In July 2020, Leland, Minnesota school superintendent Stephanie Long wrote a heartfelt letter to students and their families following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. Haunted by the images she sees in the media, she wrote:
“All people of color,” Mr. Long typed. She envisioned her profound educational changes at her own school. She envisioned creating enlightening discussions within her classroom and searching for transformative conversations in the community beyond. She hit her send. Some support has returned. A letter of praise signed by 200 Leland alumni was published in a peninsula newspaper.
However, angry e-mails, phone calls, and letters flooded in from within the district, and as Long’s message became local news and went viral on the Internet, it spread across the country. Called “traitor”.
Daniel Bergner, a contributor to The New York Times Magazine, wrote about what happened when a northern Michigan supervisor raised the issue of systemic racism.
There are many ways to listen to “The Daily.” Method is as follows.
we want to hear from you Tune in and let us know what you think. Please email us at thedaily@nytimes.com. Follow Michael Barbaro on Twitter. @mikiebarbIf you are interested in advertising on The Daily, please contact us at thedaily-ads@nytimes.com.
Additional production for The Sunday Read is by Emma Kehlbeck, Parin Behrooz, Anna Diamond, Sarah Diamond, Jack D’Isidoro, Elena Hecht, Saskia Solomon, Desiree Ibekwe, Tanya Pérez, Marion Lozano, Naomi Noury, Krish Seenivasan, Corey Schreppel and Margaret. Willison, Kate Winslet, Tiana Young. Special thanks to Mike Benoist, Sam Dolnick, Laura Kim, Julia Simon, Lisa Tobin, Blake Wilson, and Ryan Wegner.