I will always speak up and defend the free speech First Amendment rights of every member of the Nashua Board of Education, and the right of each to speak out and support a person they like for president. However, as publicly elected officials, who are in charge of the educational, social, and emotional well-being of the students in our city, we on the BOE have a moral obligation to communicate the highest of values in our words and in our actions. In our nation’s capital, Trump supporters incited by Trump’s incendiary words committed a heinous act of treason, there is no other way to describe it. These Trump people, I will not even call them Republicans, tried to violently overthrow our legally elected officials through the use of violence, to force a coup and falsely install Trump as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Five people died as a result, including one police officer.

They brought zip ties and ropes with them, and it is possible that they were planning to kidnap the leaders of Congress, not just Democrats, but Republicans and Independents alike. And it is very possible that they had intended on harming the Vice-President of the United States, Mike Pence, because he refused to take part in their coup and instead upheld the Constitution.

Furthermore, white supremacists ransacked the halls of Congress and in a disgusting display of white supremacy, waived the confederate flag through the halls of Congress. The Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, should condemn and dispossess all of these white supremacists from their party. The descendants of American soldiers from New Hampshire who fought and died to preserve the union and eliminate slavery should be outraged at this desecration of the memories of our soldiers. We should all be outraged, this is a desecration of the memory of Abraham Lincoln, our first Republican president.

I have sat on this Nashua Board of Education for three years, and in that time, I have heard our only African-American member of this board tell us that she has experienced racism on the board. I have also heard our African-American superintendent say the same. This should make each and every one of us on this board reflect on our actions, thoughts, and words. It is not enough for board members to deny that we have ever been racist. We have to be anti-racist. We have to be pro-active and openly condemn these white supremacists who in Washington tried to violently take over our government.

I applaud the members of this Nashua Board of Education, who along with me voted to institute a course in diversity for our students; however, for that one board member who voted against it, no matter what your excuse is, you blew it. You had a chance to be anti-racist and you passed on it.

We have a representative democracy, and we do what our Congress people do, we on the BOE represent the people. If anyone on the BOE supports what happened in Washington, then you also give license to anyone to come and threaten us and violently kick us off the BOE.

I hope the people of the city of Nashua are watching this BOE closely and the values that each of us express in our words and actions and take appropriate measures on Election Day to tell those individuals on this board who cannot adhere to the higher values that are essential for public service that your services are no longer needed. I know that I will be voting on election day, along with my wife and kids to assure we elect people to the Nashua BOE with the highest of standards.