The nonprofit Stand Up for Salem has fired its executive director, Betsy McBride, for asking to have Black students portray slaves for a reenactment marking the city’s 350th anniversary.
The 14-member board took the action Saturday after conducting a fact-finding process, said board president Tom Smith. The Inquirer reported the investigation on Friday.
“We felt we had enough information to warrant immediate termination,” Smith said Sunday. “We don’t think it was appropriate in any way, shape or form.”
McBride was notified Saturday of her termination, effective immediately, he said. The board suspended McBride Thursday, pending the investigation.
Salem County NAACP president Nelson Carney Jr., who had called for her removal, praised the decision. Smith plans to meet with the civil rights group on Monday to formally apologize.
“It sends the message that this is unacceptable and any type of discrimination will not be tolerated,” Carney said. “Justice has been served.”
McBride admitted in email exchanges to asking Salem Middle School Principal Pascale E. DeVilmé to allow Black students to participate in a slavery reenactment for the city’s Oct. 4 anniversary celebration.
DeVilmé left the meeting without responding, and McBride later apologized in an email to the principal, saying her intent was to portray living history in Salem.
“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.
Stand Up for Salem is a community development organization that supports resident-driven planning and volunteer projects. McBride had been the nonprofit’s executive director for about three years and had planned to retire in December, according to Smith. A replacement has not been named.
She has been active in Camden County politics and recently served as mayor of Pennsauken and on its township committee. She also previously worked for the Heart of Camden and UrbanPromise Inc., according to her bio on the Stand Up for Salem website.
Efforts to reach McBride Sunday were unsuccessful.
The request sparked a furor in the community of nearly 5,300, where Black residents represent about 58% of the population.
As part of the anniversary festivities, Smith said an actor has been hired to portray Amy Hester “Hetty” Reckless, a Black woman who was enslaved by one of the city’s wealthiest families. Reckless later escaped to Philadelphia and helped others find freedom on the Underground Railroad.
Smith said board members were unaware that McBride planned to ask Black children to participate in the celebration to portray enslaved people.
Smith apologized to Salem Schools Superintendent Carol L. Kelley in a letter Thursday, calling the suggestion “inappropriate and insensitive.”
Smith said he planned to attend the NAACP’s general membership meeting on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Hetty Reckless Center in Salem to again apologize. Stand Up Salem also wants to explore steps to prevent future such incidents, he said.