Monday, January 12, 2015

An Open Letter to Mayor Stephanie Miner

Dear Mayor Miner,

It has been nearly a week since you appointed Mark Muhammad to fill Bill Bullen's seat on the Syracuse City School Board, following his sudden resignation. Mr. Muhammad's credentials - both academic and as a long-standing community activist - were glowingly recounted in your office's press release. Also acknowledged is the fact that Mr. Muhammad is a minister with the Nation of Islam.

In the days since the appointment was announced, many in the city have struggled to understand how it can be that a representative of the Nation of Islam - not just a representative, but a MINISTER charged with preaching its word and doctrine - could be appointed to the school board.

So we ask you... Why?

Are you unaware that the Nation of Islam is - at the end of the day - a group that preaches a radical separatist agenda? One that advocates for SEPARATE SCHOOLS for blacks and whites, boys and girls. One that advocates for black children to be taught by their own teachers - teachers who are left free to teach as they wish.

How is this appointment in the best interest of
ALL children in Syracuse?
 
Regardless of Mr. Muhammad's countless achievements as an academic, a mentor and a community activist, this is an inappropriate appointment in light of Mr. Muhammad's high rank within the Nation of Islam.
 
It is wrong in the same way that appointing a white supremacist or a Neo-Nazi or member of Westboro Baptist Church or an anti-Islamist would be wrong.
 
It is wrong because it is exclusive, not inclusive.
 
It is wrong because it is a tacit endorsement of the philosophies that Mr. Muhammad represents as a minister of the Nation of Islam.
 
It is just wrong.
 
We urge you reconsider your appointment. Mr. Muhammad has made - and will certainly continue to make - many, many, many valuable contributions to the city of Syracuse. But neither he, nor any person holding separatist beliefs, belong on the school board in a city with the rich diversity that Syracuse is blessed to have.
 
Sincerely,
The Writers and Editors of the "SCSD Take Back Our Schools" blog