Middle school in ultra-liberal Massachusetts town is convulsed by chaos after white parents accuse black and Hispanic Christian staffers of transphobia… only for their targets to hit back and call them racist

A middle school in an ultra-liberal Massachusetts town has been plunged into chaos after white parents accused minority Christian staffers of transphobia – only to find themselves branded racist. 

Amherst Regional Middle School has been accused of fostering a ‘culture of fear and intimidation’ amid the toxic identity politics war.

The dispute was sparked by complaints officials were not doing enough to protect transgender and non-binary students from bullying by other students and even some staff, the New Yorker reports.

In May, the school’s student paper published an article alleging Christian staff at the school had repeatedly misgendered trans children, engaged in ‘conversion therapy’ and referred to the ‘LGBTQ demon’ during a prayer meeting.

Tensions have erupted in part due to the fact that the parents of the transgender kids who complained are white, while the staff accused of discriminating against them are black or Hispanic – and Christian. 

They’ve hit back at claims by insisting they’re not bigoted and said their accusers are racist – an allegation that strikes deep fear into the hearts of progressive parents. 

Shortly after the article was published the mother-of-one trans student requested a Title XI investigation, the law used to prevent discrimination within education.

As a result Hector Santos, who is Latino and Delinda Dykes, who is black were both placed on leave. Both have denied the accusations against them and said they have worked with other LGBTQ+ students without issue.

At the same time, an emergency school-committee meeting was held at he high-school library.

Furious parents demanded an investigation into Michael Morris, the district’s white superintendent, and the resignation of Doreen Cunningham, a black woman who was the assistant superintendent and accused of protecting the accused staffers.

At the heated meeting, Cunningham’s son was among the few people to defend her.

‘For a prime example of how women of color get treated in leadership positions,’ he said, ‘I say look no further than Amherst public schools.’ 

He insisted that the issues at the school were  ‘not about the L.G.B.T.Q.+ situation’, but due to tensions within the teaching union and racism.

Transgender audience members and their supporters could be seen rolling their eyes and grimacing. They also clicked their fingers instead of applauding over fears clapping hands causes distress to anyone with sensory issues.  

But Cunningham’s detractors say she often tried to protect Dykes and Santos, who were both found to have ‘engaged in severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive unwelcome conduct’ following the Title XI report.

Santos was accused of performing ‘conversion therapy’, while Dykes is said to have prayed against an ‘LGBT demon ‘that wants to confuse our children’ and ‘handed out chocolate crucifixes’.

At the time the allegations surfaced, Attorney Ryan McLane, who was representing them said they didn’t do anything wrong and described them as ‘faithful, Bible-believing Christians. 

However, the Title XI investigation described a ‘culture of fear and intimidation’ at the school, where some staff were intimidated into silence through ‘fear of being labeled a racist.’

It also concluded on at least one occasion, Cunningham had engaged in retaliation against an employee who complained about Dykes. 

The assistant superintendent was hired by Morris off the back of a series of racism scandals in the district, which had been aggravated by his hiring as a white man. 

So when he took the role, Morris was keen to restore some faith and introduced a new administrative position, assistant superintendent of diversity, equity, and human resources.

The DEI-focused position aligned with Morris’ view that  improving racial diversity among Amherst faculty was ‘a civil-rights issue for our kids,’ and he selected Cunningham for the role.

Cunningham’s efforts saw the number of black and Hispanic staff swell – but despite initial support from parents, the atmosphere soon grew rancorous.  

‘There was a lot of racism in the district,’ Cunningham told the New Yorker. ‘And I came, and a lot of people of color started to feel safe, not because they thought that I would not hold them accountable but because they knew that somebody would hopefully understand where they were coming from.’ 

She introduced a new hiring system designed to boost the number of staffers of color in Amherst schools, successfully taking the number from 20 percent to 34 percent by 2023.

However, she was accused of occasionally overruling her own process to have the final say – an allegation she has strongly refuted.

Some of the employees of color have queried whether the push was more about optics than actually delivering.

‘I am a prop to support the numbers that Doreen is putting forth that I know are bullsh**,’ science teacher Kerrita K. Mayfield told the outlet, claiming that some of the staff are Cunningham and Dykes’ relatives.

She also agreed that staff kept quiet about concerns due to fears of being labelled a bigot.

‘The worst thing you can be called in Amherst is racist, and it keeps people stuck,’ Mayfield added. ‘That is what kept Doreen, Delinda, and Hector in their positions much longer than they should have been.’ 

The fallout resulted in Morris walking away from his role with a separation agreement which granted severance pay and stressed he was not leaving due to any wrongdoing.

‘There have been people of all races in the district who have been affected by my decisions as superintendent,’ Morris said when asked if he did not take action  sooner due to fears of being branded a racist.

His departure sparked a wave of resignations from the school committee, with all three departing members citing personal attacks concerning racism, homophobia, and transphobia as the reason for leaving.

Cunningham was also ousted following the Title XI report, notably she has not been able to move onto a new job as quickly as her colleague Morris.

While many of the names thrown up by the investigation have since left the school, chaos continues to swirl

Recently a white member of the school’s  People Opposed to Sexual Harassment (POSH) club was accused of making baseless accusations that a black teacher was making inappropriate comments about students’ weight, race and clothing.

As for the trans children, their parents have claimed they were subjected to traumatizing restorative justice practices, which put them in a room with their bullies. 

They claimed that the bullies, who were black and Latino, were shielded and let off relatively lightly during the process which was overseen by another black staffer, Letha Gayle-Brisset.

For her part, Gayle-Brisset suggested the criticisms were racially motivated and that inclusion for the LGBTQI+ community is being ‘weaponized’. 

‘There have been whispers that some members in the middle-school community are intent on removing people of color, especially black people, from leadership positions,’ she said.

The whole affair has continued to cause ructions in Amherst, amid claims the white, wealthy town is home to more ‘Black Lives Matter’ signs than black people themselves.