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Johnston School Board member Jennifer Chamberland made some interesting comments on Monday night prior to voting in support of Louis Fountain to be the district’s new director of equity, inclusion and belonging despite his public bigotry displayed on social media toward black conservatives and Republican women – as well as his disdain for law enforcement.
Chamberland said she “struggled” with the whole topic and understands concerns that people would like to talk with Fountain about his comments, but…
“But then I also as a white person, I don’t, I don’t necessarily have to understand why comments are made in that regard,” she said. “And I struggle with realizing that, as a white woman, I don’t have the experience that other people of color have experienced.”
Chamberland said the work session held before the meeting helped “clear something up” for her.
“While yes, I would hope that all students are included in the inclusiveness, the position is, at least based on the description, is more geared towards creating equity with our minority populations,” she said. “So for that, to say that our focus should be on making sure that white kids feel accepted is not to my understanding necessarily what we should be focusing on.”
