UTLA Continues Its Ugly, Racist Campaign Against Moms of Color Who Want Schools to Reopen

The New York Post reports on an Afghani mother who said she is being racially profiled by the United Teachers of Los Angeles. As I wrote yesterday, UTLA is trying to prove the racist claim made by its president Cecily Myart-Cruz that the push to reopen California schools is being fueled by wealthy, white parents, and is “propagating structural racism”:

The Post notes,

“The racially-charged fight over Los Angeles school closings took an ugly turn when an outspoken, pro-opening mom said she got an email from the teachers union asking what her ethnicity is — after the union head claimed reopening pleas are largely driven by “white and Middle Eastern parents.”

“Maryam Qudrat, who is of Afghan descent, said she received the “racial profiling” email from the United Teachers Los Angeles after being quoted in the LA Times urging that schools reopen.

“The email asked her about her media interviews and her ethnicity as part of a teachers union “research project,” she told Fox11.

“I’m a mom and an educator and I want our kids to come back to school,” Qudrat told Fox.

“Their conclusion is if you want schools to reopen right now, then that means you are racist against African Americans and Latinos,” Qudrat, whose son attends seventh grade, said of the union.”

While Bill Melugin of Fox11LA News brings the receipts.

ICYMI: A Middle Eastern mom of a LAUSD student is accusing UTLA of conducting racial oppo research on her because she spoke to the L.A. Times about wanting schools to reopen. UTLA tracked her quotes, then contacted her about her race & class status @FOXLA https://t.co/TIoxAsnI8O

— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) March 4, 2021

“Maryam Qudrat says the teachers union asked her about her past media interviews, as well as her ethnicity and class status, as part of a “project” and now, she is crying foul.

“Qudrat has a seventh-grader enrolled in LAUSD and for months, she had advocated for kids to return to in-person schooling and has given media interviews criticizing UTLA for refusing to reopen schools.”

Qudrat supplied Fox11LA with a copy of the email which specifically points out her Iranian name and asks her how she self-identifies. It definitely reflects overstepping bounds, especially for the most powerful Labor Union in the country.

My story yesterday: South LA Parents Outraged by UTLA President’s Racist Comments on School Reopenings; Will Rally on Saturday, points out that Black parents are also not happy about Myart-Cruz’s comments and want it to be known that not only does she not speak for minorities, but they are equally desperate to see their children back in school for in-person learning. In order to reinforce this stance, the community is planning a Rally in Watts on March 13.

Fox11LA reached out to UTLA, and UTLA issued a statement.

Below is a statement from UTLA, in part:

“The email in question is from a UTLA researcher who was attempting to ascertain the race of individuals quoted in order to assess whether or not that is a factor we could evaluate. This outreach by the researcher was not authorized and nothing from that outreach is contained in the report. We understand this type of email could be taken out of context.”

[…]

UTLA said it reached out to Qudrat to apologize for what they are calling a misunderstanding and that they’re perplexed as to why this has turned into an issue.

Did they also reach out to those Black parents and leaders who they insulted in order to do damage control?

Asking for a friend.