The principal of a high school in Texas, the United States, James Whitfield has been relieved of his job by the board of the school after being accused for pushing critical race theory.
Whitfield, a doctorate degree holder and first black principal of Colleyville Heritage High School Principal was asked to leave according to Texas Tribune on Tuesday.
A newly elected board member of the school, Tammy Nakamura, disclosed this in a video posted on Facebook during a Republican National Committee-sponsored school board panel in June that Whitfield was placed on paid leave.
Nakamura said the school board accused him of anti-racist activism last month.
On July 26, at a Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District (GCISD) school board meeting, Stetson Clark, a former school board candidate, accused Whitfield on several cases of teaching critical race theory.
“He is encouraging the disruption and destruction of our district,” Clark told the crowd.
Following Clark’s accusation, according to Texas Tribune, someone from the audience shouted, “How about you fire him?”
The report said Whitfield’s problem began when he wrote a letter to the school community following George Floyd’s death declaring that universal discrimination is “alive and well” and that as a community, they needed to achieve “conciliation for our nation.”
“Education is the key to stomping out ignorance, hate and systemic racism. It’s a necessary conduit to get ‘liberty and justice for all,’” Whitfield wrote.
Then, Whitfield recalled the reviews being all positive and leaving him with a sense of agreement in the community. But almost two years later, his letter would paint him a disruptor in the district.
During the board meeting, Whitfield defended himself and spoke before board members and parents asking for answers as to why the board decided his fate behind closed doors.
The 43-year-old said he felt his peers’ attitudes had changed toward him after being accused of teaching disruptive concepts.
“The attacks from people outside is one thing, but the outright silence and direct actions taken toward me by the GCISD (Grapevine Colleyville Independent School District) leadership team are absolutely heartbreaking,” Whitfield said.
A 28-year resident of GCISD named Beverley Mavis said she perceived this two-month “witch hunt” trial on Whitfield as her community’s lowest point.
“That hatred, divisiveness and bigotry have no place in GCISD. Choose to support decency, diversity, inclusiveness and reinstate Dr. Whitfield,” Mavis said.
In August 2021, Whitfield resigned and was put on two-year administrative leave.
Whitfield has been viewed as a “total activist” by his supporters like Nakamura, who claimed that teachers like him are taking down the school’s broken system.
“They have to be stopped now, we cannot have teachers such as these in our schools because they’re just poison, and they’re taking our schools down,” Nakamura said.
In February the Board of Trustees approved the recruitment of Julia Stephen as the Colleyville Heritage High School Principal.
According to Insider, census data shows that Colleyville’s population is a majority-white city, with only 1% of Black or African American residents with a median household income of $150,000.
