Wow! Was a Picture of a Texas Principal Kissing His Wife Really Offensive?

A high school principal here in Texas was asked to remove a photo of him and his wife because the district finds the picture inappropriate.

James Whitfield wrote on Facebook that back in 2019,  Grapevine-Colleyville ISD asked him to remove a picture of he and his wife but couldn’t tell him why.

In the lengthy Facebook post, Whitfield described a phone call he received from a district administrator who told him he'd better check his email to see a complaint that had been received. The complaint turned out to be from someone who'd seen a photo of Whitfield and his wife kissing. The photo had been taken by a professional photographer on a beach during the couple's vacation, and did not display any nudity or otherwise graphic content.

Whitfield also wrote about a presentation that had been put together by colleagues of his at the school district not long after he was named principal that would be used as a teaching tool for employees during a professional learning day. He also believes he's drawn the ire of some parents for an email he sent to coworkers after the death of George Floyd thanking them for their work in the classroom during the early days of the pandemic and giving his thoughts on Floyd's death.

Whitfield believes that his sharing his perspective as a Black man in the education field has been used to vilify him and his colleagues, essentially turning him into a "critical race theory bogeyman".

Monday, the school district issued the following statement:

"When a social media concern is brought to the attention of the district, we have a responsibility to review it. Some of the photos the district received contained poses that are questionable for an educator, especially a principal or administrator. It had absolutely nothing to do with race. As a new campus principal, we wanted to provide a smooth transition for Dr. Whitfield to Heritage Middle School, which is why we advised him of the concern and made a request for the photos to be taken down from Facebook."

Whitfield's wife Carrie thinks the uproar is because a black man with a tattoo on his arm as principal of the district is inappropriate, but he feels the issue was because he’s married to a white woman.

He’s also being accused of teaching critical race theory and promoting a belief that white people are inherently racist.

In my opinion, if what happened in the past throughout slavery and the civil rights era shows that the state's past is racist, then that’s what it is.

What should also be taught is the strides that have been made to change the country’s history in the past, but it does not change the state and this country's racist past.

Sunny Ruffalo, a parent who has children at Colleyville Heritage High School, told NBC-DFW:

"I think it's sweet. He's a happily married man. It's he and his beautiful wife, they have a beautiful family, I chalk it up to educators are held to a different standard, unfortunately. I think it's silly, I can't see why a husband and wife can't have a picture of them in a sweet moment."

Reportedly Whitfield has hundreds of signatures on a petition of support.

Personally, I think there's more to this than just this photo of a principal and HIS WIFE - not a picture of him and a co-worker, not him with an underage student, but simply a man and his wife.

What do you think?