In a letter to the editor, Jersey City resident Karla Oliva argues that Board of Education President Noemi Velazquez “should be stripped of her duties” after recent actions.
Dear Editor,
My name is Karla Oliva and I’m writing to you today as a proud Cuban and a resident of Jersey City for many years who has grown concerned of the leadership in our school district.
I’m calling into question the character of the current president of the Jersey City Board of Education Noemi Velasquez, who recently made a racist remark towards fellow board trustee Lorenzo Richardson during a public meeting and another similar comment at a recent ICE protest.
At a recent meeting, Mr. Richardson was dressed in traditional African garments.
Instead of using it as an opportunity to uplift the diversity of the board and the school district, Ms. Velazquez made a comment comparing his attire to the 1988 film “Coming to America” starring Eddie Murphy, a satire movie featuring a main protagonist that is a caricature of an African royal.
Ms. Velasquez’s main objective as board president should be to ensure that board members engage in productive discussions.
Therefore, this reader finds it rather appalling that she would make such an ignorant remark with utmost confidence in a public forum.
Furthermore, instead of offering a concise and genuine apology without excusing her behavior, Ms. Velazquez proceeded to double down on her commentary.
She tried passing it off as a “compliment,” further invalidating and dismissing Mr. Richardson’s discontent with her comments.
Looking at Ms. Velazquez’s back story, her profile on the Jersey City Public Schools webpage states that she hails from Puerto Rico and was a passionate advocate for youth civil rights at her high school school and in her community growing up.
This is the same person who opposed the recent student-led anti-ICE walkout that took place on February 6 because she didn’t want students leaving buildings one class early.
It’s ironic that the organizer of a sit-in in the wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be opposed to students standing up for their civil liberties in a similar way against ICE operations in our city.
And while she has said that she supports the cause and would have backed a sit-in in this instance, something tells me students who participated in that would have still faced punitive measures like threats of suspension and bans from prom or other events.
Diving deeper into her background, as a college student at SUNY Buffalo and then an exchange student at the University of Puerto Rico, Ms. Velazquez was described as fighting against inequalities and bringing about change and awareness in her local community.
It appears as though the more she ages, the more she seems to lose her way.
It seems to me that she’s backtracking, growing only more foolish and ignorant as time goes on. In addition, last Sunday she appeared at an ICE protest held on the steps of City Hall.
While she claims she was there in solidarity, she ended up causing a scene after Executive Director of Climate Revolution NJ Ben Dziobek called her and other board trustees out on stage for not being fully supportive of students’ actions against ICE.
She became irate and in front of students and youth organizers told him during the rally that “ICE will come for me before they come for you.”
This was a ludicrous remark for her as a Borinqueña and a Latina to make towards a man of Cuban descent, something he announced at the beginning of his speech. Does this woman even listen?
Does she have no shame? Her audacity to show up to a youth-led event and criticize speakers exercising their freedom of speech and expression is baffling.
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that Ms. Velasquez is part of the Puerto Rican diaspora that supports and voted for President Donald Trump, a group that makes up the biggest disappointments produced by the island nation.
The island of Borinquén has been a colony of the U.S. since 1898, holds no power in presidential elections, and lacks full voting representation in Congress.
This colorist, colonial sympathizer, and a disgrace of the diaspora may have been born on the island, but is anything short of a true Borinqueña and what that identity represents.
Ms. Velazquez should be stripped of her duties as president or resign and be replaced by someone who is more conscientious and capable of meeting the needs of the community which she’s suppose to represent.
Karla Oliva
Jersey City resident
