According to Hooks Superintendent Ronnie Thompson “Mr. Harris has resigned his place on the Hooks ISD board. An official statement will be release sometime tomorrow from his spokesperson.”
Hooks ISD School Board Member Chris Harris has apologized for posting an image of a member of the Ku Klux Klan with the caption “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” to his Facebook page.
KTAL’s Ty Wilson first reported on this story Monday evening. That news report has since been picked up by online news sites across the country and spread via social media. A search of twitter shows tweets mentioning the post are being posted at a rate of one a minute.
Comedian D.L. Hughley recently shared the story to his one million plus Facebook fans. A twitter page called Barracks O’Bama (@P0TUS) shared the story with their 67,000 followers.
Rawstory.com has had almost 350,000 Facebook likes for their post of the story.
The school board is scheduled to meet Dec. 15, and members will likely vote on whether Harris should be removed if he has not resigned by then.
Official Statement by Chris Harris
Hooks, Texas – On the night of November 24, 2014 a grand jury’s decision to not indict police officer Darren Wilson was nationally televised. Shortly after the grand jury’s decision was made public, violence erupted in the city of Ferguson, Missouri. The announcement of the grand jury’s decision to not indict, and the violence that ensued, were trending topics on Social media. As I scrolled through the timeline of my personal Facebook account, I noticed the status update of a Facebook friend, which read: “Officer Wilson not indicted”.
I clicked the like button; acknowledging that I respect the judicial process and support the grand jury’s decision, which was based solely on facts and evidence presented in the case. I also went a step further by posting a photo that demonstrated my solidarity in support of Ferguson Law Enforcement as well as my support for Officer Darren Wilson.
My public support for our legal system and the outcome that it yielded in the case of the unfortunate shooting death of Michael Brown, was misinterpreted by others on Facebook as an intolerant and racially motivated position.
I felt that my character was being misjudged by complete strangers, and I responded emotionally rather than intelligently. I am deeply remorseful for my decision to denounce the serious allegation of being a racist, with irony and sarcasm. My satirical response was inappropriate, distasteful, and highly offensive. Those offensive posts have been removed from Facebook, and my sincere apology has been extended to those who my comments may have hurt or offended. Those venomous statements do not represent my personal views and do not reflect my values in any way, or on any level.
My emotions got the best of me, and as a result, I acted out of character, for which I am truly sorry.
I fully own my mistake and am wholly committed to doing whatever it takes to bring calm to the unrest that I have caused, and I am devoted to reconciling the divide that I have created among my friends and within the community. In the coming days I will be speaking with media outlets, organizing events within the community, and surrounding myself with solution-minded members of the community who can help create a safe environment conducive to my restoration, and moving this community toward healing.
I have appointed Leroy Dodd to act as my spokesperson during my time of repentance, reflection and regroup. All media inquiries can be directed to Mr. Dodd by phone or by email.
Thank you,
Chris Harris
