BATON ROUGE - East Baton Rouge Parish School Board member Connie Bernard is apologizing for a comment she made last week.
Bernard said last week that those offended by the name of Lee High School in Baton Rouge should "learn a little bit more about" Confederate General Robert E. Lee, for whom the school is named after. “I would hope that they would learn a little bit more about General Lee, because General Lee inherited a large plantation and he was tasked with the job of doing something with those people who lived in bondage to that plantation, the slaves, and he freed them,” Bernard said.
According to the Advocate, in a Thursday meeting, Bernard was "strongly criticized" by other board members.
“The comments you made were extremely tone deaf to our collective community, extremely tone deaf to the students of our district, and I would be remiss if I did not stand up and stand against that,” said Board Vice President Tramelle Howard. “I understand where you were coming from in trying to recognize history but it’s just wrong, totally wrong. This man was a murderer, he was a racist and a bigot.”
Board member Dadrius Lanus said, “Under the demands of his late father’s will, which demanded he free all slaves after five years, Lee tried multiple times to resist and keep the slaves under his control, yet his name hangs over our school.”
Gary Chambers, publisher of The Rouge Collection, voiced his thoughts at the Thursday meeting telling Bernard that she should resign.“You should walk out of here and resign and never come back, because you are the example of racism in this community. You are horrible,” said Chambers.
A video of Chambers speaking on racism and Bernard has gone viral and sparked up a lot of conversations, even causing LeBron James and TMZ to share the video. Before Chambers took the stage he posted a picture of Bernard allegedly shopping online while the board was talking about racism.
Bernard said in a written statement issued on Friday:
My comments last week about the naming of Lee High School were insensitive, have caused pain for others, and have led people to believe I am an enemy of people of color, and I am deeply sorry. I condemn racial injustice in any form. I promise to be part of the solution and to listen to the concerns of all members of our community. I stand with you, in love and respect.
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June 21, 2020 at 06:10AM
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EBR School Board member Connie Bernard apologizes for comments after being told she should resign - WBRZ
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