People who showed up at a Blevins School Board meeting in Hempstead County on Monday to protest a white board member who wore blackface had their public comments cut short.
In November, photos surfaced on social media of board member Ted Bonner posing at a Halloween party in blackface, wearing overalls and fake teeth with a sign that read "Blak (sic) lives matter," the Texarkana Gazette reported. He remains on the board and has refused to resign, the Gazette reported.
Civil-rights advocates arrived at the Blevins School District administration building for the first board meeting since the photos surfaced to voice their anger and ask for Bonner's resignation, Rizelle Aaron told Arkansas Online. He is the president of the NAACP Arkansas Conference.
Before the meeting, Superintendent Billy Lee allowed people to gather in the building under the condition that they stop the public discussion five minutes before the meeting began at 7 p.m., the paper reported.
Protesters were told by Lee that they would have time to address the board, Aaron said. Minutes and an agenda from the meeting were not immediately available Tuesday morning.
When Aaron got up to speak, he addressed Bonner and reportedly said, "What you have done affects every single African-American in the United States, not just here in Blevins."
"Resign and let this school district move forward," he continued. "You did this to demean us, to make us feel inferior. A dark face is a joke?"
Several other people addressed the crowd, but before his deadline of 6:55 p.m., Lee cut the meeting short, reportedly saying: "Time for this to end. I'm tired of the bashing."
"I think after Lee heard some of their concerns, he didn't want to hear any more," Aaron said.
"They want to give the appearance that everything is fine in Blevins. And it is not," he added.
Lee was not immediately available for comment Tuesday morning.
In previous news releases, Lee and school board president Justice West described Bonner's behavior as upsetting and distasteful, adding that there is no mechanism to remove him before his re-election, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
Lee eventually walked out of the building during the meeting and spoke with members of several law enforcement agencies, who told him citizens and the media have a right to assemble in public buildings and to attend public school board meetings, the Gazette reported.
On Tuesday, Aaron said he would reach out to Bonner again to convince him to resign. Failing that, Aaron said he and others will show up at every Blevins board meeting going forward to make their opinions known.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.