FORT WORTH, Texas — A volunteer co-chair on the Fort Worth Independent School District's racial equity committee resigned earlier this month after she received dozens of threatening and racist phone and social media messages in November.
In a resignation letter to the school board, Norma Garcia-Lopez wrote that she would step down despite remaining passionate about equity.
“I cannot allow the vile and relentless attacks on me by white supremacists to distract from or overshadow the continued pursuit of equity in FWISD,” Garcia-Lopez wrote to trustees. “That work is too vital.”
In recent weeks, Garcia-Lopez has become a target of some right-leaning media outlets and blogs, with some politicians, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, calling for her resignation.
The firestorm came after Fox News reported last month that she doxxed parents who filed a lawsuit against the Fort Worth school district over its mask mandate this summer.
Since then, Garcia-Lopez said she has received dozens of threatening and racist phone and social media messages, demanding that she “go back to Mexico,” calling her “a great candidate for a having a stroke” and accusing her of being “owned by the filthy cartel,” according to a report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Some threatened her life and the safety of her family. Police recommended that she relocate from her home address.
In a statement on Dec. 3, Garcia-Lopez admitted that she released the information of one of the parents and left her an explicit voicemail message before becoming co-chair. She said she did not dox anyone, but provided details in a public lawsuit. In August, she shared on social media the names of the parents who filed the lawsuit and invited the internet to “do your thang.”
“It’s not doxxing when you expose someone who filed a public motion in a public court of law that impacts public school children,” Garcia-Lopez said in her statement.
Some of the racial equity committee members came to Garcia-Lopez’ defense, citing that the messages she received were an example that the racial equity committee’s work wasn’t over.
Some members drafted a resolution asking the school district to express their support for Garcia-Lopez publicly. Racial Equity Committee chair Quinton Phillips did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but at the committee’s Dec. 3 meeting, he expressed his support for Garcia-Lopez and said he would not ask her to resign.
“If Norma is no longer the co-chair of this committee, it’s going to be because a grown woman made a decision that she no longer wanted to be co-chair of this committee for whatever reason she decides,” Phillips said at the meeting. “It will not be because I asked her to step down.”
The district’s racial equity committee has reduced racial disparities in schools’ suspension rates and hired and retained more diverse staff.
“While I step aside to place my full focus on the well-being of my family, the Racial Equity Committee can return its full focus where it should be — to dismantling institutional oppression,” Garcia-Lopez said in Thursday’s statement.
Like school boards across the country, Fort Worth ISD has become a battleground in recent months for fights over mask mandates and critical race theory.
The district’s Racial Equity Committee appears to be the latest lightning rod in these fights. The committee was formed in 2016 to make recommendations to the school board about how to address systemic racism and support students and staff of color.
Garcia-Lopez was appointed to the committee in 2018 and has served as co-chair since October of this year.
On Wednesday, she signed her resignation letter “La Lucha Sigue,” roughly translated as “The fight continues.”