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Northampton superintendent contacts FBI over racist Facebook page as residents urge school board to ban Confederate flag
Updated Feb 25, 2021;
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NORTHAMPTON School Superintendent John A. Provost has alerted the FBI about a Facebook page he says is trying to recruit students into white supremacist groups.
“We will be providing time in flex block tomorrow to educate our students about the tactics extremist hate groups use to try to lure in impressionable youth,” Provost wrote in a letter to parents Thursday.
The “JFK White Student Union” Facebook page appeared earlier this week after John F. Kennedy Middle School Principal Desmond Caldwell created a video responding to student concerns about the Confederate flag being displayed during remote learning. Although the page seemed to disappear Wednesday, it was back online Thursday, with fewer than 10 followers.
Racist social media post spurs rally to support JFK Middle School principal
Mareatha Wallace, an education support professional at JFK Middle school, leads a group in “Lift Every Voice,” when a crowd gathered in support of Principal Desmond Caldwell and to denounce racism. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Desmond Caldwell, principal of JFK Middle School in front of the school on Wednesday. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Desmond Caldwell, principal of JFK Middle School in front of the school on Wednesday. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Desmond Caldwell, principal of JFK Middle School, addresses a crowd that gathered to denounce racism on Wednesday. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Carrying on MLK’s legacy to end racism
A giant portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. gazes off into the distance from behind the A.P.E. Gallery window in Northampton. FOR THE GAZETTE/SABATO VISCONTI
Published: 1/18/2021 5:06:11 PM
NORTHAMPTON Tanisha Arena, executive director of the Springfield-based Arise for Social Justice, wrote an open letter “to our country about who we are to address the constant rhetoric of, ‘this is not who we are.’”
Arena read her letter as the keynote speaker at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day celebration hosted by the Resistance Center for Peace and Justice. The digital event held on Zoom drew more than 100 people.