NYC DOE official ‘censors’ mom asking about race book during public forum
A city Department of Education official muzzled a parent leader who dared ask a question about an incendiary children’s book on race during a public forum — an act the gagged mom called “outrageous” censorship.
The DOE stopped Danyela Souza Egorov, a member of the Community Education Council, after she read a set of questions about the book “Our Skin,” which tells kids that white people invented the concept of race to claim they are “better, smarter, prettier, and that they deserve more than everybody else.”
The forum on Monday — with about 400 people tuned in — was designed to air the views of two candidates vying to become superintendent of Manhattan’s District 2 schools and give parents a voice in the selection process.
But it turned into a lesson on the prohibition of free speech.
“How do you feel about the book ‘Our Skin?’ ” Egorov asked at the Zoom forum. “Do you think whites invented racism? And if so, when? What century, roughly? At what age do you feel children should be introduced to such material without direct parental involvement?”
Before Kelly McGuire, the current superintendent, or Sean Davenport, who is competing for the job, could answer, a DOE employee stepped in.
“I’d like to interject and say that this could be a racially-charged question,” said Bibi Matadin, a DOE parent leadership liaison. She stopped the candidates from answering.
Egorov explained that the question, among others asked, had come from community members and was selected by CEC 2, a parent advisory group for part of the Upper East Side and most of downtown Manhattan.
“Some families think it’s racially charged to put this book in front of our kids,” she argued. “It’s definitely a topic that has been very relevant in our meetings and it’s definitely very relevant for several families.”
“Our Skin,” intended for kids ages 2 to 5, has been distributed to city schools and is on a kindergarten reading list for the DOE’s yet-to-be launched Mosaic curriculum to boost academic diversity. The DOE has said it isn’t part of a “prescribed” curriculum.
Matadin directed the forum to drop the question and move on.
“What are you afraid of?” piped up Chien Kwok, another CEC member, who demanded to know who ordered a shutdown of the discussion. Matadin said it was the executive director of the DOE’s Family and Community Empowerment office, Cristina Melendez.
“Now a bureaucrat at the DOE is going to decide which questions our families can ask or not?” Egorov asked. “It’s outrageous.”
One member of the CEC, Lupe Hernandez, agreed that the question could be “harmful to the BIPOC community,” referring to black, indigenous and people of color.
But another Manhattan mom who described herself as a person of color told The Post the DOE was wrong.
“If we keep censoring everything that’s important that’s discussed in these meetings, we’re not going to get anywhere. There’s always a way to resolve something peacefully,” said Phyre Stenbar.
Egorov emailed Schools Chancellor David Banks: “I grew up in Brazil under military dictatorship, but until last night I had never been told by a government official that I could not ask a question at a public forum.”
Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute focusing on K-12 education, was appalled.
“It’s wildly inappropriate for any school system to silence parents or squelch debate over curriculum and school culture. It’s a public school district that operates — or should — in the public interest with public dollars,” he said. “The arrogance is stunning.”
After The Post questioned the DOE about the incident, Egorov and other CEC members received an apology on Thursday from Desmond Blackburn, deputy chancellor of school leadership, who is overseeing the candidate forums.
Blackburn had the two District 2 candidates answer the censored questions in writing, but neither criticized the book’s attack on whites.
Davenport, who is black, wrote, “Racism does exist,” and that he has been victimized by it “on many occasions, quite possibly by this question.” He added that parents should decide what is appropriate for their child.
McGuire, who is white, said he believes schools “are the most productive places to discuss the text,” guided by trained principals and teachers.
Egorov told The Post she appreciates the apology, but was disappointed in both answers:
“Personally as a Latina, I wish we had candidates who would embrace the opportunity to both discuss and strongly oppose books that promote racial division, inject politics into the classroom, and create tension instead of understanding.”
CEC2 posted Blackburn’s apology and the candidate answers on its website.
