GROW FONTANA MEMBERS RECEIVE APOLOGETIC
FONTANA UNIFIED SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER KATHY BINKS
AT COMMUNITY MEETING

FUSD Board Member commits to public apology;
to work with GROW Fontana community group on campaign against hate and intolerance.

Tuesday, April 06, 2010, Fontana, California -- The GROW Fontana Committee met Tuesday night to discuss proposed resolutions regarding a dehumanizing reference to immigrant children as “anchor babies” made by long-time School Board Member Kathy Binks at the Joint Session Meeting between the Board and City Council last Monday evening. The community members were shocked by the unexpected arrival of Binks, her husband and daughter as the meeting got started.

Mrs. Binks extended a sincere apology and vowed to work with the group to begin a community dialogue and campaign against hate.  As Leticia Garcia and Bobbi Jo Chavarria led the discussion, concerned parents and community members candidly expressed their emotions ranging from anger to sadness and dismay. Some reiterated the call for her resignation.  Mrs. Binks said of the ugly connotations and effect her words carried, “It’s not me, it’s not me.”

Agreeing to three specific commitments proposed by Chavarria and agreed upon by the others, Binks vowed to prove her sincerity with a public apology at the beginning of the School Board Meeting on Wednesday, April 7 and to work with GROW Fontana to begin a city-wide dialogue and campaign against hate using tools, resources and programs that have worked in other cities. She also agreed to help support and promote GROW Fontana’s Mother’s Day Essay/Artistic Expression Contest as an opportunity for students to share what their mother taught them about community, tolerance, and compassion.  Binks and her family members even signed the petition members had been circulating that called for her apology.

After a hug with Mrs. Binks, Leticia Garcia, an advocate for Fontana students and parents said, “It was brave of Mrs. Binks to walk in here and we appreciate her sincerity.  This doesn’t erase the careless disregard her words had, but it does create an opportunity to start something positive for Fontana, especially because of her long-time position of power and influence.”  GROW Fontana members are encouraging residents to attend the school board meeting Wednesday and city council meeting next Wednesday to ask that the rest of the city’s elected officials make similar commitments.

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I wanted to catch you up on some things that have been unfolding here in Fontana and to get some help with a recent commitment from city officials on the council, school board and police department to participate in a community dialogue.

Attached is the press release, newpaper article, and an email that I sent to two of our councilmembers and to the Chief of Police about the derogatory comment made about children of immigrants made at a joint session meeting with City Council and the School Board by one of the board members.  She publicly apologized and said she would work with us to move forward with some city-wide solutions to the long-standing perception of racism and intolerance in the city.

Also, in February, I attended an area community meeting held by city officials and facilitated by a lt. of the police department, where there were some ethnic slurs made by a couple of audience/community members that I brought to the council's attention.  One council member (Warren) responded publicly about the incident and gave me her card afterward.

We  are moving forward with a meeting with a few community members and some of these willing officials  (school board, city council, and law enforcement) --- to begin the work of what might be possible to establish trust and understanding regarding race relations in the city --- not sure on the specifics but we do know two things:

1. Public meetings should be a place of respectful discourse and not yet another instance of intolerance and prejudice in our community. 
2. We are clear in our assertion that elected officials and policy makers can help foster a respectful environment in the course of their duties (especially law enforcement) and must do so to establish and uphold public trust. 

The initial meetings will be to work together to look at some tools available through the Department of Justice and a mediator and decide together the best course of action to take.  I'll have copies of this information for all who attend... but in the meantime you can look at the website:  http://www.justice.gov/crs/.  Flyers and documents can be found:  http://www.justice.gov/crs/publist.html

To include as many and as diverse a group as possible, and to not interfere with Council or Board meetings (which are held on Wednesdays) we were looking at a Tuesday or Thursday evening for an initial meeting within the next two weeks  --- would you be able to attend? Or do you an idea of someone that would like to?