Parents at elite New York school reject principal’s apology after school showed students video mocking white women

Parents of students at the Spence School, an all-girls private school with an annual tuition of $57,000, have rejected the principal’s apology after students were shown video that mocked white women.

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Hannah Nightingale Washington DC
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Parents of students at the Spence School, an all-girls private school in Manhattan with an annual tuition of $57,000, have rejected the principal’s apology after students were shown video that mocked white women.

One unidentified parent wrote a letter addressing both Spence School Principal Bodie Brizendine and the school board, expressing their disappointment at the school’s response to the incident, reported the New York Post.

"While I was upset after hearing what happened at Spence, the email from Bodie that followed really pushed me over the edge," wrote the parent. "Further, that the board has not weighed in on this matter gives the impression that the board shares the opinion that racism is indeed acceptable as long as it fits within the climate of the times."

The video in question was an episode of Ziwe, a Showtime series hosted by Ziwe Fumudoh, in which she asks writer Fran Lebowitz, "What percentage of white women do you hate? And there is a right answer."

Fumudoh also tells Lebowitz, "I believe that you are not concerned with how annoying white women can be."

Showtime describes Ziwe as "the riotously funny, new variety series from writer, comedian and internet sensation, Ziwe. A no-holds-barred mix of musical numbers, interviews and sketches that challenge America’s discomfort with race, politics, & other cultural issues."

An apology from Brizendine reads: "this video is not part of the Spence curriculum. Our teacher and the School acknowledge that sharing a satirical video that made fun of white women was a significant mistake."

"We are sorry for any harm this has caused to anyone in our community," she continued.

The unnamed parent slammed the choice of wording in the apology, saying that "choosing to label the video as 'satirical' and that it 'made fun of' and 'ridicules' is a gross understatement. That you 'fully trust the professionalism of your dedicated faculty and will be strengthening protocols' is not an acceptable response."

Cuban-American parent Gabriela Baron also wrote a letter stating that she would be removing her daughter from the school for the "blatantly racist" video, according to the Daily Mail.

Baron wrote that over the last several years, she and her husband had grown "increasingly concerned about certain trends at Spence, including what we believe is a de-emphasis of academic rigor and a single-minded focus on race, diversity and inclusion that is now driving the school’s direction and everything within its walls."

The video "exemplifies hate speech against white women," wrote Baron, who added that she and her husband had sat down to watch the video themselves. She added that the video "openly derides, humiliates and ridicules white women."

"[The kids] sat there in their graduation dresses while the white mothers of the white students – many of whom volunteer, donate, call, email and do whatever the school asks of them – were tarred and feathered in a video their teacher showed them," she wrote.

The outcry at Spence follows a growing trend of elite Manhattan schools coming under fire for "woke" teachings.

Parents of young Dalton School students were enraged to find that their first graders were being taught sex education that included videos explaining masturbation to their kids.

These lessons were taught by Justine Ang Fonte, who received backlash at another school, Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, for teaching an explicit, in-depth class on pornography.

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