Point of View: Charter School Continues Robert Mills Lusher’s Racist Legacy

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Uptown Messenger file photo

The Lusher High School campus on Freret Street.

By Corinne A. Williams, guest columnist

The pandemic as well as the racial calculation in our country and more recently Hurricane Ida have all put the children of New Orleans able to experience collective trauma much like people my age experienced after the hurricane. Katrina. In addition to the traumas already suffered, children who attend Lusher Charter School are susceptible to many internal school-related traumas. Their school leaders have put their best interests in one of the simplest things over which they have control: the name of their school.

Lusher Charter School is named after Robert Mills Lusher, a Confederate tax collector, segregationist and unabashed member of the Crescent City White League. By today’s standards and any anti-racist standard, Mr. Lusher would be someone who should be unequivocally dismissed as someone to name. He was a white supremacist who wrote that black children were unworthy of education. However, it took decades for the school administration to remove his last name from the program.

In 2005, Lolis Eric Elie wrote an opinion column in The Times-Picayune on the name of this school. In 2017, Lusher student Tamir Bryant started a Change.org petition urging the administration to change the name of this school. And in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, a Change.org petition was started by parent Vasy McCoy in addition to an Instagram page that highlights students’ experiences with racism and the need for systemic change. in school policies and culture.

In the community of Lusher, there has been overwhelming support for moving the school away from this person’s name altogether. However, the Advocates for Arts-Based Education Board, the founding board that governs Lusher, has made the process extremely difficult over the past year.

In AABE virtual meetings, parents, alumni, teachers and students as young as 10 years old have expressed how deeply offensive and racist the name of this school is. Then came some relief or so we all thought. The AABE, after a closed-door executive session of almost 90 minutes, voted to change the name of the school and set a timeline as to when it should be changed.

Lusher added a name change page to his website and emailed members of his community asking for an open contribution. The email stated:

EVERY VOICE COUNTS On September 30, 2021, the Advocates for Arts-Based Education Board voted to rename Lusher Charter School and denounce any association with Robert Mills Lusher, a strong supporter of segregation. This is an important decision in the history of our schools, and we need to hear the voices of our teachers, staff, families, students, alumni and the community. The Council hopes to vote on a name in November. This is a monumental change for our school, and we need YOU. LET YOUR VOICE HEARD!

A follow-up email after responses were collected through Google Forms stated:

YOUR VOICE COUNTS! Thank you for the 594 responses submitted using the nomination form. The Name Change Study Group has reviewed all applications and is seeking community input on the shortlist options.

There are 11 names on the shortlist: Lusher Charter School in honor of Dr Jeanne Marie Lusher; Everett J. Williams Charter School; the Allen Toussaint charter school; New Orleans Academy of Arts and Humanities; Lions Charter School; Ellis Marsalis Jr. Charter School; Louis Armstrong charter school; Willow Charter School for Diversity, the Arts and the Sciences; Lusher Charter School of Academic Excellence, Diversity and the Arts; Elijah Brimmer, Jr. Charter School; and Unity School of Innovation.

So, out of 594 responses to an online community form, how does the shortlist include two options that are always Lusher?

Even the voting process was problematic. The survey is structured so that participants can vote for their preferred option and then for their least preferred option, rather than a Likert scale allowing them to rank their favorites and their least preferred. Voters do not have the opportunity to denounce the two “Lusher” options on the shortlist.

The short blurb under each Lusher-based option says, “The name responds to community concerns about a loss of branding and the anticipated financial impact. This concern was not expressed at any of the public council meetings where a name change was discussed. Where does this concern come from?

And what about community concerns about racism? The whole point of removing the name “Lusher” from the school is in the long-standing culture of racism within the Lusher community. From interpersonal racism in the classroom to issues of deeply systemic racist politics in admissions, dress code, and disciplinary procedures, Lusher has a culture of racism that starts at the top.

This summer, the CEO of Lushers was accused of repeated discriminatory behavior. Former Lusher High School principal Steven Corbett, now CEO of Audubon Schools, wrote a letter asking AABE to investigate CEO Kathy Riedlinger for alleged discrimination, according to The Times-Picayune / New Orleans Advocate , the 12-page letter detailed racist incidents over a six-month period of Riedlinger’s nearly 40-year tenure. The most disturbing part of the newspaper report is how the children were bullied and felt the need to protest and boycott some of their school experiences that were meant to celebrate them.

via Instagram

Lusher students protest outside the Willow Street campus in July 2020.

On the contrary, this renaming saga is a failure of Kathy Reidlinger and the AABE. A potentially easy process was extremely difficult and overshadowed by the drama of adults who should instead ensure the safety of our children in a supportive environment. This failure of the board and trustees is a real testament to the racist legacy that Lusher built. It’s one thing to reflect on the actual white supremacy that Robert Mills Lusher touted during his time on earth, but his legacy lives on through his namesake institution.

The time has come for a complete anti-racist makeover of this institution. As the Lusher School has led the region in many areas, its leaders have continually lacked the will to conduct an internal audit of its culture and policies.

We need to see AABE act as a leader in diversity, equity and inclusion before the institution solidifies a legacy of racism, just as Robert Mills Lusher has done in his writings and actions. in the era of reconstruction. They need to show each of their students that they are all valued, that their voices have been heard and that change is not only possible, but necessary.

Lusher’s alumnus Corinne A. Williams was a member of the Schools Class of 2014.

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