Anti-Racism Resources
Message from Dr. Charochak, Superintendent of Schools
As superintendent of the Beverly Public Schools, I want to reach out to all of you today and share our sadness and outrage at the horror and injustice surrounding the death of George Floyd. The pandemic, and in particular, the unrest of this past week, have further exposed the truth about racial disparities in our country. Race and racism is a reality. As Michelle Obama has said, if we hope to address racism and create a society based on equality and opportunity, it will be up to all of us to act, black, white, everyone - to do “the honest and uncomfortable work of rooting it out”. It is our turn to stand up for what is right and moral. We cannot simply talk about how senseless these events were. If we allow ourselves to feel anger in this moment and in the coming week, and then turn around and go back to “normal”, like nothing happened, then nothing will change. Words must become actions. Henry Turner, principal of Newton North High School has challenged his school community to take action. Some initial steps that he outlined were to reach out to the people of color that you know and check in on them, recognize and address your own bias, condemn racism and racist acts in your daily life, and make your anger about this crisis heard. We in the Beverly schools will work against racism. We are prepared to do the work against bias and stereotype, and work to make all our students and families feel safe and valued. In conjunction with the Human Rights Committee, we stand in unity and support for our friends and colleagues for whom racism is a daily challenge. There is no place in our community for hate. The Beverly Public Schools will continue to embrace our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racist practices in our effort to break the cycle of racism and other forms of oppression.
As superintendent of the Beverly Public Schools, I want to reach out to all of you today and share our sadness and outrage at the horror and injustice surrounding the death of George Floyd. The pandemic, and in particular, the unrest of this past week, have further exposed the truth about racial disparities in our country. Race and racism is a reality. As Michelle Obama has said, if we hope to address racism and create a society based on equality and opportunity, it will be up to all of us to act, black, white, everyone - to do “the honest and uncomfortable work of rooting it out”. It is our turn to stand up for what is right and moral. We cannot simply talk about how senseless these events were. If we allow ourselves to feel anger in this moment and in the coming week, and then turn around and go back to “normal”, like nothing happened, then nothing will change. Words must become actions. Henry Turner, principal of Newton North High School has challenged his school community to take action. Some initial steps that he outlined were to reach out to the people of color that you know and check in on them, recognize and address your own bias, condemn racism and racist acts in your daily life, and make your anger about this crisis heard. We in the Beverly schools will work against racism. We are prepared to do the work against bias and stereotype, and work to make all our students and families feel safe and valued. In conjunction with the Human Rights Committee, we stand in unity and support for our friends and colleagues for whom racism is a daily challenge. There is no place in our community for hate. The Beverly Public Schools will continue to embrace our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racist practices in our effort to break the cycle of racism and other forms of oppression.