He said it was meant to be a joke but no one is laughing in Hooks Independent School District (ISD) where school board member Chris Harris posted a highly offensive meme of a hooded Ku Klux Klansman with the capitalized caption — I’M DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS,NBC-6 reported.
The news traveled fast over Thanksgiving week in the tiny town of Hooks, located in the Texarkana area of Texas, creating quite a stir. Following online criticism in response to the post, Harris apologized online, acknowledging that the post “offended people” and “was very inappropriate.” He said he was not a racist and was “truly and deeply sorry.”
Hooks Independent School District Superintendent Ronnie Thompson told the TV news outlet that “you have to be careful” about what is posted online “because it can do a lot of damage to you and others.” He added, “People can get into trouble quickly.”
Thompson also said that because of this, Harris’ job as a school board member could be on the line but it is not his decision to make. That will be left up to the district’s school board which next meets on December 15.
According to Thompson, if (the board) does not have a resignation letter from Harris prior to that next meeting, they will vote on whether or not he should be fired.
NBC-6 also reported that they made multiple efforts to speak to Harris to get his side of the story. “He never returned any phone calls and we were told he was not at work when our news crew stopped by his place of employment,” they stated.
Instead, they spoke to a local resident who knows Harris and called him a very nice gentleman who “made a bad judgment call on posting that.”
Follow Merrill Hope on Twitter @OutOfTheBoxMom
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