As a Principal, Jamaal Bowman Objected to Teaching About ‘White’ Figures Like George Washington, Honoring Cop-Killers Instead
8th April 2024
As a middle school principal, New York Democratic congressman Jamaal Bowman advised against teaching about “white” historical figures like George Washington, Jesus Christ, and Santa Claus. Instead, he used his position to elevate a renowned anti-Semite and cop-killers.
While speaking at a 2018 conference hosted by the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO), Bowman detailed his pedagogy as the principal of the Bronx middle school he founded, Cornerstone Academy for Social Action (CASA). He encouraged educators to instill “self-empowerment” in their students by pushing back on “white” cultural figures, citing Washington, Jesus Christ, and Santa Claus as detriments to his students’ success.
“You can’t have self-directed learning without self-empowerment,” Bowman said. “If our kids don’t love themselves, if they don’t love who they are and where they come from, and they’re told that Santa Claus, and George Washington, and Jesus Christ—all these white hope, great people—are the standard, how are they going to feel about themselves?”