On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Joseph Moylan held an assembly at his school to talk about race and white privilege. Seems innocuous enough for a principal, but to parents in Wisconsin’s predominately white Oconomowoc Area School District, it was highly controversial and prompted some parents to call for his dismissal.
Moylan went on to resign shortly after the event, and those left in charge of the school are forbidden from holding such a gathering again.
The Journal Sentinel interviewed school board president Donald Weimer about the matter.
“Our board is fine with discussions about diversity ... but white privilege is a lightning rod for some parents,” he told the paper.
According to the outlet, Weimer also serves as the village manager and chief of police in the small, affluent town.
“We had parents in our community who felt like the concept of privilege went a little far, particularly for some of our younger students," Rindo said last week. It doesn't mean we can't teach children about diversity...”
— James E. Ford (@JEFordNCTOY) March 13, 2018
Man, we got work to do 🤦🏿♂️ https://t.co/z5y1EPgnDQ
One of the board members, Steven Zimmer, told the Journal Sentinel that he “disagreed with the way board members used the MLK Day assembly to push (Moylan) out.”
The internal politics has already affected the school after Moylan left.
A follow-up assembly requested by students that would have taken a deeper look at privilege through a “privilege walk” was denied by those currently in control of the school.