is white. "But I can say that I know it happened. I can say that I know friends that it happened to, that had very negative experiences." Held also said he knew such experiences continued to happen in the district. For instance, he said, members of the district's Culture and Equity Leadership Team hear such reports. "It echoes through time," he said. "It's present and it's there. We are not saying that this work is going to radically change the community, but it provides tools to help educators address some of these issues within the school." Earlier in the meeting, residents made their views known about the effort to hire a consultant, saying such a person would be a waste of money and divisive for students. Held disagreed, saying a consultant would help teachers meet students where they are coming from. Everyone knows, he said, that more goes in a school than what happens in the four walls of a classroom. The consultant is a way to strengthen the district, he said. "I hope we don't lose sight of that, that we don't allow people to use buzzwords from various talking heads or pundits on Twitter, whatever it is, to try to obfuscate the issue and make it seem different from what it is," Held said. Referring to public comments, he said residents' form letters to the school board on the consultant issue do not represent research and intelligent thought. Such letters, he said, were "very disappointing" and "perpetuating a false narrative." "It does at the end of the day have a negative impact on students," Held said. "This is not part of that larger national conversation. This is something specific to us here." Next month, the Culture and Equity Leadership Team is expected to plan the next steps for hiring a consultant.