Former Black schools leader radio interview brings focus on race issues in Green Bay

By COREY WILLIAMS
Associated Press

Members of Green Bay’s African American community say the city’s first Black schools superintendent could have had a better approach to an interview where his comments ultimately prompted his resignation. Claude Tiller Jr. was recorded in a conversation with an Atlanta radio host who referred to the Wisconsin city as “lily white.” Tiller responded that Green Bay was “the lily on top of the lily.” The back and forth was part of an interview Feb. 6 in which Tiller made blunt comments about race. On Saturday, Tiller resigned. Black people in Green Bay say Tiller was put in a tough situation in a racially changing school district, and that his approach to change could have been better thought out.