School board president’s response to hate post was wrong, but her critics are worse | Opinion
LaTonya Williams is president of the St. Joseph School District Board of Education. A critic wrote a vile, disrespectful comment about Williams’ 15-year-old daughter in a social media post and Williams lost it. She used the f-word. As an elected official, everything Williams does publicly or privately reflects on the district.
She should apologize.
As a parent, I can understand her furor after someone disrespected her daughter. She wrote: “If I weren’t such a professional, I’d seriously tell you to go f*** yourself. Repeatedly. Probably at least 26 times in a handful of minutes.”
I deleted the expletive from her reply just now, not Williams. She was just getting started.
“The fact that you spoke of anyone in my family in such a manner makes me hope and pray that your miserable soul chokes on my big d*** energy,” she wrote. “Disrespectfully, go f*** your mom and your dog.”
In a recent phone interview, Williams said her daughter is a member of the LGBTQ commmunity. The comment about her child — posted Aug. 16 on a public Facebook page critical of conservative-leaning nonprofit Herzog Foundation — was despicable.
The person responsible didn’t even bother to spell Williams’ first name correctly.
“Latanya should take the keurigs and start boujee brews by Latanya LLC.” the poster in question misspelled. “She should be able to afford the gender affirming care then for her family.”
Williams contends the person behind the comment is using a fake profile. I couldn’t independently authenticate the poster’s identity so I will not use the screen name here.
Nevertheless, Williams’ reply was flat out wrong.
“Some people are more upset at what I wrote than at what was said,” she said. “If anyone was offended by what I wrote, I will personally apologize to them only if they ask me how my daughter is doing.”
This column is not meant as an attack on Williams. She had a good reason to reply the way she did. Someone on the internet attacked her teenage child. Williams had every right to defend her daughter or any other student that attends St. Joseph schools. I just wish she hadn’t given haters and detractors fodder to use against her as they collectively wage a culture war on the district’s minority and non-conforming students.
Jan. 6 insurrectionist targets school board
In recent months, the St. Joseph school board has been embroiled in more controversy than one district should have to deal with. There have been book challenges, accusations of Sunshine Law violations and other infractions against the school board, and a relentless attack on the board’s more tolerant members, according to Williams.
One of her loudest critics is Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrectionist Kimberly Dragoo, a former school board candidate who placed eighth out of 10 candidates in April’s election. By contrast, Williams, an incumbent, was the top vote-getter in this past spring’s school board race.
That same month, Dragoo and her husband Steven were sentenced to three years probation and two weeks of intermittent confinement, and also fined $5,000 fine for their involvement on Jan. 6.
By the way, on Dragoo’s personal Facebook page are copies of letters she received from the offices of Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, Secretary of State John Ashcroft and the Missouri Ethics Commission acknowledging separate complaints she filed against the school district.
In July, Bailey announced an investigation into the district that Williams estimated will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to comply with. Imagine that. An insurrectionist turned potential whistleblower. How rich.
Dragoo thinks Williams should step down, saying, “She should resign.”
I don’t think so. But Williams using profanity to make a point isn’t right. I understand her reaction. Anonymous online trolls taking personal shots at my family would set me off, too. When it comes to my children, all bets are off.
Williams said she doesn’t mind being criticized for her policy positions and decisions that help protect marginalized students in St. Joseph schools.
But “don’t come for my kids,” she said. On this point, I agree. In a perfect world, Williams would have ignored the online hate thrown her way and not replied.
No matter the situation, an elected official using inappropriate language on a public platform is not a good look.
