A Black superintendent in Wisconsin has responded after the white father of a graduate came on stage during the graduation ceremony and pushed the leader of the school system out of the way so that he could not shake his daughter’s hand.
The white father, Matthew Eddy, of course has since apologized for his embarrassing actions during his daughter’s graduation.
But the reaction from superintendent Dr. Rainey Briggs ain’t what you might think.
“The outreach was really to indicate that he, Matthew, understands his mishap in terms of what he did, what he’s caused. He’s remorseful,” said Briggs, who is Black. “I took that as some form of apology, but that’s not something I think at this time amounts to a solid apology, from my perspective.
“I don’t think an apology, an ‘I’m sorry,’ makes this go away because there’s a lot of harm that was caused.” The damning footage from the graduation shows Eddy pushing Briggs aside as his daughter was receiving her diploma, saying “I don’t want her touching him.”
Footage of the shocking moment, where Eddy can be heard saying “I don’t want her touching him,” quickly went viral on social media. Eddy was subsequently arrested for disorderly conduct, and Briggs obtained a restraining order against him.
In the aftermath, Briggs stated that a simple apology from Eddy is essentially meaningless given the harm caused.
“This is a moment in time for them that they’ll never get back the way they had hoped for this to go,” he said. “That was to walk across that stage with excitement, feeling like they’ve learned a lot, feeling like they’d experienced some amazing teachers. That was all to some degree pushed aside that particular night.”
While Eddy claimed his actions stemmed from a prior disciplinary issue involving his daughter where he felt Briggs was disrespectful, Briggs emphasized that this in no way excuses the physical aggression and disruption.
Briggs lamented how Eddy’s unacceptable behavior robbed the graduates of being able to fully enjoy and appreciate their achievement on what should have been a celebratory day. The racial dynamics, with Briggs being Black and Eddy white, likely amplified the hurt and negative implications.
The incident was an ugly display of a parent unable to handle frustrations appropriately, instead resorting to confrontation that cast a pall over the special occasion for students. While Eddy’s grievances may have had validity, his actions were completely unwarranted and marred the once-in-a-lifetime milestone for the graduating class.