On Friday, March 5, 2021, Micky Ogburn, Chair of the Henrico County School Board, publicly shared a Facebook post depicting a literary character, Dr. Seuss’ Grinch, extending a middle finger. The picture was accompanied by text, written in the style of Dr. Seuss, rejecting concerns that some of his books contain racist depictions of Black and Asian people. The post included the statement, "go to hell Snowflakes, leave Dr. Seuss alone." Ms. Ogburn added her own endorsement when sharing the derogatory text and picture: ”I love this and Dr. Seuss books."

Once Ms. Ogburn began to receive criticism from HCPS parents and her post was shared on social media by local journalists, she deleted it and posted a statement claiming she didn't see the picture or read the full text before adding her endorsement of the content and posting it. She apologized to anyone who was offended, but did not address the problematic nature of the content and its dismissal of diverse viewpoints in the public school community. Four days later, neither the Henrico County School Board or HCPS Administration have publicly commented on the incident.

We call on Ms. Ogburn to publicly acknowledge the harm caused by her endorsement of the rejection of concerns raised by County parents, teachers, and students regarding racist depictions of Black and Asian people in certain books by Dr. Seuss. The HCPS Student Code of Conduct states that “students must understand that content published online is public, visible, and representative of the author.” It goes on to state that it is expected that all HCPS employees will be “polite and courteous to students, parents and guardians, serving as role models for students.” This is an opportunity for Ms. Ogburn, the School Board, and HCPS leadership to model the standards of accountability set in the Code of Conduct.

We also call on the HCPS Office of Equity, Diversity, and Opportunity to offer anti-racism and social media training to Ms. Ogburn and make it available to other board members and HCPS leaders. This is an opportunity for the EDO Office to support its stated aim to “foster diversity and opportunity by understanding, identifying and helping eliminate biases, barriers and harmful power dynamics.”

Finally, we call on Ms. Ogburn to step down as Chair of the Henrico County School Board. Five years ago, when Ms. Ogburn also served as Chair, she issued an apology on behalf of the School Board to parents who complained about a video exploring racial inequities (“Structural Discrimination: The Unequal Opportunity Race”) that was shown at Glen Allen High School. Henrico became the only county in the country to achieve the notoriety of banning the video because it made white people uncomfortable. It is clear that the HCPS community needs to engage in courageous conversations about diversity and inclusion and would be better served by School Board leaders who are prepared to have those conversations publicly. Our students deserve that.