A Black Texas educator is speaking out about an event in 2019 that may have been racially motivated.
Principal James Whitfield of Colleyville Heritage High School wrote a lengthy Facebook statement on Saturday detailing the racial insults he has faced over the years, including being for teaching critical race theory, which aims to understand the core roots of racism and inequality in the United States.
He insists he is “not the CRT (Critical Race Theory) Boogeyman” as some have portrayed him to be, but has and will continue to support the fight against structural racism. Whitfield was named Colleyville Heritage High’s principal earlier this year. As an example of racism and bigotry he’s experienced over the years, Whitfield shared a photo of him and his wife taken on their anniversary.
On the night of June 27, 2019, Whitfield stated he received a phone call from an “administrator.” He reported that when he answered the phone, he was ordered to check his email and wait for a callback, despite the fact that he believed the call would be celebratory.
On Facebook Whitfield wrote, “I checked my email and saw what they were talking about. Before I describe the email I just want to point out for those who haven’t checked my profile, my wife is White. As I read the forwarded email it said “Is this the Dr. Whitfield we want as an example for our students?” And the picture attached was a picture of my wife and I kissing on the beach in Mexico during a trip we took for our 5-year anniversary. I showed my wife and I could tell she was already getting upset – tears were welling up, but I was still awaiting the callback. When the phone rang again I immediately picked up.”
Whitfield took the phone and conveyed his confusion. The administrator allegedly asked him to remove a photo of him and his wife, Kerrie, on the beach in an intimate position. When Whitfield inquired as to what was so problematic about the professionally-shot photo, he was allegedly informed, “We just don’t want people to stir up stuff.”
The principal described the situation as “unbelievable,” but agreed to comply in the end.
“As I got off the phone my wife sat there in tears. I tried to do my best to console her as we both tried to grapple with what just took place,” he wrote. “We hid the photo, no one from ‘above’ ever mentioned anything else about it, but the damage was inflicted on us in profound ways. It was at this moment that I knew the attack that we currently endure, was coming. There are numerous examples of these sorts of racist threats and statements directed my way, but I continued to take the high road and focus on my mission and purpose, as nothing was ever done to alleviate or deter these threats on my behalf.”
The Grapevine-Colleyville ISD sent the following statement to NBC 5 in response to Whitfield’s remark.
“When a social media concern is brought to the attention of the district, we have a responsibility to review it. Some of the photos the district received contained poses that are questionable for an educator, especially a principal or administrator. It had absolutely nothing to do with race. As a new campus principal, we wanted to provide a smooth transition for Dr. Whitfield to Heritage Middle School, which is why we advised him of the concern and made a request for the photos to be taken down from Facebook.”
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