A Brown County man who received statewide attention after he posted a photo of himself in blackface is now the subject of a petition on Change.org.
Brown County High School student Nicholas Huls created the petition four days ago in support of Richard Gist, who is facing termination as a coach for Brown County Schools. Huls’ goal was to gather about 750 signatures; as of Tuesday at 5 p.m., the petition had 1,951.
Gist’s story hit the news Jan. 25 after Gist changed his Facebook profile picture to a photo of himself dressed in blackface. At least two news outlets and Brown County Schools Superintendent Laura Hammack were made aware of the photo. Hammack then spoke with Fox 59.
Hammack is recommending Gist’s termination as the high school’s assistant track coach, she told The Democrat today.
Gist also served as the assistant football coach last fall, but extra-curricular positions are renewed annually, and that season has passed. Recommendations for next year’s football coaching staff will be made this summer, she said.
Gist also was appointed to serve on the Brown County Parks and Recreation Board by the Brown County Council in 2017. He wrote in his letter of interest to the council that he had volunteered to coach multiple sports in parks and recreation.
On Monday, the schools administration office announced a special, closed meeting of the Brown County Schools Board of Trustees for Jan. 31 to discuss “information concerning an individual’s alleged misconduct.” The individual they are discussing was not identified.
The school board approves staff changes. Their next meeting is Feb. 7; an agenda has not yet been released.
Hammack said this afternoon that she was working on a formal statement about this situation; it was not yet ready for publication tonight.
Huls was a football player last fall when Gist was assistant coach.
“Coach Richard Gist is a fun, hardworking and dedicated member of our coaching and teaching staff at BCHS,” Huls’ petition reads.
“He is an upstanding member of the community and is caring to all people. He does not deserve the treatment he is receiving for showing his support in someone he is inspired by. Please sign this petition in hope of keeping an amazing person and a great coach on our team.”
How it happened
On Jan. 23, Gist responded to a Facebook post on another person’s page about how white people should not dress in blackface. In that conversation thread, he posted a photo of himself dressed in blackface as Bob Marley.
“What’s wrong with it?” Gist wrote in the comments.
A commenter who identified himself as a black man wrote back that Gist’s photo was offensive. Gist responded by asking what was offensive about the photo.
“If you think that it’s okay then why don’t you use it as your profile picture for a while? I’m sure you will get the answer to the question you seek. It is racist and it is offensive to most people of African origin,” the man responded.
Gist posted his first comment on Jan. 23 at 9:50 p.m., according to Facebook. A screenshot of Gist updating his profile picture to the photo of himself in blackface was time-stamped at 10:16 p.m. the same evening.
Vauhxx Booker is an activist from Bloomington. He is Facebook friends with the person whose status Gist commented on. Another friend of his responded to Gist’s photo, saying it was offensive.
“(My friend) was being an upstanding member of the community to take the time out of his day to really express how hurtful blackface is and how it’s inappropriate,” Booker said over the phone today.
“I saw Mr. Gist remain unmoved and insensitive. He doubled down and seemed to post this image to his profile out of sheer spite.”
Booker said he’s heard comments that people believe that someone “snooped” through Gist’s Facebook page, then found the photo and posted it. “I want to make sure we dispel that rumor,” he said.
When Booker saw that Gist had changed his profile picture to the blackface photo, he took a screenshot of it and sent it to Hammack.
“The reason why I spoke to Dr. Hammack was because I wanted to stop it being a volatile issue in the community. I didn’t think that was going to be good for the student body or for the community at large,” Booker said.
Hammack went to see the photo for herself before finding the comment thread, Booker said.
“She called me back several times throughout the day to let me know she was investigating the matter,” Booker said. “In the last email she sent me, she had asked for the screenshot of the image because he had taken the profile (picture) down.”
Gist sent a lengthy statement to The Democrat this evening.
“I’ve done a lot of reflecting, processing, and trying to understand things,” it begins.
“First and for most I want to let everyone who knows me and those who do not know me how truly sorry I am that my quick reaction to a situation has caused so much pain and has hurt so many. To understand the situation is to understand me.”
He told Fox 59 last week that he had dressed up as Marley for Halloween around 2007 or 2008, that he admires the late musician, and that he dressed up like him out of respect. He said he did not intend to offend anybody or to insinuate that another race is superior to others.
“I’ve been working with Richard for years,” wrote Don Pedigo on the Change.org petition. “In no way shape or form have I ever witnessed anything but loving and good intentions for all mankind in my time knowing him.”
“Richard is an awesome person and should not be judged for a picture on social media. I’ve known him for 20 plus years and he’s always been respectful and courteous. Hope this signature helps,” wrote Marcella Eastham.
Why is it offensive?
“He (Marley) wrote songs like, ‘Get up, stand up.’ He was a champion for the oppressed. To say that you could wear blackface to pay tribute to him is a slap into the face of everything he stood for,” Booker said.
Booker said he was “shocked” by how many people have no idea what blackface is.
“Blackface is offensive because my skin is not a costume to be taken off at your pleasure. It brings with it a real set of issues and disadvantages that I’m forced to do deal with, so putting on blackface doesn’t honor me and it’s just a mockery,” he said.
“One of the things that I’ve seen asked most often is why can black people dress up as white people and it’s not white face?” Booker said.
“… This is a system that has been used over centuries to systemically disadvantage black folks and justifiable oppression is why there isn’t a ‘white face,’ because it hasn’t been done to white people.”
Booker said he hopes a wider conversation can grow out of this situation.
“I hope we can make this a fruitful process, and the community can take the time to (be) introspective and grow from this exchange,” he said.
Gist said tonight that that’s what he’s now seeking to do.
“I will continue to learn and grow as I further my education, which includes a cultural awareness class,” he wrote. “There’s an opportunity to teach a large body of students about cultural awareness and understanding different viewpoints.
“I’ve dedicated my life to helping this community, and to teaching full-time in the future. My fate in this county lies with the school board. It’s not in my hands any longer. I pray that if they want a culture of learning that they use my experience to teach the students. Humbly, I asked to remain a part of that opportunity.”
