Update: Mayor Fulop resumed calling out Terrell-Paige’s anti-Semitism after NTC’s campaign started, so we have removed him from the list of contacts. We thank him for his statement. We’re proud to see that our efforts are having an impact.
Jersey City Jewish students should not have to be concerned that the officials running their schools view them as “brutes” or deserving of violent attacks. Please join us in standing up for Jersey City’s Jewish students and faculty by calling for the resignation of Board of Education member Joan Terrell-Paige.
Terrell-Paige made brazenly anti-Semitic comments in response to the December 10th shooting at a kosher market in Greenville, NJ. Two shooters killed a police officer and three others in the attack which authorities said was “fueled by both anti-Semitism and anti-law enforcement beliefs.”
In a discussion of the attack on Facebook, Terrell-Paige used classic anti-Semitic tropes to accuse the local Jewish community of marginalizing the local black community, finishing her post by asking “Are we brave enough explore the answer to [the shooters’] message?”
Initially, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and NJ Gov. Phil Murphy joined many voices in calling for Terrell-Paige’s resignation. According to CNN, outgoing Board President Sudhan Thomas said he was going to request Terrell-Paige’s resignation at the next school board meeting, but the meeting was then canceled for vague “potential security risks.”
We have not forgotten that an anti-Semite sits on the school’s education board. Keep the pressure on by sending messages to the full School Board (including Terrell-Paige) demanding that they continue to push for her resignation.
Anti-Semitism has no place in our nation, and especially not in our public schools. Terrell-Paige must go!