Let me add this perspective

Published 3:10 pm Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Dear editor:

As an Asian-American member of the Lowndes County Board of Education, I welcome your newspaper group’s recent Sunlight Project article on diversity but would like to provide some additional perspective.

First, a quick read of the article might lead some to think of diversity in terms of black and white. Limiting the concept of diversity in this way marginalizes other races and ethnicities—and completely neglects gender.

While we do not currently have any African-Americans serving on our school board, we also do not have any women serving. Nor any Hispanic-Americans, Native-Americans, or Pacific Islanders—all of which comprise an important portion of our student body.

Second, the good news is that every single seat on our board is open and elected by the citizens of Lowndes County. Our primary challenge historically has been getting a more diverse array of candidates to run—and encouraging existing members to surrender their seats after serving a reasonable number of terms. Notwithstanding, to have a more diverse board, more diverse candidates must run for board seats more often.

Third, even without optimal diversity on our board currently, I can personally attest that our board as a whole is singular and united in its commitment to all of our students regardless of race or gender. Moreover, having served as a minority on the board for three years—and as Chairman last year—I have always been treated equitably and fairly.

That school boards, faculty, and administrators should resemble the student populations they represent and serve is a laudable ideal, one to which every public school should aspire. Accomplishing this goal through some dogmatic adherence to racial quotas, however, can often be problematic and sometimes self-defeating. For example, since only 1% of our Lowndes County student population is Asian, one might argue that my presence on our seven-member board means Asian-Americans are over-represented.

Should I therefore surrender my board seat based on my race? Of course not.

To codify our system’s commitment to diversity and unity, our board recently revised our mission to “Work together to empower, challenge, and inspire – One Lowndes!” Diversity both challenges and strengthens unity.

To make good on our mission, we will continue to prioritize the recruitment and retention of the very best educators and administrators for our students, doing so always with an eye towards diversity and inclusion.

The success of our public schools requires citizen leaders, administrators, and teachers of every stripe working together for our children and our community’s collective future. I encourage and challenge you to step up.

Eric Johnson

Lowndes County Board of Education, District 2