Embattled school trustee Carole Paikin Miller claimed she’s ‘the least racist person I know’ in response letter to allegations of misconduct

A Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board trustee asked by her colleagues to resign said she is the least racist person I know" and rejected allegations she was anti-Muslim or anti-Black, according to a letter obtained by The Spectator.

This is the first time the public is hearing from trustee Carole Paikin Miller on the racism scandal.

The letter, which The Spectator has verified to be authentic, was submitted by Paikin Miller as a formal response to the findings of a third-party investigation into allegations of racism and poor conduct involving four trustees, including her. The board had asked for the response. It appears to have been submitted to the board in February 2021, two months after the investigation ended.

Paikin Miller did not respond to a Spectator request for comment for this article.

In her written response, Paikin Miller says: I reject the conclusions and approach used by the investigator in this entire subjective hearsay report."

There has been a total distortion of my words and perspective."

She disputes saying there was too much Black leadership at the board or too much of a Black focus," which the investigation deemed her - on the balance of probabilities - to have said. She says she is not anti-Black or anti-Muslim.

Finally, it does seem that expressing an opinion is no longer acceptable," she writes. I don't believe that anything I said is sanctionable because I am the least racist person I know ..."

The Spectator attempted to obtain Paikin Miller's formal response in March via a freedom of information (FOI) request after she was the only one of the four trustees to not release a response. The FOI request was denied. The board said the record contained personal information of a third party and that the letter was a part of in-camera proceedings.

Last week, The Spectator obtained the letter from a source and verified it was the same one that was the subject of the FOI request.

The months-long investigation and report was conducted by an external law firm and cost the board $84,000. Regarding the allegations against Paikin Miller, investigators deemed it was more probable than not" that she made anti-Muslim remarks to other trustees; that she displayed a blatant disregard" for efforts to address equity issues; and that she made comments about the board focusing on anti-Black racism to the exclusion of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia - comments the reports suggests are in themselves racist and offensive." Her colleagues later asked her to resign. She did not resign.

Paikin Miller's 10-page response package also includes photos of the Ward 5 trustee with people she says are Palestinian, a screenshot of a Facebook message correspondence with someone whose Wikipedia page - also included - says he is an Israeli Arab journalist, and a letter of support from the Pakistan Business Association of Hamilton.

Ahona Mehdi, a former public school board student trustee who went public with the allegations of racism involving trustees a year ago and prompted the investigation, called the letter really difficult to read."

Clearly, she hasn't done any reflection or listened to the Black community or the Muslim community about the ways that she has harmed them," Mehdi said.

Kojo Damptey, interim executive director of the Hamilton Center for Civic Inclusion, echoed Mehdi's concerns.

To be quite frank, this response illustrates how clueless this trustee is when were talking about anti-Black racism and racism in the school board," Damptey said. All we are asking for - and what students have been asking for - is a simple acknowledgement of how racism affects racialized students."

Damptey questioned why Paikin Miller included photos of herself with racialized people.

That doesn't mean that you can't be racist," he said. That doesn't mean that you can't support racist policy."

But Ameil Joseph, an associate professor in the school of social work at McMaster University, said problems with racism and equity at the board go beyond one trustee. Problems are more widespread, he said.

There needs to be more specific attention to systemic and policy gaps rather than trying to hang it all on a particular individual or a few," Joseph said. It's not just an isolated incident."

In a statement, board chair Dawn Danko said the board is committed to working to address equity issues" and is engaged in professional learning through an anti-racism and anti-oppressive framework."

Danko said the board has hired a human rights early resolution supervisor" who will help identify potential systemic barriers." A whistleblower protection policy is in the works, expected to come into effect this school year.

Katrina Clarke is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: katrinaclarke@thespec.com