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I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedoms of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. (attributed)

-James Madison

The Richmond City School Board's Johnson

News from Richmond, Virginia::

Stephen B. Johnson resigned as Richmond School Board chairman Monday night after reports last week that his profile appeared on an explicit dating Web site.

(full story here)

The bare-chested photos have since been removed, but had been posted in the gay section of manhunt.net. Johnson's photo was reportedly not explicit in nature, but the text describing him was reportedly very graphic. Richmond.com and the school board seem to be taking a very tolerant approach to this issue - after all, is a man not free to do what he likes in his private life? He has broken no law, endangered no child, and done absolutely nothing wrong. Deborah Jewell-Sherman, superintendent of city schools, led the school board and meeting audience in giving Johnson a standing ovation last night, and thanked him for his service on the school board, which will continue despite this incident. How can this behavior be bad enough to warrant his resignation as chairman of the school board, but acceptable enough that he should stay on the board in any capacity.

Board member Carol A.O. Wolf, District 3, said Johnson demonstrated true leadership when he decided to voluntarily resign as chairman of the school board.
"He is a good man and a great soul," she said. "He will continue to fight to make things right for the children of Richmond . . . A lesser man would have been undone by this invasion of privacy. He deserves respect for being willing to admit error and to keep working to make our schools better."

Invasion of privacy? Ms. Wolf does not seem to agree with what Doinkicarus and I had to say here. How is it a privacy issue if the man posts pictures of himself on the internet? Remember, these are the people responsible for the education of the children of Richmond - and they don't seem to understand the difference between public and private!

Also, I will keep these comments in mind the next time I see that a teacher is found to be posting images and information on an explicit gay singles website. I am curious to know whether Richmond.com and the school board will show the same level of understanding then. I await the standing ovation that teacher will receive - anything less would be the worst kind of hypocrisy.

I have nothing against Mr. Johnson, and it certainly does not bother me if he is gay, but his decision to post this type of singles ad was so ill-advised as to be worrisome. Would you want someone this foolish holding such power over the schooling of your children? What are those children to make of the example he is setting here? This is a member of their School Board!

Not everyone is taking the example Johnson sets so lightly. Richmond Morning Show host Jimmy Barrett asks, "Is Stephen Johnson right when he says the Times-Dispatch article about him is a cheap shot?" (at Newsradio 1140 AM)

Last night's Richmond School Board meeting was a Stephen Johnson lovefest as employees lined up to defend his actions and accuse the Richmond Times-Dispatch of running a smear job on the embattled school board member. Johnson himself called the article that outed his presence on a pornographic gay dating website "a cheap shot." The impression you get is that it was done strictly for political reasons. That somehow Richmonders do not have a right to know about this "private" part of Stephen Johnson's life. OK, I'll grant you that he wasn't involved in child pornography but this website does cast doubts about his decision making abilities and would be unsavory for any school official to be involved with. Interestingly enough, we did find out from school board member George Braxton that this would not present a job problem for ANY school employee, teachers and principals included....That's a scary thought! The overall opinion expressed by many other Richmond school employees seems to be 'everyone makes mistakes' and 'Mr. Johnson did no wrong.' A liberal urban school agenda? Or are they right? Cheap shot? Or public service? That's our Question of the Day.

84% of respondents say Johnson is wrong, and voters have every right to know what kind of man he is. Normally, I really don't care for talk-show callers or on-line polls, but I think this is in such stark contrast to the opinions expressed by the school board members that it merits some thought. Again, this is the example he set for teachers and students - we all now know this is completely acceptable behavior in Richmond, VA.

At least we are clear on that.

Interesting commentary on this issue at the following sites:
Richmond Magazine Blog tears into the Richmond Times Dispatch for its own hypocrisy in this case.
Once More into the Breach with the same thoughts I have, but more succinctly.

Posted by Wulf on December 6, 2005 at 01:34 PM

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Comments

Is it time to separate school and state, and let parents decide whether this kind of activity is acceptable or not?

Posted by: Libertarian Jason at December 6, 2005 7:12 PM

ahhh, LJ, I see you're still fighting for the privatized education. This is certainly one more example that may be used to support our cause. Methinks there would be fewer such "smear campaigns" in a private sector - after all, the basis of that type of journalism is the wasteful spending government resources (ie Tax revenue). Take away that incentive, and most people won't care enough to make such a story profitable.

But so long as their is a social stigma to being gay, and so long as our tax dollars are used to fund education - this is what we've got to deal with...

Posted by: doinkicarus at December 7, 2005 8:32 AM

Ahh, Doink....Welcome, fellow traveler!

Posted by: Libertarian Jason at December 7, 2005 11:50 AM

I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedoms of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. (attributed)

-James Madison

The Richmond City School Board's Johnson

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