‘Didn’t find any of his comments offensive’: Atlanta radio show host speaks out following GBAPS Superintendent’s resignation
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – A community effort to reinstate former Green Bay Area Public Schools superintendent Claude Tiller, Jr. was underway Saturday, and got heated at times.
“I was invited into this community to help facilitate this conversation, I felt like I couldn’t be anywhere but here today,” ‘Dr. Adrienne’ Berry said, host of the Atlanta-based radio talk show that Tiller made controversial comments on regarding race and diversity within his district.
Tiller resigned Saturday, Feb. 17 after a closed door meeting with board of education members. Berry does not take issue with any of the comments that he made on the radio show, some of which were caught on a hot mic.
“I’m a very non judgmental person, unlike most people in the world, and so I think that people have the right to say, think and feel what they have to say, think and feel so I did not find any of his comments offensive,” Berry said.
Robin Scott, executive director of We All Rise African American Resource Center, helped organize the meeting along with COMSA and Casa ALBA Melanie, nonprofit resource organizations for immigrants and refugees and Latinos. They have joined together to create the United Front for Social Change in the wake of the Tiller fallout.
Scott agrees that there was nothing problematic about what Tiller said.
“Absolutely not, it’s the truth! We are failing Black and brown kids,” Scott said. “I think the truth hurts, it’s hard for people to hear the truth.”
The meeting was attended by 150 people, and the temperature in the room rose significantly when the only board of education member that showed up, Andrew Becker, took the mic to share his thoughts when asked to by organizers.
“You’re choosing to follow the rules and regulations that were set by white people for your seat, true? Come on, it’s true or false, yes or no?” one woman shouted from the bleachers.
Wisconsin is home to three of the top 100 high schools for athletes in the United States
“I will win or lose [the upcoming election] based on what I have done to win or lose in this district over the years,” Becker responded.
While he currently is not able to discuss the comments that Tiller made or discuss his resignation, Becker says he is pleased to see people so invested in the district.
“Anytime there’s 150 people showing up to talk about our schools, even if it’s about an issue of concern, I’m glad to hear the voices and see the people who want to come talk to us,” he said.
Jim Schmitt, former longtime mayor of Green Bay, took the mic when called on by Scott.
“What’s going on here is right. I think what happened at the school board meeting was wrong,” he said. “I don’t know what the outcome is going to be here but I want you to know that I appreciate you being here. I appreciate people who don’t just roll over when something happens, that they stand up and say something.”
On Monday, Feb. 26 there is a school board meeting that is being held as a community forum at 6 p.m.
