Gloucester News

Controversy Erupts In Gloucester Over African-American Studies Class

Tense Debate Sparked After Supervisor’s Comments Raise Eyebrows

Editor Tyler Bagent

On November 10th, 2020, the Gloucester School Board approved a proposal that would add African American and Native American studies to the elective course offerings for the 2021-2022 school year. This comes after intense controversy surrounding statements by Supervisor Mike Winebarger were called into question.

The debate over the course began during an October 20th school board meeting in which questions were raised to Superintendent Walter Clemons over whether the class would become a required course for graduation. In a question directed to Dr. Clemons, Winebarger said “I’ve gotten multiple phone calls from parents saying that they’ve heard, and I want you to either tell me yes or no or maybe so, that Gloucester is going to start requiring a class in Black History in order to graduate? That they are going to start teaching history based on 1619 rather than 1609. Tell me it isn’t so.”

Following this, several citizens of Gloucester came forward at the November 4th Board meeting to voice their concerns over his comments and demand an apology for Dr. Clemons. In addition to those in person, an outpouring of support has come from community members on Facebook. Winebarger defended his comments, saying that he was repeating a question from a constituent. He said “If I said anything out of line, I didn’t intend for it to be racial.” He followed up with saying “I know what I am and I’m not racial. I have plenty of friends who are red, yellow, black, and white.”

The course offerings of African-American and Native American history have since been approved by the Gloucester County School Board, and will be open for students during the 2021-2022 school year.