Former Detroit School Board President, Otis Mathis: He’s not limited to lewdness; he’s functionally illiterate, too!
Otis Mathis’ biggest booster on the Detroit School Board, the Reverend David MurraySex acts by Otis Mathis a terrible example to kids
By Rochelle Riley
June 23, 2010
Detroit Free Press
We are asked the question so much that it becomes overwhelming: What the heck is wrong with Detroit?
But if we want people to stop asking the question, then we need to stop being the Detroit that begs it.
Take, for instance, the latest scandal connected to the Detroit Public Schools.
The debate has been over whether former DPS board president Otis Mathis should have resigned after exhibiting horrendous behavior and poor judgment. Mathis quit after admitting to "inappropriate actions" with his hand between his legs behind his desk while the district's female superintendent sat opposite him trying to have a conversation.
He expressed deep regret and then, inexplicably, asked for his resignation back, buoyed by the comments of fellow board member Reverend David Murray, who dismissed the behavior of the 55-year-old Mathis this way: "He's a young man; maybe he didn't know it was offensive to her ... That's just the way it is."
What THE hell?! "He's a young man?!"
If that is just the way it is, then that is just the reason that Detroit is the way it is. If that is just the way it is, then that is the reason Detroit cannot be more than it has been.
The conversation has been about whether Mathis should resign. But the conversation should be about how this impacts children.
Imagine being a teenage boy in the city schools who hears a 55-year-old school board member say that fondling himself in a meeting does not warrant resignation. Then imagine hearing a second school board member say: "He's a young man.
That's just the way it is."
Then imagine being a young girl in the city schools and hearing such foolishness.
Otis Mathis should have resigned when it was discovered that he was functionally illiterate. Murray should resign for actually saying out loud that fondling yourself in a business meeting could be anything but objectionable.
But more important, Detroiters have got to stop mistaking these types of sad men for leaders, stop giving our children the idea that these men represent what they should be.
If we want Detroit to be better, then its leadership must be better. That can't happen if the conversation is about what you can get away with and not what we allow children to see and hear.
The board is trying to downplay the incident, claiming that it shouldn't affect whether the board -- or the mayor -- will be in charge of schools.
Good luck with that.
Last I checked, what Mathis did was against the law. According to a knowledgeable source, the DPS police department is investigating an allegation of gross indecency against Mathis. So I'm waiting for him to be arrested and for Murray to resign or be removed.
These men cannot stand as a testament to leadership. These men cannot be held up as symbols of the best and brightest Detroit has to offer its children.
In the meantime, the real message to the community and every voter is this: Stop tolerating trifling. Our children are watching.
Contact Rochelle Riley: rriley99@freepress.com. To order a copy of Rochelle Riley's latest book, "Raising a Parent: Lessons My Daughter Taught Me While We Grew Up Together," go to rochelleriley.com or freep.com/bookstore.
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