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Jannette Pippin|The Daily News

The votes have not yet been certified in Onslow County but efforts have already begun by community members hoping to stop a controversial candidate newly elected to the Board of Education from serving on the board.

Eric Whitfield, who faced allegations of racism early in his campaign and was denounced by the Onslow County GOP, was elected on Nov. 3 in a Republican sweep of the four open seats that upset three long-time members of the board who chose to run as unaffiliated candidates in the partisan race.

As news of the Election Night results spread Wednesday, two efforts quickly emerged on social media by residents concerned about Whitfield sittingon the school board.

While Whitfield would have to resign his newly elected seat, since there is no recall function, those concerned say action is needed.

An online petition has been started on ipetitions.com entitled Recall/Remove Eric Whitfield for Board of Education.

Eric Whitfield does not represent the students, staff, stakeholders, or citizens of Onslow County and should not represent a school district in which he has absolutely no invested interests. His beliefs and views are racially charged and individualistically motivated. We want him out! the petition states.

Nefatina Everhart, an Onslow County educator and parent with children in Onslow County Schools, created the petition due to concerns within the community, which she said have come from both sides of the political spectrum.

There are concerns from citizens on both sides, Democrat and Republican. It is not a partisan effort, Everhart said. Many people feel the Board of Education should be nonpartisan. That is why we are here where we are; education has become partisan.

Everhart plans to present the petition to the Board of Education at the Nov. 10 meeting.

Everhart said Whitfield has made highly publicized comments on social media that she said are not only racially charged but show a lack of interest in serving on the school board or acting in the interest of the students.

His main objective is to put taxpayers in front of students, Everhart said.

Serving the taxpayers is a goal he has not denied.

I have never once said that I represent the children. Not one single child voted for me. I have chosen to give representation to other stakeholders that are never represented on the School Board. I represent the taxpayers. There are already plenty of board members to look out for the children, Whitfield said in comments responding to questions from The Daily News.

Whitfield was elected to the school board along with Republican incumbent Ken Reddic and Republican newcomers Melissa Oakley and Joseph Speranza.

After winning the partys nomination in March, Whitfield was fired from his job at Jacksonville Christian Academy and received backlash for a comment posted on Facebook that used the term ignorant darkies in reference to Black people.

Whitfield has called the petition silly and said his comments are protected by the First Amendment.

The petition is silly. Free speech is a real thing. The first amendment really does exist. The signers of the petition are being dishonest. They know people cannot be punished in our country for the things that they say. I'm not getting removed from office. They have no legal grounds at all. There really is a first amendment, he stated.

Whitfield said he only plans to resign if the Onslow County Board of Commissioners lowers the countys property tax rate, which is his goal.

My platform was to improve race relations and reduce the property tax rate by 3.5 cents. If Robin Knapp and the Board of Commissioners will reduce the property tax rate by 3.5 cents in June 2021 then I will resign at that time, he wrote in his statement . I don't expect that to happen but it is a solution that would be mutually beneficial to everyone involved. The GOP needs to work with Robin Knapp to pursue that avenue.

Al Burgess, a former president of the local NAACP chapter, has been the target of comments by Whitfield and said he is disappointed by Whitfields election to the board but not necessarily surprised with an 18,000 disparity in Onslow County between Republican and Democratic Party voters.

Burgess has been behind efforts to have the Confederate monument relocated from in front of the Onslow County Courthouse that have to-date seen resistance, with only one county commissioner on the all-Republican Board of Commissioners publicly supporting the move, which would require the boards support.

That monument was a referendum within itself on whether or not racism or a symbol of racism in Onslow County is still possible, Burgess said.

Kristin Greer, a parent with concerns about Whitfield serving on the Board of Education because of the comments hes made on social media, started a Recall Eric Whitfield page on Facebook to organize others who may have concerns.

Greer said they are still researching to see if there are any official steps that can be taken but regardless she and Everhart agree that it is important to show the communitys concerns.

We want to show the board members how we feel; we want to have a voice, Everhart said.

Reporter Jannette Pippin can be reached at 910-382-2557 or Jannette.Pippin@JDNews.com.

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Petition started to protest newly elected Whitfield service on Onslow school board - Jacksonville Daily News