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A Terrebonne Parish School Board member has stirred the ire of a local civil rights organization, whose leaders have asked for a meeting with her in regard to a post on her personal Facebook page they say is offensive, and not appropriate for someone in that position to display.
District 9 representative Vicki Bonvillain’s Facebook page contains a meme she shared July 14 that begins with the words “If this symbol represents racism in America …” above a depiction of the rebel flag. Below the flag the words “Then so do these” appear, and below them logos of various organizations including the NAACP, the United Negro College Fund, the Democratic Party and others.
The executive board of the Terrebonne Parish Branch of the NAACP met Thursday night and authorized its president, Jerome Boykin, to contact Bonvillain by letter.
A letter signed by Boykin was received by the Terrebonne Parish School District Monday morning references the meme and another posted July 10 that the organization found offensive.
“The images that were posted on your Facebook page were very disturbing to me and the community,” the letter states, requesting a meeting with Bonvillain to discuss the matter.
Although Boykin has discussed the posting with some school officials, no formal complaint has been made to the district.
The school board member herself did not comment on the meme, but had merely re-posted it from a friend’s page.
Bonvillain has vehemently refused to discuss the matter. She failed to return calls after messages were left Monday on her cell phone and when she was reached by phone at the store where she works, Roland’s Mini-Mart in Klondyke.
When a reporter visited the store Tuesday, Bonvillain refused to speak.
“You are all my witnesses here, that I said no comment,” she called out to customers and other employees. Asked whether, as an elected official, she felt it was incumbent upon her to address the question, she again refused comment. Bonvillain also refused to comment on whether she would respond to Boykin himself.
The rebel flag meme is not the only Facebook post on Bonvillain’s page that ventures into controversy.
On July 14, she shared a television news story about calls for a Confederate monument to be removed in Georgia. She made a personal comment on the matter.
“Our “elected officials” want to accommodate our HISTORY to PLEASE some, WELL shouldn’t ALL “MLK” BLVDs be removed nationwide?” the post reads, inclusive of capitalize words.
School Board President Roosevelt Thomas said Monday that he had not yet seen the post but after it was described he suggested that such musings would best be avoided by school board members.
“We are elected officials,” Thomas said. “We have a standard that we have to live by with our speech, and we have to be speechless about things sometimes. I would have to see what happened, see what she posted. Some stuff we cannot engage in regardless of how we feel, it is just not the right thing.”
Pronouncements concerning the rebel flag, described as a symbol of southern pride or heritage by some people – mostly whites – and as a symbol of hate by others – mostly blacks – stirred recent controversy following the massacre of nine church-goers in Charleston, S.C., last month. The alleged shooter, Dylann Roof, has been described as a fledgling white supremacist who posed with rebel flags. Incorporated as a symbol of community by country music acts and ubiquitous at NASCAR races and football games at some southern university arenas, the battle flag is regarded by blacks and many whites as something far more sinister.
Bonvillain’s Facebook page does not appear to contain overtly racist or offensive symbols or messages. On it she has honored black conservatives and mostly has displayed photos of family and friends. There are religious references as well.
A Republican, she was elected last year in a run-off against incumbent Hayes Badeaux, with no prior political experience. Friends and supporters say that as a proud Native American she is sensitive to issues concerning race and exclusion, and would never wish to intentionally offend. She has also drawn fire for hard-core opposition to the controversial Common Core curriculum, and is regarded by some school board members as difficult to work with. Her dealings with local news media outlets have at times been terse.
A history of perception that she has been misquoted or had her words taken out of context in the past, said one supporter, makes her refusal to speak about the Facebook posting understandable.
The School Board has no policy regarding social media protocols for its members.
Other board members and district employees declined discussion on the matter Monday for the most part.
Veteran board member Roger Dale DeHart did go so far as to say that issues such as the one percolating around Bonvillain are among the reasons he doesn’t use social networking, Facebook in particular.
“Elected officials have to watch what they do and what they say and they need to be held accountable,” DeHart said. “I don’t want to leave question marks in the minds of anybody. Social networking does more harm than good. I can’t control what another board member does but I can control what I do.”
