Blackface photos draw protesters to meeting

School Board member urged to resign

BLEVINS -- Civil-rights advocates showed up at a Blevins School Board meeting Monday night to protest a white board member who wore blackface during a Halloween party, but their public comments were cut short by school administrators.

It was the first meeting of the board since photos from a Halloween party surfaced on social media in November of board member Ted Bonner posing in blackface, wearing overalls and fake, crooked teeth while holding a sign that read "Blak lives matters."

Bonner mumbled loudly as he pushed his way through the crowd who assembled in the Hempstead County school administration building.

Bonner's entrance occurred as Rizelle Aaron, president of the state chapter of the NAACP, addressed members of the community about an hour before a 7 p.m. School Board meeting was to begin.

"The NAACP is not about black folks," Aaron said. "We're about civil rights and human rights for all people. We are here for all the citizens of Blevins."

Bonner's mocking of the Black Lives Matter movement drew local and national attention, but he has refused to resign from the School Board.

Protesters were allowed by Superintendent Billy Lee to use the administration building under the condition that they would end the public discussion five minutes before the board meeting.

"We are here to get a resolution, a resignation," Miller County NAACP President Ulysses Brewer said. "When you see that [black]face, you think about aggression, oppression, and hatred. What's the message he's trying to send to the children at this school district?"

At one point during Aaron's comments, a supporter of Bonner stood and apologized for Bonner. Until that point, Aaron hadn't realized Bonner was in the room.

"I didn't recognize him without the blackface," Aaron said. "I've reached out to him but he hasn't responded."

Aaron went on to call for Bonner's resignation, saying the board member's actions affected "every single African-American in the United States, not just here in Blevins."

"Resign and let this school district move forward," Aaron said. "You did this to demean us, to make us feel inferior. A dark face is a joke?"

Long before his deadline of 6:55 p.m., Lee warned Aaron and others about police intervention if they didn't vacate the administration building. Lee and School Board President Justice West said it was their belief the administration building is a private building, not a public one.

"Time for this to end," Lee said. "I'm tired of the bashing."

Lee and West lamented Bonner's statements in November and described them as incongruous with the district's policies. Lee also said at that time that there was no mechanism for removing a School Board member.

Aaron asked that anyone who supported Bonner remaining on the School Board to speak out. No one did.

"These people no longer want you to represent them," Aaron said. "You just don't have the integrity to resign."

State Desk on 12/17/2016

Upcoming Events