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Legal watchdog claims Providence teacher event discriminates against race


A notice for the Providence Public School District Educators of Color Meet Up event as posted on the PPSD Facebook page.
A notice for the Providence Public School District Educators of Color Meet Up event as posted on the PPSD Facebook page.
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A meeting for Providence Public School District teachers Thursday came under scrutiny this week, after a local legal watchdog group claimed it discriminated against white educators.

Earlier this week, the Barrington-based Legal Insurrection Foundation, or LIF, wrote a letter informing the Nelson Event Center in Cranston that it believed the PPSD event the location was set to host Thursday discriminated against race. According to PPSD's Facebook page, the event was called "PPSD Educators of Color Meet Up."

"Because the Nelson Center is a place of public accommodation as a matter of Rhode Island law, they are not permitted to discriminate," argued LIF founder and president William Jacobson. "This is an event that was segregationist in the way it was formulated by a government entity. We believe that violated the law and we put the Nelson Center on notice."

The district's Facebook page described the event as a networking opportunity. NBC 10 obtained a copy of LIF's letter sent out this week, in which Jacobson and his team claimed the event's registration form had a checklist of only non-white categories for attendees to choose from.

"The official school function, per the promotional material put out by PPSD, invited only educators of color," he told NBC 10 News Thursday. "It was discriminatory and exclusionary based on race to begin with."

PPSD told NBC 10 News that it has since updated the form to be clear that all educators were welcome at the event, which ran from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

In a statement to NBC 10 News, the district added, "The Providence Public School District is committed to employing a staff of educators that reflects the community it serves. Events such as this are an important part of showing Educators of Color that they are valued, supported, and a critical part of the success of students."

On Wednesday, however, the event was moved from the Nelson Event Center to Bom Bom Nutrition in Providence.

It's still unclear as to why the change happened. NBC 10 News sought comment Thursday from management at Nelson, but did not hear back.

Bom Bom Nutrition is a juice bar across the street from the PPSD parking lot and office of the superintendent. When pressed for an on-camera interview Thursday, PPSD declined.

Jacobson told NBC 10 News that his team has not threatened legal action against either location for hosting the event, simply putting the notice out to Nelson earlier this week to make them aware.


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