03/08/17 — Tempest: Now NAACP wants city manager's head

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Tempest: Now NAACP wants city manager's head

The NAACP is still incensed over the posting of Donald Trump's hair on a photo of Goldsboro Police Chief Mike West on West's Facebook page and a statement below the photo echoing Trump's campaign call with "Make the GPD great again."

NAACP leaders call the posting racist. It is not. That charge is ridiculous.

Now, after failing to get West fired, the organization is calling for the resignation of City Manager Scott Stevens for not doing enough to punish West.

Stevens, to his credit, has refused to discipline West. We agree with Stevens' assessment and fully support his position.

The only people who consider the posting to be racist are racist themselves in their thinking. They are looking for an excuse to take umbrage at any perceived slight.

This is not even an issue. It doesn't rise to that level. It is a misguided, overzealous attempt to create a racial motivation for a political act. When it was discovered that the posting offended some black people it was removed immediately. West has apologized over and over. The matter should have ended there.

Published in Editorials on March 8, 2017 9:31 AM