Alleged racial conversation between Trustees Bingham and Morath

A few months after I joined the Dallas ISD Board in 2006, a Trustee cursed while sitting at the horseshoe during a board meeting. I was told the remark was directed at me. The Trustee said: "F.. K You."

Many years ago (1997) racist remarks were made by former Dallas ISD Board member Dan Peavy in  telephone conversations with then Board President Sandy Kress that revealed racist attitudes toward African American Board members.

The comments between Trustees Dan Peavy and Sandy Kress during a recorded telephone conversation were condemned by the community when revealed at a Board meeting.

The Board and the public were informed of Trustee Peavy's racial statements.  Sandy Kress went to federal court to block the release of his taped remarks.  The damage was done.

Trustee Dan Peavy resigned from the Board.  

Trustee Sandy Kress went on to Austin and later to Washington, D.C. to help initiate the so-called education  reform agenda that became the destructive No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.
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On Saturday I heard information about an alleged conversation between Dallas ISD Trustees Nancy Bingham and Mike Morath.

It was alleged by Trustee Bernadette Nutall that certain racially based remarks were made in the conversation. 

Upon hearing the allegations, I decided to ask Trustee Bingham if the allegations were true, "Did you recently make  racist remarks about a Board member or participate in a conversation in which such remarks were made?"

Trustee Nancy Bingham would not answer. She would not confirm.  She did not deny.

Nancy Bingham's only response, repeatedly stated: "That was a private conversation."

I posed the same question to Trustee Mike Morath. "Did you recently make  racist remarks about a Board member or participate in a conversation in which such remarks were made?"

Mike Morath's response:  "I wouldn't know if the remarks were racist."

It is reported there is a recording of the conversation.

If the allegations are true, the Dallas ISD Board should take whatever official action is appropriate.  

I would like to hear the tape recording of the conversation. If the allegations are not true, the tape will reveal that.

A special meeting should be called to determine if inappropriate Trustee racial comments were made.

I do not know the truth of the matter.  

I do know that when I asked on Saturday, the allegations were not denied by either of the Trustees involved.

Will the Dallas ISD Board address the issue?

Probably not.  Efforts are already underway to cover it up.

Let all the Trustees hear the tape together. The allegations are either true or they are not.


Dallas Observer - Thursday, January 23, 1997
It's All A Matter of Power by Miriam Rosen