Cultures, Humanities, and Arts on the Iron Range in Virginia hosted the meeting Thursday, Jan. 23. Rock Ridge Superintendent Noel Schmidt was the only school official present.
Representatives from Voices for Ethnic and Multicultural Awareness engaged in most of the discussion, with about 20 people attending. Parents and community members periodically questioned Schmidt and shared their experiences with racism in the school and community.
The frequently tense meeting was prompted by the school district’s hiring of former student Aynsley Erickson as the assistant dance coach at the Dec. 9 School Board meeting.
In 2022, a video shared on social media showed Erickson using overtly racist language in a rap, including wanting a holocaust for Black people. The incident was covered on prominent independent journalist Georgia Fort’s website, and the district reportedly said it would set up listening sessions and workshops for students and staff.
Erickson’s mother told Northern News Now her daughter has always taken responsibility for her actions and continues to be remorseful.
Shortly after Erickson was hired, CHAIR, VEMA and the City of Virginia Human Rights Commission collectively contacted Schmidt expressing serious concern. They requested an in-person meeting if the district still planned to employ her.
'This ain’t a good idea'
At Thursday’s meeting, VEMA co-executive director Nathaniel Coward said it’s not really about Erickson but the hiring process, and the fact there was no community discussion until after she was hired and VEMA and others pressed for it.
“There had to have been somebody to say, ‘This ain’t a good idea,’” he said. “They either said it wasn’t a good idea, or they didn’t give a damn. And you can’t say, ‘Well we care about the safety of your kids. We care about racism.’ And then you do something like this, that shows you don’t care about it.”
Schmidt said multiple times at the meeting that the School Board knew Erickson’s history and who they were hiring.
VEMA co-executive director Seraphia Gravelle said Schmidt did not respond to their initial email. Neither did the School Board when they were contacted. She said they set up a meeting with School Board member Tim Riordan, Erickson and her mother.
At that meeting, Gravelle said Erickson agreed that she should not have been hired without addressing her past actions.
“We gave options. We can move forward and continue to call for your termination or you can resign, with the understanding that you need to do the work first,” Gravelle said. “We’re here to help you with that. We’ll stand behind you on that. We’ll meet with you consistently ...
“However, we haven’t heard back from her, but it is our understanding that she has resigned. That was not with the same understanding that we had with her, she just did that.”
Gravelle said it wasn’t until after posting on Facebook that VEMA received a response from Schmidt.
Schmidt sent a letter to parents Jan. 15 that said the district was aware of allegations of systemic racism. It did not directly address Erickson’s hiring, instead stating privacy laws prevented “comment on specific student matters and acts committed by minors, or individual staff-related complaints.”
“We do want to assure our community that we take all concerns seriously,” the letter stated. “Please know that the district investigates allegations thoroughly and in line with established policies and procedures.”
The letter condemned any form of discrimination and reaffirmed the district’s commitment to student safety. It also said the district believes in the power of forgiveness.
Many at the meeting took issue with that language in particular, especially after Schmidt said he thought there were different definitions of forgiveness. Coward and Gravelle immediately disagreed.
“Forgiveness got to come from the people you hurt. You don’t just decide you gonna give forgiveness,” Coward said.
“The School Board had no right to that forgiveness,” Gravelle added.
“I hear what you’re saying, I’m just saying that not everyone would agree with that definition,” Schmidt responded.
'I’m done with it'
While Erickson’s hiring was discussed extensively, it was less the subject of the meeting and more of a catalyst for a larger discussion about the culture of racism on the Iron Range and at Rock Ridge, including its impact on students.
Multiple parents said they transferred their children out of the district after experiencing racism.
One parent said he transferred his son to a neighboring school after white students gave him a Nazi salute, in part out of fear his son would be punished for retaliating.
Another said after moving to the community, she enrolled her kids in online school rather than Rock Ridge so they wouldn’t be exposed to the racism in the district.
Rock Ridge has had many years to be a leader in addressing racism on the Range, Gravelle said. When Erickson’s video was first posted, VEMA made suggestions, including implementing an anti-racism policy, changing hiring practices and planning listening sessions for students of color hosted by people of color. Gravelle said instead, Schmidt, who is white, led the listening sessions.
She said lots of things were written down, but very little change happened then, and she’s distrustful that it will happen now.
"Prove it. Show us the work,” Gravelle yelled.
“Show us the work that was done so that she can be forgiven. So that you can look us in our face, so you can look at him, and him, and him, and her, and all of these people around you that don’t look like you, that their children are safe in your school. And you were given opportunity over and over, and I’m sorry I’m raising my voice. This is — I'm done with it. I’m done with it.”
Schmidt said very little, repeatedly asking what else people wanted him to know before he spoke. Toward the end of the meeting, Schmidt defended the district, saying aside from Duluth, it's the only one in the area with equity as part of its strategic plan. He will be updating the Board on this plan at its meeting Monday, Jan. 27.
“We have done a bunch of things on the equity as far as moving things forward — we're going to be here all night,” he said. “Watch the School Board meeting, stick around or watch it or get an update, and then we’ll go from there ...
“We have a whole bunch of plans. Equity is one of them; it’s an important one. Are there holes in it? Yes. Are there things that we still have to do? Yes.”
Schmidt said change takes time, but if people will sit down and discuss what needs to be done, things will get better.
A community member responded, “You first need to just say, ‘We f****ed up. We did something that was stupid. We hold ourselves accountable. We hurt the community and the children.’
“All you gotta do is say that. No need to take another five months of workshops. Just say, ‘Hey, we messed up. We need to just publicly take accountability.’”
Schmidt did not admit any fault or wrongdoing of his or the district’s in Erickson’s hiring or its response.
At the end of the meeting, Coward, Jay Jackson and David Wrenn stood before Schmidt.
“Everybody knows we still got difficult days ahead. But there’s three Black men, so everybody will know, we are ready to move forward,” Jackson said.
“We got your back, man. You just got to have ours,” Wrenn said.
Schmidt stood up and took a step toward the men.
“I will stand right here, and I will do my best,” he said.
***To stay in the loop about organizing against racism on the Iron Range we urge our readers to check out and support VEMA (Voices for Ethnic & Multicultural Awareness).
>> The article above was written by Megan Buffington, and is reprinted from KAXE.
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