Thread: Bronx man interrupts church Mass to rip 'racist' principal

Bronx man interrupts church Mass to rip 'racist' principal, gets kicked out and arrested

BY Nicholas Rizzi, Reuven Blau and Bill Hutchinson
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Monday, August 1st 2011, 4:00 AM

Shock over an outspoken Catholic school principal's ties to a white supremacist group turned ugly during Sunday Mass at a Bronx church.

Cops were called to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Fordham after a church-goer interrupted the service to call for the removal of Frank Borzellieri as principal of the parish school.

"I wanted them to feel my sense of outrage that he was brought into the community to teach," said Juan Varela, 54, who was arrested yesterday on disorderly conduct and weapons possession charges and spent seven hours in police custody.

Varela, who is Catholic but lives in Queens, said he sat in a pew during the 10 a.m. Mass. At one point he stood up, walked to the altar, faced parishioners and began railing against Borzellieri.

"This church hired a racist. This church does not like Hispanics and blacks," one police source quoted Varela as saying.

Cops said he initially refused to leave, but finally complied. He said he was kicked from behind by ushers at the back of the church as he tried to exit.

He was picked up by police about two blocks away. Varela was charged with criminal possession of a weapon - a knife - and disorderly conduct, cops said.

The News revealed Sunday that Borzellieri, 48, was quietly hired two years ago as principal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School despite his controversial writings. In his 2004 book - "Don't Take it Personally: Race, Immigration, Crime and Other Heresies" - Borzellieri declared "diversity is a weakness" and that America's rising black and Hispanic populations will lead to a "New Dark Age." He has also written for the white supremacist publication American Renaissance.

As a city school board member representing District 24 in Queens from 1993 to 2002, Borzellieri tried to ban literature he labeled "anti-American" from school libraries. One of the books he targeted was an biography on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

He also introduced a resolution calling for students to be taught that U.S. culture is superior, and he advocated the removal of an openly gay teacher from the classroom at Public School 199 in Sunnyside.

With Joe Kemp

rblau@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/edu ... jeers.html

This poll is at the link:

Racist Principal

Should Frank Borzellieri be fired from his job as a Catholic school principal for his racist writings and ties to white supremacists?

Yes. He has no business teaching and guiding any students, let alone minority students. 76%

No. His personal views may have no effect on his professional leadership at the school. 16%

Unsure. It's up to students and parents to pressure the diocese to fire him if they feel strongly about the issue. 8%

Related Story:

White supremacist principal running Bronx school with majority black and Latino students

BY Corinne Lestch
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Originally Published:Sunday, July 31st 2011, 4:00 AM
Updated: Saturday, July 30th 2011, 4:50 PM

A firebrand educator with ties to a white supremacist group is running a Bronx Catholic school where most of the students are black and Latino, the Daily News has learned.

Frank Borzellieri, 48, was quietly promoted to principal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School two years ago - despite a history of controversial writings and campaigns, including a push to ban a biography on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

In 2004, Borzellieri wrote the book "Don't Take It Personally: Race, Immigration, Crime and Other Heresies," in which he declares "diversity is a weakness" and says the rising black and Hispanic populations in America will lead to the "New Dark Age."

He has also written frequently for the white supremacist publication American Renaissance, with which he is still "intimately involved," the non-profit Southern Poverty Law Center says.

Borzellieri declined comment.

Mount Carmel pastor, the Rev. Eric Rapaglia, said he knew of Borzellieri's views, but didn't "see any cause for concern" when he hired him to run the 200-student elementary school.

"I knew of him from my last parish," he said. "Do I agree with all of it? No. But I think much of it is valuable and logical and reasonable.

"A lot of his ideas would actually benefit minorities," he added.

Borzellieri, who unsuccessfully ran for state Assembly in 1994 and City Council in 1997, previously made headlines as a school board member in District 24 in Queens, where he lives.

During his board tenure, from 1993 to 2002, he tried to:


• Ban literature he labeled "anti-American" from school libraries. His targets included books on different races and culture, and a biography of King.


• Remove an openly gay teacher and gay-rights activist from the classroom at Public School 199 in Sunnyside, and ban school employees from making any references to homosexuality.


• Introduce a resolution calling for students to be taught that U.S. culture is superior.
Borzellieri's views rankled teachers at St. Barnabas School in Woodlawn, Bronx, where he taught English from 2006 to 2009.

"You can't have someone with those beliefs or who writes that kind of stuff working at a Catholic school," said Annemarie Zagaglia, principal of St. Barnabas School during Borzellieri's time there.

When Rapaglia was the pastor of St. Barnabas, Zagaglia warned him that teachers had legitimate concerns about Borzellieri. She said Rapaglia "dismissed the whole thing, and that was the end of that."

Rapaglia became pastor of Mount Carmel - in Fordham, Bronx - in 2009 and hired Borzellieri as principal that year.

A former teacher at St. Barnabas said she alerted the Archdiocese of New York in 2007 that students had complained Borzellieri was using them as "research" for his books, but the teacher never got a response.

Archdiocese spokesman Joe Zwilling said there is no record of a complaint against Borzellieri, but said the matter is under review.

Zwilling added that sweeping changes in hiring parish principals went into effect in 2009 - right after Borzellieri got the gig.

"Previously, pastors had great leeway and discretion in the hiring of principals," Zwilling said. "That practice usually worked well, but we saw room for improvement."

Parents of students at Mount Carmel voiced concern after the Daily News informed them of Borzellieri's past.

"I've heard kids say they don't like him," said one mother, a Jamaican immigrant. "I was wondering where the heck he came from. He shouldn't be teaching here. He could look at kids differently because they're black. It's not fair."

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/edu ... rents.html

Archdiocese Reviewing "Racial Realism" Writings of Bronx Principal

Monday, August 01, 2011 - 03:13 PM

By Beth Fertig

The Archdiocese of New York says it's looking into a Bronx Catholic School principal who has written books criticizing multiculturalism. The principal, Frank Borzellieri, also contributed articles to a controversial magazine devoted to "racial realism."

The action was taken following the publication over the weekend of an article in The Daily News about Borzellieri's writings for American Renaissance. Borzellieri has also written several books including "The Unspoken Truth: Race, Culture and Other Taboos," in which he calls diversity a "weakness" and refers to "multiculturalist fanatics."

"Their refusal to acknowledge, in the face of common sense and decency, the overwhelming evidence of the superiority of Western culture is yet another example of the moral decay brought about by politically correct degenerates," he wrote in the introduction to "The Unspoken Truth."

Borzellieri was appointed principal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School near Fordham University, which has mostly black and Latino students, two years ago.

Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese, said the Superintendent of Schools office is reviewing Borzellieri's books and writings. Zwilling noted that Our Lady of Mount Carmel has a diverse population and that "any form of discrimination or bigotry is inconsistent with Catholic teaching, and will not be tolerated in our schools." He also said there have been no complaints against Borzellieri as principal, nor were there when he taught at another Catholic school, St. Barnabus.

In a blog, Borzellieri described himself as writing from a "a libertarian, Eurocentric, conservative perspective...blasting the hypocrisy of liberals and the cowardice of politically correct so-called conservatives."

During the 1990s, Borzellieri served on the public school board of District 24 in Queens, where he generated controversy for attacking multiculturalism, bilingual education and the teaching of sex education and homosexuality. He also tried to get an openly gay public school teacher fired.

WNYC has tried to reach Borzellieri about the Archdiocese's internal review, but has not heard back.
Read More:
http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blo ... principal/

• Ban literature he labeled "anti-American" from school libraries. His targets included books on different races and culture, and a biography of King.


• Remove an openly gay teacher and gay-rights activist from the classroom at Public School 199 in Sunnyside, and ban school employees from making any references to homosexuality.


• Introduce a resolution calling for students to be taught that U.S. culture is superior.

Racist? Hardly. Varela is the racist here. He needs to get over himself.

Borzellieri is a Catholic, many catholics do not think homosexuality should be taught in schools.

Multiculurism is an epic fail, it's divisive, it does not bring people together. We used to be the "melting pot", where all cultures blended together. Multiculturism encourages separation of races/cultures, which doesn't work.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe Borzellieri is of Italian descent. Highly unlikely white supremecist material. Looking at their pictures, these two gentlemen could pass for brothers.

Ironic, isn't it?

If this Principle were a member of Racist LaRaza or the NAACP no one would be saying a word.Because he is white he will be attacked for his beliefs .

imo Whats the difference between a white brown or black group who only promotes their own ???

Bronx Catholic school principal Frank Borzellieri fired over ties to white supremacist group

BY Corinne Lestch
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, August 2nd 2011, 11:39 AM

The principal of a Bronx Catholic school was fired Tuesday after the Daily News exposed his ties to a white supremacist group and his controversial writings.

"Frank Borzellieri has been relieved of his position as principal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School," said Joe Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York.

"This decision was reached following a thorough internal review of his opinions and beliefs as expressed in his books and columns, and a discussion with Mr. Borzellieri himself."

The 48-year-old, who was named principal at the mostly black and Latino school two years ago, had pushed in the past to ban a biography of martyred civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King.

He wrote a 2004 book which maintained "diversity is a weakness," and was a frequent contributor to the white supremacist publication American Renaissance.

As a Queens school board member, he tried to bar "anti-American" literature - including the King book - from school libraries and remove a gay teacher from the classroom.

Zwilling said the opinions expressed by Borzellieri in his writings "were found to be imcompatible with the philosophy and practices" of the school and the archdiocese.

Word of Borzellieri's racist ties caused a ruckus at the parish's Sunday Mass, where one parishioner stood to demand the principal's ouster.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/201 ... supre.html