An official asked if Hispanic kids learn American history. Now Murphy wants him out – NJ.com

Gov. Phil Murphy is calling for a state Board of Education member to resign after he asked Paterson school officials if they require American history class for their large population of Hispanic students.

The governor on Thursday evening urged Jack Fornaro to step down following backlash from two state lawmakers who called Fornaro’s line of questioning “shocking” and “insensitive.”

“My administration is committed to fostering a learning environment where all students are welcome,” Murphy said in a news release. “I will not support comments during school board meetings that fly in the face of New Jersey’s values.”

Fornaro has maintained he was simply asking if the district requires American history class because he’s heard complaints that students don’t learn enough about history. He may have misspoke by beginning his question by mentioning Hispanic students, he said, but he would have asked that question of any district.

“I’m not that guy they are trying to make me out to be,” Fornaro said prior to Murphy’s call for him to resign. “I am not a prejudiced person.”

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The dispute highlights the rising tensions nationwide over freedom of speech and the surging “cancel culture” that has pushed celebrities like Roseanne Barr out of their jobs for controversial or offensive remarks.

One on side, there’s the fear that national political rhetoric has stoked and normalized bias against people of color. On the other, there are claims of hypersensitivity and political correctness running amok.

Murphy called for Fornaro’s resignation because “bias cannot be tolerated,” he said. Fornaro, appointed in 2011 by then-Gov. Chris Christie, said his comments have been overblown. Despite specifically mentioning Hispanic students, he said the question was meant to be applied to all demographics.

He prefaced his question during the May 1 meeting by saying he was just being “inquisitive.” Then, he asked: “With the demographics that you have indicated here, you know, the high population that is Hispanic, and, uh, I am just wondering, do you teach American history as a required course?”

He followed up by asking if the courses begin before or after the Civil War. He also asked for the pass rate for the course, according to audio of the exchange obtained by NJ Advance Media.

Fornaro, of Oxford, Warren County, heard no backlash about his questions until two weeks later, he said, when reporters called him after two state lawmakers slammed his inquiry.

Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, and Sen. Nellie Pou, D-Passaic, wrote the state education commissioner on Wednesday that the state must be clear “that New Jersey does not stand for this type of prejudice.”

Ruiz and Pou said they were specifically concerned that Fornaro asked about the pass rate for American history, which they interpreted as a suggestion that immigrants and children of immigrants can’t pass the class.

Hispanic immigrants often face lasting doubts about their assimilation (are they American enough?), so the question of learning about American history could have been received as especially offensive the way Fornaro phrased it.

Ruiz and Pou suggested all board members should be trained in cultural competency and cultural sensitivity.

A former police officer, detective and investigator, Fornaro now works as an aide for Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen. Cardinale defended Fornaro’s character, telling NorthJersey.com he “had never shown any tendencies” to discriminate against anyone.

Fornaro pointed out that he’s the son of Italian immigrants and was raised in diverse Brooklyn in the 1940s and 1950s.

“I grew up in a mixed neighborhood,” he said. “I am fine with every population in the country.”

American history is required in the state’s current academic standards, which were approved during Fornaro’s tenure on the state board. Seats on the 113-member board are unpaid positions, and members appointed by the governor to six-year terms.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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