CA Schools Offer Racially-Segregated ‘Support Circles’ After Chauvin Verdict. Apology Issued Only For White Group, Sessions Canceled

 After schools in Piedmont, California, bizarrely offered racially-segregated so-called “support circles” for students to discuss the verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, officials apologized — not for segregating students by race, but for offering a “support circle” for white students, too.

“Piedmont school officials have officially apologized after drawing criticism from students and staff for offering a ‘support circle for white students’ in light of the Derek Chauvin verdict,” SFGate reported Wednesday.

An email from assistant superintendent of educational services at Piedmont Unified School District Cheryl Wozniak shows that students and staff were offered the racially-segregated “restorative community circles,” last month. SFGate reported:

“We are offering a restorative community circle,” an email from Wozniak obtained by SFGATE reads, “to support White students who would like to discuss how the trial, verdict, and experiences related to the George Floyd murder are impacting you.”

Two counselors, she said, will be “holding a space for our White students to process [and] share … to one another.”

“Support circles” were also held for BIPOC — a catch-all term for Black and Indigenous people, and other people of color — and African-American and Black students, according to emails obtained by SFGATE.

Almost immediately following the email, Wozniak “issued an apology for the decision to hold a white student support circle, saying that ‘the impact on our students of color has left them feeling hurt and disrespected by district administration,'” SFGate reported, noting that the sessions were then canceled.

School board president Cory Smegal praised students for calling attention to the matter and suggested those who facilitated the racially-segregated support circles should not be fired, seemingly for their progressive aim.

“Our students were the first to call attention to it, and they were right to do so,” Smegal said. “The leadership response was swift and direct — an apology, an explanation … If we silence those who take risks and make mistakes along the way, we discourage others from stepping forward to enter into this important work at a time when all of our words are so highly charged and under such scrutiny.”

Racial segregation in schools is picking up across the country, not just in hyper-progressive California. As reported by The Daily Wire’s Ashe Schow, a Wisconsin high school recently segregated parents to discuss police brutality:

[A]t Madison West High School in Madison, Wisconsin, … families of students were invited to discuss “all the police brutality and violence that is going on,” according to a copy of the email reviewed The Federalist. The email also said that it is “very necessary to have space for our families to discuss and process.”

The email provided two separate links for Zoom meetings: One for parents “of color” and the other for white parents, the Federalist reported.