Whitewashing the School Board?

“Whitewashed. Castro Valley Unified has had a person of color on the board for three decades. That is until now. We turned the clock back. Congratulations, Castro Valley.”

As former CVUSD school board member Dot Theodore steps down from her service with the district, her handpicked candidate lost the race for a board seat. Rather than just congratulate the newest board member, Ms. Theodore also congratulated the entire Castro Valley community for “whitewashing” the board. Shame on her. I’ve lived in Castro Valley since 2010 and I’ve been an outspoken part of the BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color) community. I personally supported and voted for the newest board member, Sara Raymond on her merits rather than her skin color. I chose Sara because she has been and continues to be an ally to the BIPOC community as well as the LGBTQ community. She has stood up against inequality and hate as long as I have known her, and she has been at the same rallies as the outgoing board member who is now criticizing her election. What saddens me the most is the divisive rhetoric that was sparked by Ms. Theodore’s comments. We have come so far as a community to embrace diversity and inclusion, and Sara’s election will not weaken that, but rather strengthen it. If the fear of “whitewashing” were a compelling issue for a board seat, why did Ms. Theodore support white cisgender male Gary Howard who was running a co-campaign with Tina Sachs? In any case there is an easy solution to remedy the “white washing” claim. Gary Howard, who has served the board for 9 years, can now step down and allow Tina Sachs to be appointed to the empty seat by the board. To me, the outcome of this election is not the problem, and I believe we can do a better job involving and supporting the BIPOC community in general. Our community needs to come together rather than divide ourselves with blame placing rhetoric.     

–Ari Huitzilopochtli, Castro Valley