Lewis Palmer School District 38 Board President Matthew Clawson posted a picture on his public Facebook account of his children (who just graduated high school this week) giving the Nazi Salute in Nazi mustaches, which Mr. Matthew Clawson in his apology describes as “Charlie Chaplin and Groucho Brothers” style mustaches. He also describes this as “Children’s Play”, when this is an act that was done by his adult children. 

As a parent, Matthew Clawson failed to teach his children the ramifications of hate speech, hate symbolism, and promoting white supremacy. How can Matthew Clawson, the School Board President, be trusted running our district. 

In the apology issued, Mr. Matthew Clawson lied, stating that the post was only up for an hour before taken down. The post was up for 12 hours, which is proven by screenshots gathered. He did not make a public statement for more than 24 hours after it was posted. Prior to the public statement being made on Facebook, comments on the School Board’s Facebook about this salute of white supremacy were getting deleted intentionally.

In midst of everything going on, especially with the Black Lives Matter revolution becoming so strong, this is incredibly insensitive and tone deaf. At best, this is ignorance. At worst this is blatant promotion of white supremacy. Even with the best case scenario, Matthew Clawson needs to resign and refocus what he teaches his children and spreads into the community. 

Palmer Ridge, one of the two high schools in Lewis Palmer School District 38, has a diversity score of 3%. This district is very white, and actions like this need to be taken seriously. If School Board President Matthew Clawson really cares about the rights to freedom for all, he needs to resign. This action should not be taken lightly in this district anymore. He needs to set an example to the parents and students of this district by taking responsibility for his actions. LPSD 38 needs to set an example. Matthew Clawson needs to resign.