Principal ‘suffered anti-white racism when she was ousted for punishing black students who misbehaved’
A white school principal who withheld the diplomas of two black students after they danced across the stage during their graduation ceremony says she suffered anti-white racism when she was removed from her position.
Lisa Mesi, the former principal of the prestigious Philadelphia High School for Girls, conferred the diplomas of Hafsah Abdur-Rahman and Saleemah Burch in a viral video in 2023.
Abdur-Rahman had danced on stage as she went to collect her diploma, but was denied her moment by Mesi in accordance with long-standing rules requiring students to walk silently to receive their certificates.
Burch turned her hair and gestured, and someone clapped, eliciting the same response from Mesi.
Mesi was removed from her position following protests over her behavior and has now filed a lawsuit claiming she is the victim of racial discrimination.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the complaint states that she was removed “as a form of discipline and that she was given a humiliating ‘special assignment’ because she is white.”
She filed a complaint against the school district and Tomas Hanna, the superintendent, who said she would be replaced because of the incident.
It says Mesi was the victim of “discriminatory and retaliatory actions,” and that this would not have happened if she had been a person of color.
White Philadelphia school principal Lisa Mesi has been replaced after she went viral for withholding diplomas from two black students
Hafsah Abdur-Rahman (pictured) and Saleemah Burch graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls when Lisa Mesi denied them their diploma
The complaint states, “If Mesi had been a person of color, the school district would not have dismissed her as principal of Girls’ High and placed her in a lower position.”
She disagreed with the district’s response, claiming in the lawsuit that they “threw her under the bus.”
In a letter from Philadelphia School District Superintendent Tomás Hanna, he said Mesi would be “temporarily replaced”
Mesi says this happened despite the fact that she “only followed the same graduation rule as her predecessors.”
The rule was that a student who interrupted the procedure would not hand over his diploma.
She was removed from her position and told she would be investigated.
The lawsuit shows that she was ultimately found guilty of insubordination because she “refused to provide assistance in crafting a public message” in response to the incident. Mesi claims this was a fabricated accusation meant to get rid of her.
Mesi says she was then transferred “with prejudice” to a central office job and spent the 2023-2024 school year doing “simplistic and menial tasks.”
She described her new position in the lawsuit as “demeaning and humiliating” and not suitable for “someone of her caliber.”
On June 9, Abdur-Rahman, 17, was excited to attend her high school graduation ceremony
Due to her disdain over her reinstatement, she applied for other administrative jobs, including positions at two other schools, but both were rejected.
She claims that less qualified black candidates were chosen for at least two of the jobs above her before she was given a new position as director of the Feltonville Arts and Sciences School.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, school board president Reginald Streater said she was withholding the diplomas authorized for “non-material outdated standards.” [to] exclude moments of inclusive joy that often follow moments of achievement/recognition.”
Ted Domers, her supervisor, told her in an email that “your actions demonstrated a lack of respect for the students and their students.
“I understand that the decision to deny students their diploma at graduation is based on Girls’ High tradition.
“However, I believe that this practice is at best outdated, and at worst a practice that lacks a sense of culturally responsive norms.”
Domers would leave the neighborhood not long after the incident and was replaced by Hanna.
The lawsuit alleges that it was Hanna and school district spokesperson Monique Braxton who “pressured and attempted to coerce” Mesi into apologizing.
She was not allowed to pick it up and Mesi was seen throwing it back into a basket from where she picked it up
Mesi says this happened despite her ‘only following the same graduation rule as her predecessors’
Mesi claims Braxton told her that “if you were a black woman, this wouldn’t happen.”
She is seeking unknown damages for emotional pain, reputational damage, loss of income and opportunities for professional advancement.
“She stole that moment from me,” Abdur-Rahman told the local television station WPVI at the time. “I’ll never get that again.”
Abdul-Rahman, seen here, said the director told her she couldn’t receive her diploma because of the laughter after her dance move
She said the moment was in honor of her sister, who was killed by a stray bullet in 2014 at age 15 and never got to graduate.
The student cried after the rejection and said she was “so ashamed.”
“I couldn’t even enjoy the rest of graduation,” she added. ‘I understood the rules because I said ‘shh’ in the video.
‘Don’t say anything, because I want my diploma. ‘I knew and understood what we had to do.’
Abdur-Rahman said the principal told her she could not receive her diploma because of the laughter after her dance move.
She said, “If they thought I shouldn’t have done the Griddy on stage and the Girls’ High traditions, no one should have been able to wave or blow kisses or do period signs because I feel like that’s the same. I feel like that’s unfair.”
Abdur-Rahman claimed that the school’s assistant superintendent contacted her and her mother to apologize for the incident.
Saleemah Burch, 18, said she was denied her diploma on stage because she made a gesture that the guests responded to.
“When they called Saleemah’s name, my youngest son, we had our hands together and we just raised our hands in the air,” said her mother Delsa Burch. “Nobody made a sound.”