March 4, 2010
Margiotta calls parents animals
Wake County Board of Education Chair Ron Margiotta, head of the Gang of Five that wants to resegregate the schools, apparently thinks parents who disagree with him are “animals out of the cages.”
Margiotta made the comments early in Tuesday’s public hearing before the board, after people reacted to the comments of Bill Randall. Watch it.
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28 Comments Add yours »
Actually Margiotta gave Randall more than the 2 allotted minutes. A speaker asked for his time to be given to Randall. Disussion ensued while the clock was still counting down. When Randall started talking the clock was still counting down. After Randall had been speaking for about 15-20 seconds Margiotta reset the clock to 2 minutes.
Wow.
Sums it up, really
I’m speechless–and that’s hard for me.
did he say here comes the coons who the heck he think he is he needs to be removed off the board racis devil!!!
I’d say Mr. Margiotta should consider resigning from the board if this is what he thinks of the parents he is supposed to serve.
Al, that’s what I thought he said at first — but I think he is calling on the next speaker, whose name sounds something like Heather Toons or Coons.
If that’s the sort of contempt he has for the parents of Wake County then Margiotta should absolutely step down.
@ al johnson: I thought that sounded like that as well, but after listening a few more times, it sounds like he is calling someone’s name. Heather Koonz, perhaps? I’d check the public speaking list from the meeting before concluding that he’d use such an obvious slur on the mic.
That is right. The next speaker on the list was Heather Koons.
The slur he did say on the mike is bad enough. It is hard to imagine Margiotta credibly chairing a board if he considers the people he is supposed to be working for as “animals out of the cages.”
“Here come the animals out of the cages.” Isn’t that enough to reveal that this man and the board has no regard for the citizens of Wake county. We are seeing with our eyes and hearing with our ears discrimination and intimidation becoming a matter of public policy.
Is it possible for the Justice Center to post a video showing what happened before the end of Mr. Randall’s time to speak? The way the video is cut now, there is no way to see exactly what Mr. Margiotta was reacting to.
Greetings,
He first thanks Mr. Randall and then says, “Ms. Schultz” – whether this is the next speaker or not, I’m not certain.
As Mr. Randall turns away, the crowd in the audience who clearly oppose the “New Board” (as the “bussed-in” supporters’ signs say) begin to make some noise.
At this point, he says – after the “Here come the animals out of the cages” comment, “… and the goons…”.
That’s how I heard it.
Kindest regards,
James
Greetings,
Correction – I’ve just replayed it with the volume up.
… I think he may have said, “…David Boons”.
Kindest regards,
James
WOW. I don’t know what’s worse, Margiotta’s contempt or the massive conflict-of-interest in his relationship with Thales director Kent Misegades: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/wakeed/land-for-a-new-elementary-school
(check the comments)
[...] are scratching their heads about what we’re up to. And then yesterday, our friends at NC Policy Watch pointed out Mr. Margiotta, our esteemed School Board Char, seems to be unable to control his temper [...]
Mr. Margiotta comments were ill chosen but there was no racist intention with them. It is clear he was speaking about the hostile crowd who were ready to pounce on the board’s position. If you are against Mr. Margiotta, you are clearly going to define his comment any way you want. Just as bad were the comments made towards him and the board. Mafia, gang, white racist, are even more pointed that what he said. Yet there is not much of an issue on that matter with Progressives. Too bad. Responding in kind is just as bad, if not worse, than the initial comment, no matter how it is perceived.
It doesn’t matter whether he intended it to be racist or not. The very fact that an elected official refers to the public he was elected to serve as “animals coming out of their cages” is unbelievable! Ill chosen is putting it mildly. It is clear that Margiotta has contempt for parents who are passionate about their disagreement with the actions of the board majority. I’m sure that previous board members faced criticism just as passionate as they sat through countless public hearings and listened to angry parents — many of whom are now the banner holders for the new board. Margiotta should be professional enough to keep his thoughts to himself. If he doesn’t issue an apology for this, he should resign.
Hurray for Chairman Margiotta for doing what the voters sent him to do! It is good to see a politician with a backbone.
The voters sent Margiotta to call people animals coming out of their cages?
Mr or Mrs IBMer
You still got a job???
So Mr. Margiotta gets called a white racist, is told he’s going to hell, and you leave that part out? Biased much?
Ever notice that the folks who support Margiotta and the new board majority never post their real names on blogs?
Mr. Margiotta and the board have made it clear–what the people think and say is of no consequence. Mr. Margiotta has set the standard for how this is going to play out.
There was a day when segregation was considered a key component of racism.
Hi Julie :)
I post my real name. I support the new board’s agenda, but that doesn’t mean I agree with how Margiotta is acting. It is the chair’s job to conduct these meetings in a business-like manner. School board meetings are non pep rallies, they are a time to conduct the people’s business. His first mistake was to allow applause. I live in Cary and have attended many meetings filled with angry people. But the mayor makes it clear up front that we are conducting business and that there is no room for crowd participation unless they are at the podium. He lets people know that the room will be cleared if necessary. Once you allow applause, you then have to allow boos. The boos quickly deteriorate into hurled insults. It is a slippery slope which must be avoided.
I do not at all think that Margiotta’s comment was racist, but it seems that some opportunists who oppose the new board direction are thrilled to play it that way. That said, the chair is expected to set the tone for these meetings, and comments like this one are completely inappropriate.
It breaks my heart that we have young children in these meetings hearing adults call adults “animals,” “white racists” or “mafia members.” This is no example of the proper way to run a democracy.
I also think the heavy-handed tactics in general have been uncalled for. Margiotta has been at the receiving end of this for several years, but that doesn’t make it right. Prior to the last election I was a long time school board dissenter. I worked very hard with a lot of people to drive change in our board leadership. That change was accomplished, a new majority exists, and there is no need for some of the tactics I’m seeing. As a longtime dissenter, I’m reminded of how many times I was told “Just because the board doesn’t do what you want, it doesn’t mean they didn’t listen to you.” It still applies.
The last I recalled, Mr. Margiotta and others were elected by a majority of the residents in the district. Not everyone agrees on a policy and those whose side did not prevail in the election should not fall back on old ghost who have no basis in today’s time.
That fact of this situation is that busing children all over the map is not the cure for social equality, a quality education, and an opportunity for economic success.
The fundemental fact is that the success of the school, the success of providing children with a quality education, the success of providing them with a platform for a solid future, begins with the child’s parent or parents. Without that, no amount of school resources is going to make a material impact across the broader landscape of our society.
The fact is that many of our children are coming from home situations that no matter how much effort a school system puts in, too many are failing because of a lack of a stable, supportive home environment.
Until we begin to recognize that there are fundemental problems with the family structure in many of these communities, we will continue to see the same problems.
Until we bring into this discussion that fact that far too many of our children are losing an opportunity to participate in economic prosperity because of the explosion in single parent households, we will never meet a goal of creating an all inclusive society.
We can not expect our schools and our teachers to be replacements for stable homes and invested parents.
Government resources can not supplement personal responsibility.
[...] on the link: http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org:80/2010/03/04/margiotta-calls-parents-animals/. ; See the full complaint [...]
The problem is the heavy-handed approach. The “new board,” as it is being called, has a clear majority and a clear minority. I don’t see any evidence of cooperation on either part — perhaps because the “carrots” being offered by the majority are not compromises, but merely opportunities to be part of the process of overhauling the school system to suit the board majority’s agenda. (except of course, for Kevin Hill, who’s been just about shut out of the whole committee process) Why should Keith Sutton want to be part of developing a plan for neighborhood schools? His district will be a zone of high poverty schools. Why should Anne McLaurin vote to support a plan that will drive down housing prices in Raleigh and drive homeowners and the businesses they support outside the beltline? Why should longtime educators Kevin Hill and Carolyn Morrison support a plan to undo the very school system they have spent their careers helping to build? The new Wake order is not going to affect the folks in the suburbs adversely. We may even get some magnet schools closer to home. But those inner city kids who will “get” to go to school closer to home will lose out — when the parents who volunteer in their schools and support their PTAs with their dollars pull out their money and their time to go to neighborhood schools where they live. And I’m tired of hearing that it’s time for the parents of those F&R kids to “step up and be better parents.” Don’t judge someone if you’ve never walked in their shoes. There’s a whole lot more to the story than income.
A comment on a previous article in a public forum —- Double standard?
Jack
4 Mar 2010
9:53 am
Whether soda, saltine, club and topped with cheese whiz, colby jack or gouda a cracker is a cracker is a cracker.
Look guys, when you live with mob rules you have to live with the mob. Democracy is plane and simple, “The Mob Rules”. When you realize that protecting the individual serves everyone equally the we’ll have the school systems that we want in NC.