JERSEY CITY, NJ - An accusation of racism by a member of the public against Jersey City School Board Trustee Gerald Lyons brought a defiant rebuttal from several board members during the Aug. 27 meeting.
The conflict came after Lyons led a successful move to change the school board's policies to allow board members to directly question the superintendent of schools over issues concerning the district.
Prior to the change, board members had to submit questions to the board president, who would then seek the answers from the superintendent. Lyons felt that rule often led to delays in obtaining information.
But one of the meeting’s participants accused Lyons of serving the interests of friends “of a particular skin color,” and said he was often belligerent and loud when dealing with others, in particular the superintendent who is Black.
“If a black woman did what you did, she would be labeled unfit for the job,” the caller said. “Mr. Lyons often interrupted the superintendent during the previous meeting.”
The caller said the original policy for steering questions through the board president – who is also African American – is standard practice in districts throughout the state. She said the board should have voted the Lyons amendment down, and shared her belief that the change targeted the other Black members of the board.
“Mr. Lyons was elected to represent the whole city, not just his friends of his particular race,” the woman said, claiming she had never seen him support the African American community.
Lyons did not respond to the claims. Thought typically vocal on any number of subjects Board President Lorenzo Richardson and Trustee Joan Terrell-Paige also did not respond.
Trustee Mussab Ali, however, did not remain silent and fended off what he saw was a personal attack.
“I’ve never felt Gerald to be working for one particular race,” Ali said. “I’ve not seen him practice discrimination. But in fact, I’ve seen him hold back when he was personally attacked, keeping his composure.” Ali added that Lyons has been working in education for years and has been a mentor for kids of all races.
Trustee Alexander Hamilton also defended Lyons saying that "we shouldn’t confuse passion with anger."
“Gerald is one of the most passionate people I know. I learned a lot about him when I ran against him. I learned that I liked and respected him," Hamilton said. "We’re all doing this because our children and everyone is working together. We’re making the best of a bad situation. We certainly can’t please all of the people all of the time.”
“I’ve known him longer than anyone on the board,” Marilyn Roman continued, recalling working with him at the Hudson County Vocational school. “I’ve never seen anyone as kind and caring as he is. He cares about everyone.”
“He didn’t look at the color of your skin. He does things because he cares,” Roman said, speaking to efforts her colleague has put forth to help kids that are homeless or hungry. “The country would be better off if we had more people like Gerry Lyons.”
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