The Brearley School: the Latest Front in the Woke Wars

For those not familiar, Brearley is like Dalton; it's one of the most elite private schools in the nation, and is also on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

And the last twenty-four hours may be the most shameful in its 137-year history.

Two days ago, a Brearley parent named Andrew Gutmann sent a letter to the school community. Like Paul Rossi's letter the week before about the Grace Church School, it decried the school's descent into racial madness. 

Andrew Gutmann

Both men, for the record, have done a very courageous thing. They are digital-age Martin Luthers. Both are even-keeled and soft-spoken. Speaking out did not come easily to them, but both had reached their breaking point. (For the record, I have had lengthy conversations with each.)

I firmly believe that the more people learn about what has been perpetrated in the last few months, the more they will reach their own breaking points.

If you haven't read Gutmann's letter, it's a barnburner.

Some highlights:

"It cannot be stated strongly enough that Brearley’s obsession with race must stop. It should be abundantly clear to any thinking parent that Brearley has completely lost its way. The administration and the Board of Trustees have displayed a cowardly and appalling lack of leadership by appeasing an anti-intellectual, illiberal mob, and then allowing the school to be captured by that same mob."

"I object to the view that I should be judged by the color of my skin. I cannot tolerate a school that not only judges my daughter by the color of her skin, but encourages and instructs her to prejudge others by theirs. By viewing every element of education, every aspect of history, and every facet of society through the lens of skin color and race, we are desecrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and utterly violating the movement for which such civil rights leaders believed, fought, and died."

"I object...that Brearley has begun to teach what to think, instead of how to think."

If you haven't read the whole thing, please do. Brearley has descended into the same DEI-driven hellhole as Dalton, Grace Church, and so many others. You can read some of my previous posts to get the full flavor.

Now for the shameful part.

The very same day, without missing a beat, Brearley's Headmistress responded, and I'm literally floored at what she wrote. It is breathtaking in its intolerance, divisiveness, and complete lack of self-awareness.

Jane Fried

Let's take a close look, shall we? What follows is the complete letter, interspersed with my comments.

Dear Members of the Brearley Community,

Today, Brearley families received a letter from a Brearley parent. The letter then circulated among students, faculty, and staff at school. Many have written to say that they found the opinions expressed to be deeply offensive and harmful, and we agree.

Offensive? Which parts? The part about how we should embrace Martin Luther King's ideal of a colorblind society? Or maybe the part about objecting to the idea that blacks can't succeed without white people helping them?

And harmful? Seriously? Did anyone have to go to the ER?

This afternoon, I and others who work closely with the Upper School students met with more than one hundred of them, many of whom told us that they felt frightened and intimidated by the letter and the fact that it was sent directly to their homes.

Oh. My. God. What kind of complete pussies have you created that they are frightened by a letter from a concerned parent? Did he threaten to physically harm anyone? Did I miss that? You claim to be training girls to be courageous, and yet you also think it's entirely appropriate when they cower in fear over some words on a piece of paper.

Our students noted that as this letter, which denies the presence of systemic racism, crossed their doorways, the evidence of ongoing racism - systemic and otherwise - is daily present in our headlines.

Oh, so you're relying on the media to help form your views? Because, you know, they are pretty balanced. And as for "systemic" racism, perhaps this might help you understand what a false narrative it is.

We express our unequivocal support for Black, Asian, Indiginous, Multiracial, and Latinx students, faculty, staff, and alums.

Latinx? Good for you signaling your virtue with the latest woke nomenclature!

Many of our students of color, especially those who identify as Black, felt that the letter questioned their belonging in the Brearley community.

I must have missed that in the letter. Did these students actually read it, or just rely on what others said? Did you even read it?

Their belonging and their excellence are unquestionable. We continue to move forward together to build an inclusive, antiracist school in which all members of our diverse community see that their contributions are acknowledged, know that they are values and that they belong.

Including the white kids? Because you just said your are "antiracist," and that actually means very specific things. It means that whites are automatically stigmatized as being part of an "oppressor class," even if they're little kids. It means we are all little more than products of our skin pigmentation. Seems to me you can't value everyone equally and in the same breath believe that one group needs to be labelled as oppressors.

Brearley will continue to listen, solicit feedback, and welcome constructive criticism from our students and our community as we challenge racism wherever we find it.

Except we won't do any of that if we don't like what you're saying.

We all share responsibility in preparing our students for purposeful and meaningful lives.

...living in fear of printed words.

We are all expected to engage in this work with respect for one another. This letter failed in both content and delivery to meet these expectations.

What content? You haven't actually brought up any specifics at all. And delivery? Are we talking about Gutmann's grammar or the postal service?

We are better than this and we must do better for our students. they are counting on us.

Sincerely,

Jane Fried

I know for a fact that many Brearley parents are astonished by Fried's response. It's a straight up effort to silence dissent and criticism by smearing the critic and stigmatizing him as a racist. She offers no specifics about where Gutmann might have been wrong, and thus allowed for zero debate on the merits. Nuanced discussion is off the table. And the allegations of "harm" are as absurd as they are offensive. Jane Fried is no better than the woke bullies who swim the fetid sewers of Twitter.

Fried's letter proves the very points Gutmann himself makes, but Fried is so blinded by the religious zeal of CRT and wokeism that she can't see that.

And as for her "community," (she likes that word a lot) she will never know just how many are pissed, because they, like parents at so many other schools, are afraid to say anything. That is the inclusive environment you have created, Ms. Fried.

And you, Brearley board members, where the hell are you? You are the enablers. I noticed, in a particularly craven move, you had your names deleted from the Brearley website yesterday. Dalton did the same thing. What are you afraid of?

Good thing the Wayback Machine exists, because here are your names:

Christine Frankenhoff Alfaro    President

David B. Philip                          SVP

Jocelyn E. Strauber.                   Secretary

Modupe Akinola                       Treasurer 

Tara Abrahams

Gideon Berger

Susan V. Beresford

Elizabeth R. Chandler

Joe DiMenna

Amina Elderfield

Tom Farrell

Jane Foley Fried

Julie Gamboa

Jane Gladstone

Martha Haakmat

Rebecca Haile

Munib Islam

Sue Meng

Stephanie Perlman

David Raso

Paula Campbell Roberts

Bill Shutzer

Lita Tandon

Olivia Wassenaar

Alan Yan

So, Dalton, Grace, Brearley...is anyone taking bets on who's next?

UPDATE: A bunch of Brearley parents sent out a letter attacking Gutmann. It is even more idiotic and tone deaf than Fried's letter. It calls Gutmann's letter "vile and racist." I dare you to read Gutmann's letter and find racism. He advocates for an MLK colorblind society, but to these idiots, that is now racist.

This has become a cult bordering on a religion