The principal of a high school in Colleyville, Texas, was forced to remove a photo of him kissing his white wife from Facebook, NBC 5 reported.
Dr. James Whitfield, Colleyville Heritage High School’s first Black principal, is now speaking out about the challenges he’s faced.
Whitfield said that the photograph in question was taken by a professional photographer for the couple’s 10th anniversary in Mexico. It was part of a collage of photographs of the couple embracing and walking on the beach.
The romantic pictures apparently triggered the non-melanated folks because the school received several complaints about the photograph. Before he’d even begun his job as principal at the Texas high school, the school called him with their request. He was “asked” to remove the picture in 2019, and he made the picture private.
Whitfield told the New York Times that the school claimed there was no problem with the photo but that they didn’t want things to get “stirred up” and requested that he remove the picture from social media. Being a Black man in America, Whitfield read between the lines and knew more racism was to follow.
“The response was ‘nothing,’” he said “Then they proceeded to say: ‘We just don’t want to get stuff stirred up. So if you could take it down, we would appreciate it.’”
Stetson Clark, who also has a problem with Whitfield’s opinion on Critical Race Theory, called for Whitfield to be fired at a board meeting on July 26. Clark apparently believes that teaching history and social justice is extreme. A crowd that attended the meeting cheered at Clark’s remarks.
“Because of his extreme views, I ask that a full review of Mr. Whitfield’s tenure in our district be examined and that his contract be terminated effective immediately,” he said.
A Black high school principal in Texas said he was asked in 2019 to remove 10-year-old photos on Facebook of himself and his wife, who is white, embracing on a beach. The incident has now resurfaced in a controversy over racism. https://t.co/Z9YPXuMQw4
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 5, 2021
Twitter Fam, You’ve probably seen #IStandwithDrWhitfield coming across your timeline, wondering what on earth is going on. There’s SO much, but I am beyond humbled by the kindness, support, love, & encouragement being shown to me and my family ❤️
— Dr. James Whitfield (@DrJamesWhit) July 30, 2021
If you’d like a better understanding of what’s going on I’d encourage you to watch the open forum of our last GCISD board meeting (video below). I know I’m not alone in these attacks – this is happening all over the country. But more & more people are saying ENOUGH is ENOUGH.
— Dr. James Whitfield (@DrJamesWhit) July 30, 2021
Hate and #racism will not rule the day. Love will! Thank you for spreading love! Let your love shine so brightly & your positive voice be so loud that it drowns out the noise. We will not sit silently while these individuals continue their bigoted attacks. Kids need us!❤️👊🏽
— Dr. James Whitfield (@DrJamesWhit) July 30, 2021
Be forewarned, the level of hate & intolerance contained within the open forum of this video are pretty disgusting and should never, EVER, be tolerated. But we will rise above the madness – we always do.https://t.co/Yx8mEhIpMb#RacismSucks #HateWontWin #IStandwithDrWhitfield
— Dr. James Whitfield (@DrJamesWhit) July 30, 2021
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Whitfield said that the school conceded that the complaints were because of racism, but he was basically told it is what it is when it comes to white supremacy.
“For the better part of the last year, I’ve been told repeatedly to just ‘get around the fact that there are some racist people’ and ‘just deal with it and stay positive’ each time the racist tropes reared their heads, but I will stay silent no longer,” Dr. Whitfield wrote on Facebook..
“I am not the CRT (Critical Race Theory) Boogeyman,” he wrote. “I am the first African American to assume the role of Principal at my current school in its 25-year history, and I am keenly aware of how much fear this strikes in the hearts of a small minority who would much rather things go back to the way they used to be.”
The school claimed that objections to the picture were not race-related. A statement released by the school claimed that the photographs of the man and his wife were “questionable” for an educator.
