Satya Chandragiri
Re: My position on Resolution No 202122-2:
While I deeply continue to be concerned about the issue of addressing white supremacy and racism, but I am more concerned about our district and board’s ability and credibility to sustainably undertake this task at this time. Furthermore, I am concerned about continued alienation of our large sections of moderate community who are wrongly labeled as supremacist, race traitors, threatened, shamed, doxed, or further alienated or made invisible or discounted in this discussion.
I think this is an important issue as we are sitting on top of a dangerous pandemic and any fanning of distrust, divisive rhetoric or false accusations can increase and accelerate the risk of health and safety in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic.
I believe any attempts by any groups to highjack, weaponize and stoke the flames of our primal fears around white supremacy and racism will only inflame the synergistic effects and cause more harm to the vulnerable communities already suffering.
While I am committed to working to heal the racial divide and address this for the sake of our nation and our children, I will not be a party to a plan that can divide my community and cause more harm. The real hard question is how do we make critical changes in the policies that will address the problems of educational inequities, helping our students catch up the learning losses that has disproportionately impacted communities that have always been left behind?
This is a time for us to calm our community, bring groups together and help humanize each other. Hence I will not be able to support this resolution at this time.
I have sent a detailed email to our superintendent explaining my position.
Satya Chandragiri, MD
Salem
(The writer is the Salem Keizer School Board director for Zone 4.)