Members ask Dr. Taylor to step aside for matters related to CASD
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
COATESVILLE – NAACP members called for Coatesville Area NAACP Chapter President Dr. Tonya Thames Taylor to recuse herself at the NAACP general meeting Monday night at City Hall, suggesting that her role as a school board member has prevented her from taking actions in the best interests of the NAACP – an accusation she denies.
“Clearly there’s a conflict she [President Taylor] has with the school board issue. She’s a school board member. She’s an NAACP member,” said member Jerry Hannah. “It’s just a conflict, a conflict she has not recognized.”
Many in attendance asked that Taylor step aside and allow Vice President John “Hank” Hamilton to handle proceedings that deal with the recent controversies stemming from the discovery of racist, sexist text messages between CASD Superintendent Richard Como and Athletic Director James Donato, both of whom resigned. Because the request concerning Taylor did not make the NAACP agenda before the meeting, no motion was entertained.
“The school board dropped the ball. The NAACP didn’t come out and fight for it. We haven’t heard a peep,” said member Alphonso Newsuan.
Taylor defended her course of action. “You asked me what I would have done, I would have done nothing differently,” she responded to a member who asked how she would have handled the situation if she weren’t on the school board.
She also said NAACP members have not taken official steps to take action against the school board. “You must come forward with a complaint,” she said. “As a board member of the Coatesville Area School District, on the 18th of August, I got an e-mail from a Leroy Coates. An e-mail does not constitute a complaint, nor does it constitute validity. The president of the NAACP, the only thing I do is give a complaint a number; I do nothing else.”
She said that in order to take action against the school board, a member would have to submit an official notarized complaint, which would subsequently be reviewed for validity by the NAACP.
NAACP Philadelphia Branch President Jerry Mondesire, who also attended, said that Taylor is not serving under a conflict of interest. “She hasn’t done anything to disturb the process that has already begun,” said Mondesire, who asked residents to bring their complaints to the public hearing on Oct. 15.
Dr. Teresa Powell, also in attendance, said that she plans on taking advantage of the public hearing and will attend with Abdallah Hawa. It was Powell and Hawa who brought the offensive texts to the attention of the school board. “We thought we’d said plenty two weeks ago, but we have tons more, and we’re going to bring evidence with us so that everyone can see it,” Powell said.
Mondesire went on to say that Taylor did not send the text messages, and members’ anger was being directed at the wrong person. “Did she [President Taylor] do the texting? When all the evidence comes out, that’s when it’s time to make a judgment about the leadership of the NAACP. So you jump ahead before the evidence is heard, then you’re making a rush to judge,” he said.
The dissent came from not just members, but at least one board member as well.
“I don’t want it to be misunderstood to think that Dr. Taylor’s being attacked because she’s a black woman. No, that’s not the case. I’ll defend her as a black woman. But I do want it to be known that the issue isn’t as much with her as it is with the [Coatesville Area School] Board and because you’re wearing a board member hat,” said Treasurer Linda Lavender Norris.
Hearings with members from the NAACP, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department, and community members will take place Oct. 15 at Second Baptist Church where all members of the public will be allowed to speak.
Are the NAACP meetings at City Hall a violation of the NAACP Charter?