Tenth-grader Mordy Barnett (The Idea School), presented a beautiful, well-written, factually sourced and concise history of Teaneck’s race relations since 1964 (“Not So Black and White: A Short History of Race Relations in Teaneck,” January 20, 2022). I would like to add to the narrative.

For years, the ingrained narrative of racism has gone in one direction, to wit: White racism towards Black Americans. That story line is no longer true. During my tenure as a member of the Teaneck Board of Education, proficiency scores (math, science, social studies, etc.) from K-12 were dismal, to say the least. Henry Pruitt, then president of the board (and now a Teaneck councilman), blamed those scores on “institutional racism”—code word for too many white teachers who could not relate to minority students. In fact, during that time when there was a search for a superintendent of schools, Pruitt only wanted a Black person to run the Teaneck schools.

The takeaway message: Racism runs both ways!