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When The Primary School opened a decade ago, Zuckerberg’s social capital was at its peak. Facebook was riding high. The barrage of social media addiction lawsuits against the Instagram-parent remained years off.
Zuckerberg and Chan were new parents. The tuition-free school represented the hope that children could overcome poverty, racism and other traumas if parents, educators, and health and social workers joined forces.
On Thursday, that hope will dim for some families as its two branches shut down. When the closure was announced last year, several parents at the East Palo Alto campus told me they felt let down.
The announcement did not cite a specific reason for the decision. A CZI spokesperson says it has committed more than $50m (£37.1m) towards easing the effects of the closures.
The news came two months after CZI said it was cutting its diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility team, pointing to “the shifting regulatory and legal landscape” and a decision to prioritise science over political and social advocacy. This all transpired shortly after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who has targeted “DEI” initiatives.
CZI would not be the only prominent institution to have made such a move in response to the shifting political landscape. Last year, Google scrapped its targets to recruit more workers from underrepresented groups. Meta and Amazon have also scaled back their diversity initiatives - read more about that here.
“It’s self preservation,” says Fordham Law professor Atinuke Adediran, who specialises in inequality and corporate social responsibility. “But the result is erasure” - in this case, of an institution that helped children in two long-marginalised communities.
The download: CZI has not explained whether politics have played a role in The Primary School’s closure this week. But as big tech tries to keep favour with the White House, Zuckerberg and Chan’s social capital in this corner of California is dented.
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