NJ school board member at center of blackface controversy resigns

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https://www.northjersey.com./story/news/bergen/old-tappan/2020/07/03/nj-school-board-member-center-blackface-controversy-resigns/5368199002/

 

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The Northern Valley Regional High School school board member under fire fordonning blackface when he was a teenager has resigned, school officials announced Friday.

Dan Eller was facing mounting pressure to step down from the unpaid position, including from his colleagues on the nine-member board. Hundreds of people spoke during a Wednesday board meeting to express their dismay over the episode.

Eller, 30, issued a statement Friday saying he is not racist and blaming his past use of blackface on naivety. He thanked the students who spoke out for their "activism and confidence."

"I heard the pain in many people’s voices as they recounted their experiences through the years at Northern Valley," he said. "The statement was made many times that I did not adequately own up to the situation. I don’t know how else to do it so I will again claim full responsibility for those actions and apologize to every person who has been hurt by them."

The remaining eight members of the school board issued a statement saying they have asked the district to form a task force to implement measures intended to combat racism.

“The board believes that Mr. Eller’s resignation demonstrates that there are serious and profound consequences for one’s actions and unacceptable behavior and will be a first step to begin healing the pain expressed by many of the students,” the statement says.

Photos of Eller wearing blackface at a Halloween party surfaced this week. He apologized for the "misjudgment" and initially said he would use his position on the board to "help heighten the awareness and sensitivity of racism."

The school district has about 2,400 students enrolled in three schools in Demarest, Norwood and Old Tappan. The students and staff are overwhelmingly white.

Alanna Cooper, of Closter, began a petition on Change.org to remove Eller from his position, and it drew more than 2,500 signatures. Cooper is co-president of Valley for Change, a grassroots movement that seeks to amplify the voices of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color.

“While we condemn Eller's failure to step down immediately, Valley for Change is glad that he ultimately decided to take full responsibility for his actions and resign,’’ said Cooper, who grew up in Closter and graduated from Northern Valley Regional High School in 2015. “As we all heard Wednesday night, racism is alive and well in Northern Valley and we must continue to fight it. We hope the Board of Education will join us in undoing years of systemic racism present in our educational institutions and create a more welcoming environment for all of its students."

Others have expressed support for Eller on social media, stressing that his actions, although inappropriate, happened when he was a teenager.

Blackface has long been widely acknowledged as racist, though entertainment personalities have continued to don black paint to portray Black characters.

The national unrest sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in May has led to a renewed focus on racism, including the use of blackface. Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel have both apologized in recent weeks for their past use of blackface. Tina Fey pulled episodes of her sitcom "30 Rock" that included characters wearing blackface. Hulu stopped streaming an episode of "The Golden Girls" that has a blackface-related punchline involving two characters wearing mud on their faces.