On Tuesday, several Asian American protesters held signs outside of NYC School Chancellor Richard Carranza’s car as he left an invitation-only community meeting in Brooklyn, New York Post reports.
The protest is just one consequence of the rising tensions between Carranza and members of the Asian American community in New York City. The tension can be traced back to December 2018, when Asian American parents filed a lawsuit alleging that a new NYC public school admissions policy discriminated against Asian students.
Many Asian American parents and activists in NYC see Carranza as racist and anti-Asian. Last week, protesters attended a school board meeting set to approve a new school curriculum aimed at incorporating the culturally diverse backgrounds of NYC public school students. Many held signs calling for Carranza firing.
Yesterday, protesters gathered outside of Carranza’s car as he left an invitation-only community meeting. The meeting, which was closed to the press, was meant to be a “community chat” with representatives from five area school districts.
Some of the protesters felt that Asian Americans may not have been properly represented at the meeting. Yifang Chen, a plaintiff in an anti-Asian discrimination suit against the DOE and member of Community Education Council 20 in Dyker Heights, told New York Post that those in charge of the meeting rejected her request to attend.
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“There are a lot of Asians in my area,” Chen, told New York Post. “All I know is that no Asian members of our CEC were in this meeting. We were not represented.”
However, several attendees who spoke to New York Post said that several Asian community members attended the meeting. Sources also told New York Post that Carranza acknowledged the protesters waiting outside the meeting, saying they were part of the healthy democratic process.
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