WHO ARE THE BIAS AND RACE EXPERTS AT TONIGHT'S TOWN HALL MEETING?

Khalil Muhammad

Tonight's Town Hall at Columbia High School is the district's response to a string of bias and hateful incidents in local schools, ranging from offensive words and swastikas at South Orange Middle School to slave auction lesson activities in class at two other schools to last week's offensive messages in a CHS student bathroom.

Along with Superintendent John Ramos, the town hall will include two experts on race and bias issues - Professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a Harvard professor and South Orange parent; and Dr. Khyati Joshi, a social justice and cultural responsiveness consultant who has worked with the district in the past.

Khyati Joshi

The notice flyer says that Dr. Joshi will be part of a panel, but does not indicate who will be on the panel or how it was chosen.

Some have asked why Joshi is involved given that she has been working with the district since 2015 and could be seen, perhaps, as part of the status quo for the district's response to bias and racial issues.

Muhammad, meanwhile, has an interesting family history as the great-grandson of Elijah Muhammad, the former leader of the Nation of Islam. He is also married to school board member Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad, sparking questions of a conflict of interest.

We asked the district about these concerns and why these two were chosen for this very sensitive event. See the district response below:  

Dr. Khyati Joshi was hired 3 years ago to be our anti-bias consultant.  She has
worked with administrators, board of education members, teachers and other staff
providing professional development on issues of social justice and culturally
responsive teaching.  She also has held programs for SOMSD parents and students. 
Dr. Joshi is not being paid separately to participate in the town hall.

Dr. Khalil Muhammad is not being paid.  He is volunteering his time as a SOMSD
parent and community member.  We chose him for a number of reasons, including his
professional experience. He currently is Professor of History, Race and Public
Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and was previously the Director of the
Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture of The New York Public Library.

The event is also being held as many remain concerned that the district cut short its planned contract with Sage Educational Consultants earlier this year. The firm was hired as part of the district response to the racial bias lawsuit from the ACLU.