6-18-21
From TEACHERS FOR CHOICE Steerring Committee
TEACHERS FOR CHOICE (TfC) disavows the use of “yellow stars” at our protest on June 12, 2021 in front of UFT Headquarters.
No one from TfC brought yellow stars to the protest or promoted them. We do not believe this is an effective way of communicating our message and never would support such a tactic. An individual not affiliated with our union caucus brought the 5-pointed yellow stars to the protest and promoted them. Even though they were not the 6-pointed Star of David, it appeared they were referencing what happened to Jews in Nazi Germany.
When you have a publicly announced protest that over 100 people and the press show up to, it is impossible to regulate everyone’s decisions and behavior. One of our members did have a star placed on him late in the protest, not realizing what the 5-pointed yellow star was referencing. At the end of the protest when it was brought to his attention he felt horrible.
We thank the NY POST for their responsible coverage of our protest, as they did not connect TfC to the stars. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by the use of this imagery.
While we do not believe one can compare America in 2021 to Germany in 1940, we are concerned that there may be parallels between contemporary society and Germany in 1933. That is when the segregation of Jews from German society began. From 1933 to 1939 over 400 laws and decrees passed in Germany restricted all aspects of the lives of Jews, many such laws dealing with “public hygiene.” Only time will tell if the health & vaccine passport laws of today will be comparable to those horrific dictates that obliterated fundamental rights and set the stage for the genocide of millions.
Teachers For Choice 