A South Jersey nonprofit has fired its leader for requesting local middle schoolers participate in a reenactment depicting the abolitionist movement, the organization’s board president said Saturday.
Betsy McBride, Stand Up for Salem’s executive director, was fired by the nonprofit, which focuses on civic work for Salem City, according to Tom Smith, who reported her termination to NJ Advance Media.
McBride was initially suspended after Smith learned Wednesday that she approached Salem Middle School to ask if Black students could participate in the October reenactment, which will center on the Underground Railroad, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
It was unclear when the executive director approached Salem school officials. Smith was expected to meet with the middle school’s administration Monday, he said.
“We have a member of the NAACP on our board, and that person reached out to me to let me know that there was an apology issued by Mrs. McBride to the principal of the middle school,” Smith said in a phone call with NJ Advance Media. “He let me know that the apology was not well-received.”
An internal investigation is underway, Smith added.
McBride is a former Pennsauken Committee member and has worked for nonprofits in the past, according to Stand Up for Salem’s website. Her suspension was first reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer. She later emailed the middle school’s principal to apologize, The Inquirer reported.
“I wasn’t thinking how that would sound to you. And that’s the problem right? White privilege means I didn’t think. But, it was offensive and for that I apologize,” McBride wrote in the apology, according to The Inquirer.
McBride joined the nonprofit as interim executive director in 2023. NJ Advance Media could not reach her for comment.
An apology letter from Smith to Salem City School District Superintendent Carol Kelley called the request “inappropriate and insensitive.” He added that Stand Up for Salem prioritizes diversity.
“We’re deeply apologetic that this incident occurred,” Smith said. “It’s not a request that we have condoned or endorsed.”
An email to Kelley was not immediately returned Saturday.
Two actors depicting Salem County-based abolitionists Abigail Goodwin and Amy Hester “Hetty” Reckless were scheduled to appear on stage at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park, according to a program for the Oct. 4 event. It was unclear if McBride’s request pertained to that performance, which will be part of the city’s 350th anniversary event.
Salem City’s roots date back to America’s infancy, when it was founded in 1675 by John Fenwick, a Quaker, according to its municipal website. It later became one of New Jersey’s initial 104 townships established in 1798 by the state’s Legislature before being redesignated a city in 1858.
Eric Conklin
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