A Virginia state PTA and NAACP honcho drew spirited applause after blasting opponents of teaching critical race theory — and exorting ''Let them die," video of the fiery speech showed.
The comments by Michelle Leete, vice president of training at the Virginia state PTA, vice president of communications for the Fairfax County PTA and first vice president of the Fairfax County NAACP, came at a counterprotest Thursday before a Fairfax County school board meeting in the Washington suburb on politicization and lowering school standards — and were caught on camera.
According to The Daily Wire, parents gathered for an event billed as a ''STOP CRT RALLY.'' The board holds regular business meetings twice monthly in the auditorium at Jackson Middle School, according to Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide.
A flyer for the ''STOP CRT RALLY" reportedly noted: ''While they deny it’s being taught, NEA doubles down. It’s not about race or equity, it’s about a Communist Radical Takeover of America!'' MEAW reported.
Counterprotesters also gathered — to object.
''So let’s meet and remain steadfast in speaking truth, tearing down double standards, and refuting double talk. Let’s not allow any double downing on lies. Let’s prepare our children for a world they deserve,'' Leete told the counterprotesters.
''Let’s deny this off-key band of people that are anti-education, anti-teacher, anti-equity, anti-history, anti-racial reckoning, anti-opportunities, anti-help people, anti-diversity, anti-platform, anti-science, anti-change agent, anti-social justice, anti-health care, anti-worker, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-children, anti-environment, anti-admissions policy change, anti-inclusion, anti-live-and-let-live people.
"Let them die. Don’t let these uncomfortable people deter us from our bold march forward.''
The ''Let them die'' exhortation was met with a cheer, the video showed.
The video was tweeted by Asra Nomani, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and the author of ''Standing Alone: An American Woman’s Struggle for the Soul of Islam,'' and co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement.
''I listened, stunned, as Michelle Leete, an executive of the NAACP and the PTA, put a target on the backs of parents just because they have a different point of view,'' Nomani, whose son just graduated from Fairfax County Public Schools and who helps run the watchdog group Parents Defending Education, told The Daily Wire.
''What we heard tonight was hate speech, pure and simple,'' Nomani, who’s also a PTA member, told the news outlet. ''It was shocking that anyone would cheer and applaud a call to violence.
''Ironically, her hateful, intolerant words are a perfect illustration of the divisive ideology of critical race theory in action,'' she added, The Daily Wire reported. ''In the name of tolerance, it preaches intolerance and is a betrayal of all values of humanity and decency.''
The controversy follows a report by the Washington Examiner of a recent decision at a prestigious Fairfax County high school torn by a debate about diversity and inclusion that it would increase the number of Black and Hispanic students granted admission despite pushback from some Asian American parents who argue that it unfairly punishes their children.
And at another upscale suburban Washington school district, in Loudoun County, Virginia, the teaching of CRT has also caused a roiling debate.
According to a Reuters report, hundreds of parents who flooded the auditorium in late June were there to accuse the schools of teaching their kids that racism in America is structural and systemic — which the board denies. Some signs read, "Education not indoctrination" and "You don't end racism by teaching it."
The evening grew so heated that the board walked out of the room, leaving sheriff's deputies to disperse the crowd, the news agency reported.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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