Another day, another PR disaster for the NAACP, as the President of the NAACP in NY, Hazel Dukes, wrote to a charter school parent that "you are doing the business of slave masters" (I am NOT making this up!):

The New York State NAACP president is not backing down from a controversial email in which she told a charter school mom that she's working for "slave masters."

Hazel Dukes on Tuesday defended her strident email and blasted charter schools as "segregation."

"In a public school, I want everything to be equitable. We shouldn't have a dividing line. In my humble opinion, that is segregation," said Dukes.

On May 27, Dukes received an email from charter school parent Janette Ramos, urging the NAACP to withdraw from a lawsuit to halt the closure of failing schools and expansion of charter schools.

Dukes responded on June 1 by writing, in part, "You are not a member of the NAACP and don't understand that you are doing the business of slave masters."

Ramos, a hospital administrator whose son is a kindergartner at Bronx Success Academy charter school, said she was infuriated by Dukes's response to her email.

"She's trying to intimidate me," said Ramos, who is Puerto Rican. "I am a minority - I'm in the same boat as everyone else. I'm just trying to the best job for my kids."

But Dukes defended her use of the term.

"I don't see anything wrong with that word. I'm referring to anybody who gives people information that is not true. I am giving you my interpretation as an African American," said Dukes.

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