White Supremacist' Principal Fired by NY Archdiocese Over Views on Race

The media have been buzzing about a Catholic elementary school principal who was recently dismissed amid charges that he holds racist views and has connections to a white supremacist publication. The Archdiocese of New York has fired Frank Borzellieri, who ironically presided over a school of a mostly black and Hispanic children. Below, watch a WNYW-TV report about this story:

According to archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling, school officials reviewed Borzellieri's books and columns and found that he espoused white supremacist views that were at odds with the church's mission and values. The former principal was let go following a New York Daily News article that highlighted some of Borzellieri's controversial views, including his alleged ties to a white supremacist publication. Over the weekend, the Daily News reported:

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."

The Daily News goes on to write that Borzellieri is actively involved in "American Renaissance," a publication that is described as "a monthly magazine dealing with race and racial issues here and abroad." This monthly publication is disseminated by the New Century Foundation, which claims it was created "to study immigration and race relations so as to better understand the consequences of America's increasing diversity."

Interestingly, the Daily News claims that Rev. Eric Rapaglia, the pastor of Mount Carmel, said that he knew about Borzellieri's controversial views, but that he originally had no cause for concern in hiring him to run the school. The newspaper printed the priest's comments, word-for-word, as follows:

"I knew of him from my last parish. 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."

In a lengthy statement posted on the school's website, Father Rapaglia, while seemingly contradicting the comments that were made in the Daily News piece, apologized for what he called a "mistake in judgment." He claimed that neither he nor a search committee of parents and teachers knew about Borzellieri's political writings when they hired him. Rapaglia's comments about knowing Borzellieri before hiring him are as intriguing as his conclusion: "In hindsight, I should not have hired Mr. Borzellieri."

In fairness to the pastor, he has publicly taken issue with some of the quotes attributed to him in the Daily News. He claims that his words were taken out of context and that he was talking about Borzellieri's writings on topics other than race.

This isn't the first time Borzellieri has made headlines. He ran for the state assembly in 1994 and for City Council in 1997, though he inevitably lost both of these races. But, he did serve as a school board member in Queens' District 24 from 1993 until 2002. According to the Daily News, he undertook a number of questionable initiatives.

Aside from attempting to ban "anti-American" literature from school libraries (which included books on race and culture and a biography on Martin Luther King), he allegedly tried to remove an openly gay teacher and gay rights activist. Additionally, he attempted to ban school employees from making references to homosexuality, while introducing a resolution that called for students to be taught that U.S. culture is superior to others. Below, watch Borzellieri explain his opinions on Martin Luther King, Christopher Columbus and other related subjects:

According to The Huffington Post, in his 2004 book, "The Unspoken Truth: Race, Culture and Other Taboos," Borzellieri wrote:

Blacks commit most of the violent crime in America today. This has always been the case. They are ten times as likely to commit a crime of violence as whites...So what these numbers actually reveal in addition to the obvious--that blacks are inveterately more violent than whites--is that there is actually more black on white crime than black on black crime.

In another section of the book, he continued:

On average, blacks score lower on every conceivable aptitude test than whites and Asians...These results have not changed despite decades of heroic efforts to uplift blacks to [sic] and to tinker with the tests.

But rather than acknowledge what every (yes, every) study and informed scientist has put forth, the government's official position is that blacks fall short because of white wickedness. Oppression and discrimination by whites are responsible, not inherent shortcomings. (Asians, who outperform whites, have a significant history of discrimination in America, but that's an inconvenient fact.)

Borzellieri and his book publisher, Cultural Studies Press, didn't respond to multiple requests for comment earlier this week. Reached by phone, a woman who said she was Borzellieri's mother also declined to comment. The school hopes to have a new principal in place soon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.