State and local officials gathered in San Francisco Monday to show solidarity for two school board members who were targeted with racist social media posts.
More than a dozen elected officials came together to condemn the posts involving San Francisco Unified School District board members Alison Collins and Gabriela Lopez, who are both women of color.
"It’s shown me the strong community support we all have and this understanding that whether we agree or disagree on policies, we cannot be targeting people," Lopez said.
The posts show swastikas photoshopped onto the faces of the women and a graphic video of someone burning the picture.
"There is a line," Collins said. "When we are talking about policy and we start targeting people, that isn’t safe for communities of color and for women."
The posts appeared following two proposals that were recently voted on by the school board, including renaming schools that some may find offensive and changing Lowell High School's admission policy to a lottery system.
Collins said a majority of the board voted in favor of the proposals, but she and Lopez are the only ones being harassed.
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"We are both consistent in naming race, talking about addressing racism, anti-immigrant practices, anti-racist teaching," she said. "Those are all things that we talk very openly about."
State Sen. Scott Wiener disagrees with the board's proposal to focus on renaming schools, but he said disagreeing through hateful speech is not the way to go.
"We can disagree to our heart's delight, and we're very good at that in San Francisco, but the minute it tips into threats and personal attacks, that’s when it crosses the line," he said.
