• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
    • Our Advertisers
  • Distribution Locations
  • Past Issues

The Denver North Star

Your Guide to Community, Politics, Arts and Culture in North Denver

Hot off the Presses!
Check out the Apr 15 – May 14 issue here.

  • Community
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Arts
  • Dining
  • Community Calendar
  • Become a Member

DPS School Board Candidates Say Mail Piece Targeting Them is “Racist”

October 17, 2019 By David Sabados Leave a Comment

Mail pieces in support of and opposition to Denver School Board candidates filling mailboxes across the city isn’t anything new, but two candidates have taken to social media denouncing what they consider a racist attack in one piece in particular. The mailer was paid for by “Students Deserve Better,” an independent expenditure committee tied to the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA), the local teachers’ union in Denver.

The mailer’s style, often referred to as a contrast piece, highlights reasons to vote for the DCTA-backed candidate slate on one side and, on the other side, refers to candidates backed by education reform organizations as the “School Shutdown Squad” with reasons to vote against them. The arguments the mailer makes, however, are less of a concern to At-Large candidate Alexis Menocal Harrigan than how they present her image and identity, along with Southeast Denver candidate Diana Romero Campbell. The piece does not include their Latina surnames, only listing one last name for each candidate.

“As the daughters of immigrants and as proud Latinas, we are appalled and hurt by a mailer that was recently sent to Denver voters. The mailer whitens our faces and eliminates our Latina sounding last names,” Menocal Harrigan and Romero Campbell wrote in a joint statement.

“As a Latina and a DPS mom, I am deeply disappointed in the DCTA funding this racist and untrue mailer. Once again, negativity and adult politics are taking precedence over our children and their needs. This repeated offense is unacceptable for our community and I know we can do better for our students and families,” Menocal Harrigan said in an interview.

Menocal Harrigan acknowledges that some of the assertions in the mailer are true, including the claim that her candidacy is supported by “DPS board members who refused to give teachers pay raises earlier this year, causing our teachers to go on strike.” Public records show that one of her biggest funders is a conservative former oil and gas executive, as the piece states. When asked, she reiterated that she believes several other points the piece raises are half-truths or misleading.

By law, independent expenditure committees cannot coordinate with candidates they support. Menocal Harrigan’s opponent Tay Anderson also took to social media to express his opposition to the piece that supports his candidacy.

“I unequivocally condemn the whitewashing of two of the Latina candidates running for school board, one of whom is my opponent Alexis Menocal-Harrigan,” Anderson posted this morning.

The Denver North Star attempted to reach the registered agent for Students Deserve Better and a representative of Mad Dog Mail, which public filings show designs mail pieces for the organization, but neither has responded to our request. We will update this story if we receive a response. The Denver North Star also wishes to disclose our editorial decision to refer to Alexis Menocal Harrigan by only Harrigan after the first references in our school board coverage this month. We will use the full surnames of any interviewee in all future coverage.

Filed Under: Education, Politics Tagged With: Alexis Menocal Harrigan, DCTA, Denver Public Schools

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive email updates about The Denver North Star, your new guide to community, politics, arts and culture in North Denver.

Community Events

The Denver North Star community calendar is coming back! We’ve updated our form to better accept physical and virtual events, as well as to collect additional information possible attendees would like to know.

Please use our new form to submit your event!

Apr 20 2021

Walking Tour of West Colfax with Phil Goodstein

Apr 20 2021

Berkeley Regis United Neighbors (BRUN) Monthly Meeting

Apr 20 2021

Highland United Neighbors Monthly Meeting

Apr 23 2021

Project Angel Heart Dining Out For Life

Apr 24 2021

National Cohousing Day: Aria Virtual Open House

No event found!
Load More

Connect With Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Keep Up With Us

The Denver North Star

Recent Comments

  • Jamie D on A Student’s Guide to Colorado Flowers
  • Julie Ann Thornton on A Student’s Guide to Colorado Flowers
  • Ana on A Student’s Guide to Colorado Flowers
  • Michael Vela on A Student’s Guide to Colorado Flowers
  • Kevin “Gayper” Lederer on Metro Area’s Commissary Kitchens: Where Chefs Cook Up Community
  • Emily Green on Metro Area’s Commissary Kitchens: Where Chefs Cook Up Community
  • Burt Smiley on North Denver Artist Opens Exhibit Space in LoHi

Our Columnists

  • Educator and mom Jill Carstens writes about parenting in her column, Letters from Miss Jill.
  • Librarian Hannah Evans discusses great reads in her Checking Out: Book Reviews column.
  • Dennis Gallagher tells all in his column, Shaping Our Future by Remembering Our Past.
  • Erika Taylor advocates for community wellness in her Taylored Fitness columns.
  • Kathryn White focuses on issues of interest to older adults in her column, The Gray Zone.
  • District 1 Community Resource Officer Bob Anderson focuses on public safety issues in his monthly column.

Our Archives

  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019

All Categories

  • Arts and Culture
  • Cannabis
  • Checking Out Book Reviews
  • Community
  • Community Voices
  • Coronavirus News
  • Denver North Star News
  • Dining
  • Editorial
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Featured
  • Globeville
  • Guest Column
  • Health
  • Legislature
  • Local Dining
  • Opinion
  • Parenting
  • Politics
  • Public Safety
  • Shaping Our Future by Remembering Our Past
  • Student Voices
  • Taylored Fitness
  • The Gray Zone
  • Transportation
  • Uncategorized

Copyright © 2021 · All Rights Reserved