Two weeks after Richard Gist, an assistant track coach, posted a photo of himself in blackface to a Facebook conversation thread, the Brown County school board voted to approve his termination on Feb. 7.
Gist had been given a “path” to return to Brown County Schools as a substitute teacher and assistant football coach next school year, explained board President Steve Miller Jr. The week prior, Gist and Superintendent Laura Hammack met to discuss a plan.
The first step was for Gist to resign as assistant track coach this school year in the belief that his presence would be a “distraction.” This would provide a “cooling off” period for the next two steps to be completed.
The second and third steps required Gist to participate in cultural competency training, followed by taking online civility training. Both training courses will also be implemented for other school staff and lay coaches — people who coach while holding a job outside of the education field.
Gist ultimately declined the offer, which resulted in the school board being tasked with approving his termination instead of his resignation, Miller said.
Gist clarified at the meeting that he did not refuse to take cultural training or other classes; he only refused to resign.
“As educators and role models, we are held to a higher standard,” Miller said. “We have a responsibility to make this an opportunity to educate students and the broader community on the issue at hand. That higher standard recognizes that as educators, whether we want to be or not, we are role models for our students; we are role models beyond the classroom door; we are role models in our activities in the classroom and out of the building.”
In a written statement distributed at the meeting, the board said that “the offensive image Mr. Gist posted, as well as the handling of his social media account and the ensuing conversation surrounding the image, showed a distinct lack of discretion and good judgment by a role model. As a school district, it is incumbent upon us to protect that higher standard, because the safety and the future of our students depends on it.”
Heavy rain and flooding made getting to the meeting at Helmsburg Elementary School difficult. The school board allowed comments from members of the public who managed to get there. Nine people stepped up to speak, with the majority speaking in favor of keeping Gist on as an assistant coach. More than 2,000 people had signed an online petition in support of keeping him.
Jason Blankenship has a child in Brown County Schools and another who graduated. He has known Gist for eight years. He said he believed Gist deserved a second chance.
“I think that’s one thing the students and community members can learn from is, OK, a person has made an error; they have acknowledged it and been put through the ringer, but he is a good person. If he takes the steps the school board deems are appropriate, my hope is he will be readmitted to be able to a part of school system, because he is not a threat, I believe, to the children in the school system. It will be a positive if he is able to come back,” Blankenship said.
Gist’s father, Lamar, also spoke in support of his son. “You have a good person here, an educator. I think losing him as an asset is a big mistake,” he said.
In addition to being an assistant coach, Gist was employed as a substitute teacher in Brown County schools through an outside agency, Kelly Educational Staffing. On Saturday, the company reported that Gist was no longer an employee of theirs.
‘True talk’
On Jan. 23, Gist responded to a Facebook post about how white people should not dress in blackface by posting an old photo of himself in blackface as Bob Marley. “What’s wrong with it?” Gist wrote.
Donald Griffin, who is black, wrote that Gist’s photo was offensive. Gist asked what was offensive about it.
“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,” Griffin responded.
Gist changed his profile photo to the one of himself in blackface the same evening.
Griffin said by phone today that he wasn’t trying to argue with Gist online, but to have a discussion. “I didn’t want him to get into trouble,” he said.
“I didn’t think he would actually put it on to see as his profile picture.”
Griffin grew up in Bloomington, where he owns a real estate business. He considers Brown County an extension of his community. “I love Brown County. I love its people. I don’t think people are racist there. I really don’t,” he said.
As a real estate agent, Griffin said he’s come across people who have never had a black person in their home or haven’t ever talked to a black person face to face. “At the end of our conversation or the end of our transaction, we’re friends. We were coming from places of differences, but we found common ground. We found common things to like.
“… If we truly love our community and we love our fellow man, I think we have to engage in true talk. We have to be willing to say ‘You know what? I’m offended by this,’” he said.
“That’s where I was wrong. It’s OK for him to say, ‘Why are you offended by this?’ And I should have been more open and tell him, explain to him why it’s offensive. Maybe this would have gone differently if I had done that.”
Gist apologized at the meeting to “each person in this building who is here” as well as the community. He said he also had reached out to apologize to Griffin first.
“I’ve given my entire adult life to the youth, this community and surrounding communities,” Gist said. “Whether I am a part of this school corporation or not, I am still going to give my life to the youth in this country as well as locally in this county.”
READ MORE IN THE FEB. 13 BROWN COUNTY DEMOCRAT.
BELOW: SCHOOL BOARD’S STATEMENT DISTRIBUTED AT THE MEETING
