Haywood County’s School Board chairman resigned on Tuesday and issued an apology over a alleged racist social media comment that the NAACP criticized.
The controversy started when Allen Currie posted, “Get a rope,” in response to a news report about the arrest of an 18-year-old accused of carrying out a mass shooting in Brownsville that killed one kid and injured multiple others while they were taking pictures before prom.
The Haywood County Branch NAACP called for Currie’s removal from the school board and an apology in response to the remark.
“I am stepping down due to poor judgment,” Allen Currie announced in a statement Tuesday. “This has caused great pain for my school board, my community, as well as my family and me.”
Full statement from Allen Currie:
“After serving Haywood County Schools and our community for 14 years, effective immediately, I am resigning from the school board. I did not intend for the social media post to be hurtful or insensitive. I realize now that it was and I am truly sorry. I certainly did not mean for it to be racist. For that you have my heartfelt apology.
I have spent my entire career trying to make our schools good and safe for our students.
I am stepping down due to poor judgement. This has caused great pain for my school board, my community, as well as my family and me.
At the end of the day the NAACP and I are fighting for the same kids. Our children and Haywood County should not have to worry about being shot at a party, at home, or at a pre-prom photo shoot. Gun violence has got to stop. I want our students to live in a town without fear. The pre-prom mass shooting caused devastation and chaos in our town. So, when I saw that we had apprehended the person responsible I acted out of anger instead of thought. Once I realized how it could be interpreted, I took it down.“
