Bigelow Middle School offers racially segregated “safe spaces” for students to process Rittenhouse and Arbery verdicts

In the wake of the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, the principal at Bigelow Middle School in Newton, Massachusetts decided to host racially segregated group discussions for students during advisory. You’ll notice in the email below that she tells parents to “click here” to review a letter shared with students that details the safe space choices and asks parents to discuss those choices with their children.

Here is what parents saw when they clicked on the link—Notice that not all groups are open to students of all races.

Here is a video of the principal explaining why she considers it her professional obligation to provide “safe spaces” for students to discuss and process “real world events”, including the Rittenhouse and Arbery verdicts. She also explains what the topic of each space will be and who is welcome to attend (time stamp 3:10) —admission to one of the spaces is solely based on students’ skin color.

As word of the racially segregated “safe spaces” spread and the media began to take notice and ask questions, Newton superintendent David Fleischmann, sent the following letter on December 8th to parents with students at Bigelow Middle School.