New Trier High School policies meant to make the school more inclusive actually create an uncomfortable environment for some students, according to a New York-based special interest group that said it received two anonymous complaints from members of the school community.
The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism said a New Trier parent filed an anonymous report Sept. 19 protesting a survey about student participation in school affinity groups including the Combined Racial Affinity Group and the White Anti-Racist Affinity Group. According to the report, the student felt uncomfortable and didn’t want to complete the survey. The report then said the teacher threatened to take the student’s phone but ultimately didn’t.
The parent who submitted the complaint called the groups “racist” and said their student was being bullied by the teacher by trying to compel speech.
Another anonymous report to the group, submitted Aug. 31, said surveys given to students asked for their preferred pronouns and who those pronouns could be used around. The group, which calls itself FAIR, alleges in its letter to the district that requiring students to announce their pronouns violates free speech protections under the First Amendment because it forces students to adhere to ideology that can conflict with religious beliefs.
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New Trier Superintendent Paul Sally said in a letter responding to the group that all students are permitted to join any group without exclusion and that staff and teachers allow students to share preferred names and pronouns at the start of the year in order to connect with students.
“New Trier High School strives to create a culture of dignity and belonging, where every student feels welcomed and valued,” Sally said in the letter.
School officials declined to return a call seeking comment on how the issue would be handled.
Letitia Kim, managing director of the New York group’s legal network, said that teachers hoping to create a more inclusive environment for students should take a different approach. For instance, they should encourage students to tell teachers which pronouns they prefer without compelling everyone to do the same. In the instance where a student refuses to use a classmates preferred pronouns, Kim says it gets tricky.
“We do encourage everybody to be respectful of everybody else but we also recognize that the use of pronouns is a little bit more complicated,” she said. “It’s not like giving a name or giving your address or giving something similar. It really carries with it a set of underlying beliefs that some students and some individuals may not accept or may not believe in.”
Kim says speech that advocates physical harm is not protected but “if you’re out there just saying your point of view, as horrendous as it might be and as disagreeable and offensive as it might be, that really is an opportunity to hear what that person has to say and the only way for us to move forward and to get beyond that kind of thinking is to let that person speak and to speak more.”
The letter to the school also took issue with asking students who their preferred pronouns can be used with, saying it potentially withholds “important information” about students from parents and infringes on parent’s rights. The letter referenced the Fourteenth Amendment, saying, “It is parents, and not the state or its schools, who have the primary role in the care and rearing of children.”
However, Kim said students should disclose to teachers if they feel unsafe or justify their reasoning for not having parents informed.
“If a student is suffering abuse at home, then that would be a valid and legitimate reason to not share that information with the parents. But if the student just says ‘No, I don’t want my parents to know’ and that’s the only reason that’s given and there’s no further inquiry as to why or what’s going on, that’s when the issue is raised,” she said. “The school has a duty to find out more information about why the student doesn’t want their parents to know.”
The organization, founded in early 2021 by Bion Bartning, claims on its website to be nonpartisan and a nonprofit. Its goals include supporting fairness and a “pro-human mindset,” described as “one human race, individual civil rights and liberties, and compassionate opposition to racism and intolerance that is rooted in dignity and our common humanity.”
The group began, according to Bartning, when following the death of George Floyd, his children’s school started an anti-racist curriculum that he believed caused more harm than good by pointing out the differences between people.
“We were told it was essential that we acknowledge racial differences and to participate in teaching our children to see everything through this lens of skin color,” he said. “To me, that just seemed antithetical and really dangerous. It seemed like that was something that was just going to create a lot more racism.”
The group’s funding sources are not clear. It utilizes United Charitable, an organization that works with wealth advisors and donors to minimize tax liability on charitable endeavors.
The organization strongly pushes back against those who would call it partisan. Bartning said that when a report is sent in, the first thing that is done is asking questions of the organization in the report.
“If somebody’s acting in a way that lacks integrity or they’re saying something that’s not true or they’re acting in a partisan way, then I think that will come through quickly,” he said.
Bartning said that introducing concepts on race to children racializes them but would not answer a question about inherit racial bias in the United States.
Evanston has its own FAIR chapter, helmed by chapter leaders Joel Sternstein and Ndona Muboyayi. The chapter is still in its infancy with around 50 members.
“There’s definitely people in our group who are interested in that (fighting anti-racist education) but everyone’s in there for a different reason,” he said.
When asked about local schools and general treatment of LGBTQIA+ issues, Sternstein said that the group doesn’t get into hypotheticals.
“Our concern is that there are people who see these issues differently but if they stand up and say what they believe and certain people on the far left don’t like what they’re saying or disagree with it, then they’re called a racist or they’re insulted and they’re put down and they’re shamed and they’re shut up,” he said.
Moving forward, Kim hopes to continue the dialogue with New Trier, saying that the work is not done.
“It’s really hard to draw the line. Anybody could claim that something that somebody says is harmful,” said Kim. “How do we distinguish between that kind of speech that causes true harm, and even defining what that harm is? At what point can you shut somebody down? How many people have to be harmed?”
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The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism plans on hosting an event in Evanston from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, at Double Clutch Brewery. Speakers include Bartning as well as author, musician, actor and lecturer Daryl Davis; activist, lawyer and author Monica Harris and DePaul University Professor of Philosophy Jason Hill.