Photo via James Whitfield/Facebook, @radleybalko/Twitter
September 1, 2021, 10:40 am
A Texas school board has suspended Principal James Whitfield following a hate campaign by parents of some Colleyville Heritage High School students accusing him of somehow promoting critical race theory within the school. Whitfield just happens to be the school’s first Black principal, and during a late July school board meeting, a parent got up to comment and demanded his firing over this baseless claim, breaking the meeting rules by calling Whitfield out by name.
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The “evidence” these people have that the principal was pushing a graduate school topic in his high school or what the white father called “the conspiracy of systemic racism” was laid out in a long Facebook post by Whitfield and comes down to “he talked about racism sometimes.”
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Apparently, local parents have accused him of creating a presentation on “Breaking the Barriers” while he was principal of Heritage Middle School in 2019. In reality, one of his colleagues created this presentation, which was approved by the district before being shown to anyone in the school, and he merely helped by sharing some of his experiences.
“The fact that they know I am not the creator of this presentation and falsely label me as such is one piece of how race plays into their hateful agenda,” Whitfield wrote on Facebook.
The racist parents have also apparently pointed to an email he sent out to them and all the high school student parents addressing the murder of George Floyd by former police officer Derek Chauvin. In the message, Whitfield specifically blames “systemic racism” for Floyd’s death as well as that of many Black men at the hands of police and encourages families to ask questions and have discussions on these difficult topics.
“I encourage us all not to grow weary in the battle against systemic racist – commit to being an anti-racist,” the email read. “While there are great obstacles to face, please know that I am with you on this journey towards reconciliation for our nation.”
The racists also cited Whitfield’s support for the Southern Poverty Law Center in their demands that he be fired.
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Whitfield expressed that he could see his suspension coming after he received a call in late July about a complaint about a photo he had posted on his Facebook account showing him hugging and kissing his wife, who is white, claiming that to be somehow inappropriate.
“Is this Dr. Whitfield we want as an example for our students?” the complaint asked.
If you’re not against interracial marriage, it’s difficult to see why not. Whitfield took the photo down as requested, but that didn’t stop the racists from coming for his job in spite of outpourings of support from his students and from other parents.
The principal told the Washington Post that he was given little explanation for his suspension and no timeline for when it might be resolved.
“I was not given any clear reasoning behind the decision and was not given a timetable regarding further steps,” he said. “I was simply told that it was in the best interest of the district.”
With this news, the national anti-racist community has now come out to support Whitfield and demand that his suspension be lifted and the racist parents be told to shove it.
*First Published: September 1, 2021, 10:40 am
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