School Board Trustee Facing Backlash After Posting Offensive Content

ODESSA, TX — An Odessa school board member is facing backlash after posting what many are calling offensive material on Facebook. As a result of the backlash, a petition has been started to remove Doyle Woodall from his position. 

The original post that caused the initial backlash was posted on May 17th and featured an image of a noose, that read “If we want to make America great again, we will have to make evil people fear punishment again.”

According to CBS7, Woodall was not aware his Facebook profile was public and that anyone could see the posts he shared. In response to the initial backlash, Woodall stated he didn’t see why people were upset.

“It only symbolizes crime and punishment to me. That’s my definition of a noose. It has nothing else to do with anything else. I am all behind these protests that black lives matter. I’m behind them 100%.”

In his interview with The Odessa American Woodall last Friday, Woodall tried to explain what a noose meant to him.

“My daddy used to take me to westerns when I was little. Every time a new John Wayne movie came out we would go to the Scott Theater or the Ector Theater and we would watch westerns. That was justice back in the 1800s and that’s a part of my life that I remember and cherish. It was quality time I spent with my daddy. Six shooters, holsters, cowboy hats all that stuff remind me of my dad.”

“To me, a noose is a pleasant thought. There’s nothing vile or disgusting. It’s a form of justice. It could have been a gas chamber, electric chair, or a firing squad anything else under there. No thought ever crossed my mind that someone would be offended by that. It never occurred to me because I don’t think that way. I don’t mind if people are offended by what I believe because this is America. They’ve got a right to be offended, but I’m not going to cow down to those politically correct people that want to hijack everything.”

But the image featuring the noose was not the only post shared by Woodall that raised eyebrows. 

He also shared images that showed Nazi officers with the words “It’s not murder" and “Jews aren’t actually people." 

A second image showed a pregnant woman and another woman with “It’s not murder” on top and “Babies aren’t actually people” on the bottom.

When asked about this image Woodall gave the following explanation.

“What that post meant to me is you can’t kill anyone because of their religion, or their color, or what they believe. It is disgusting to me, the same way killing babies is disgusting to me. That was a comment that had nothing to do with degrading or saying anything negative about ... Jewish people. How can anyone think that any living, breathing human being can be exterminated? That is wrong on every level.”

"Maybe that’s what’s wrong with some of my posts is people are seeing it and concluding what I meant by it. The extermination of the Jewish people is revolting and disgusting to me as abortion is today. That should have never happened, and I think there is a special place in hell for anyone that murdered a person because they were Jewish.”

And a third showed a group of Muslim individuals in prayer and with the following text “Spill a few gallons of bacon grease on that street and it would clear out fast,” followed by three American flags.

Woodall told The Odessa American that he does not believe Islam is a religion. 

“I believe it is a geopolitical hate group, just like the skinheads and the white supremacists are. No religion ... cuts off people’s heads for being gay or kills their wives because they weren’t obedient to their husband. ...”

Woodall also stated that just because he is an elected official he doesn’t have a “responsibility to show restraint on social media.” To him, a racist person is someone who has harmed or damaged a person with a different skin color.

“I have never (anything) but lift up people. My opinions are my opinions, but I have never brought harm or damage to anyone. I have helped people of every color since I’ve been on the school board to achieve higher positions within the school district because I felt like they worked hard and they deserved a shot at something that they desired to have. I’ll help anybody do anything. These opinions are my opinions. I’m telling you what I think is wrong with America.”

Last Friday Woodall told The Odessa American he spoke with the board President Donna Smith, Vice President Delma Abalos, Secretary Tammy Hawkins, and trustee Carol Gregg. 

According to Woodall, “basically they said we know you; we know what you think; we know you can be a little bit out there, but don’t worry about it.”

Smith told The Odessa American that she believes “ people are complicated and no one is ever just one thing.”

“I’ve worked with Doyle for years now and I have never seen in the board room any indication of anybody except the person who’s making decisions that benefit the students and teachers. The person I know. He and I agree on most issues that touch on students and teachers,” said President Donna Smith. 

“I’m not in love with some of those postings,” Smith said. “... It’s just so hard. People are not just one thing. These kinds of controversies they make it difficult for us to do the work that we need to do and so I regret that deeply ... I like Doyle. I respect him as a board member. There are lot of things he believes that I don’t believe. There are a lot of things that we disagree on and I think that’s just the way our world is.”

“Honestly, I cannot square the social media posts with the person I know. ... I can’t reconcile the two. If I can only have one, I would rather have actions. And his actions in my context in the realm of the board, they’ve always been really positive and he’s always made, usually, most of the time, made decisions that I can defend on the board,” said Smith.

The day after the interview was published, Superintendent Scott Muri and School Board President Donna Smith issued a joint statement in which they called the posts “offensive and demeaning.” 

Part of the statement said the following: "We understand his perspective, and his right to express his opinions through his personal platforms. But we cannot accept messages that offend or marginalize members of our community or district from the work we do to educate the community's children."

The message from Smith seemed to conflict with the comments she made the day before to The Odessa American.

ECISD employees also called for Woodall’s resignation.

“A noose has long been a symbol of racial prejudice and hatred in our country, dating back to the years when many innocent people were lynched strictly because of the color of their skin. To this day, it is a symbol that people of color loathe, and so should every fair-minded American.

“Mr. Woodall has a history of racist and intolerant Facebook posts.
We demand that Doyle Woodall resign from his position of trustee on the school board and urge Ector County ISD families to join us in signing the petition, linked below, urging his resignation or removal from office.”

Days after being rebuked by the community, Woodall took a different approach and apologized for his Facebook posts in an email shared with local media. This is the full email.

"I am truly sorry for my offensive Facebook posts. I am committed to earning back your trust. I have blinders. There are things I don’t see and understand because of my culture and personal experiences. For years I have prayed daily for God to remove my blinders.

"Last Friday, I was being interviewed by Ruth Campbell, a reporter from the Odessa American, and I was still angry at what I saw as a small group of people trying to interfere with my constitutional right to free speech. Near the end of our interview, Ruth asked me if I knew she is Jewish, and I said, no. She told me what one of my posts meant to her as a Jewish woman and I felt I had been kicked in the stomach. It was the opposite of my intent for the post. I had seen it only from my perspective. A blinder came off.

"On Saturday, I visited with A.J. Crabill, the former Deputy Commissioner for education in State of Texas. We have known each other for a couple of years. We have worked side-by-side for multiple hours on several occasions. I have a lot of respect and admiration for Mr. Crabill. He is a Black man, and I asked him what that post meant to him and when he told me what it meant to him as a Black man, again, it was like another kick in the stomach. Another blinder came off.

"Because of these experiences, I am a better man today than I was at this time last week. Today, I understand why my posts were offensive. I will remove them from my page. I have a lot to learn about cultural differences and I will dedicate a great deal of time learning by attending cultural awareness and sensitivity training. I want to say again, I am truly sorry."

Woodall’s future with the school board remains uncertain as the only way he can be removed is if he steps down or is voted out in the next election. The petition to remove Woodall has gathered over 4,800 signatures.