In a recent GV Wire opinion piece, Terance Frazier suggested that those speaking up about Golden Charter Academy’s conduct are “tearing down” the very people trying to lift our kids up. He also warned against “negativity,” “destruction,” and “knocking down people who try to lift kids up.”

This framing is deeply disappointing and concerning, not only because it comes from a respected and necessary leader in our Fresno community, but because of what it implies and, more importantly, who it erases.

Women, Black women in particular, have always been at the forefront of education reform, community building, and advocacy for generations. To label the insistence on legal compliance and integrity as “negative” repeats a long-standing pattern of marginalizing women and Black voices when they challenge narratives that disguise oppressive power as progress.

We Need to Have Difficult Conversations

It is this very framing that has caused people in our community to withdraw their children from Golden Charter Academy, and also withdraw from the difficult conversations our communities most need out of fear of being labeled negative or angry or “going against our own kind.”

It’s why I’ve received exactly 37 messages from parents who have never spoken publicly about GCA yet share their experiences and support in private. When leadership and community figures label legitimate concern as “tearing down,” they create an environment where truth becomes dangerous and silence feels safer than honesty.

I understand the weight of leadership and how it’s compounded by being Black in spaces that were not designed with us in mind. I’ve been the only Black person at the executive table in several organizations. I know the pressure. I know the scrutiny. I know what it feels like when people seem to pray for your failure.

But race cannot be used as a shield against accountability. Trustee Thomas played the race card when Board Trustees asked legitimate questions during GCA’s petition-vetting process, calling those questions a “witch hunt” based on her son-in-law’s race. And now, look at the chaos surrounding the very issues that were silenced by that deflection.

When we blur the line between accountability and race, we unintentionally silence and discourage the truth-telling that has sustained our communities for generations. True solidarity means holding one another to standards that honor our shared legacy, not excusing misconduct or abandoning our convictions in its name.

The expectation of respect and demand for respect as GCA, under Robert Goldens leadership, behaves in an unrespectable manner is diabolical. If accountability feels like opposition, then perhaps it’s the conscience speaking.

About the Author

Kristina Holmes-McIntyre is a mother, small business owner, and community advocate based in Fresno, focused on organizational integrity, equity, and family advocacy within schools and workplaces.

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