LYNCHBURG, Va. — A Lynchburg City School Board Member has stepped down after fallout from a controversial Facebook post criticizing the election of Donald Trump.
In a Facebook post that has since been deleted, Jenny Poore, blasted the election of Trump saying “The America I insisted on believing in doesn’t exist.”
Poore went on to use profane language and criticize those who voted for Trump, particularly singling out straight white males.
“The country I thought was mine was a mirage. The collective promise of decency and hope is not for me. It’s mot for women, or people of color, or LGBTQ people or the mentally ill or the disabled, or the people on the edge, that country doesn’t exist.”
WARNING: The document contains profane language
In her resignation letter Poore said her decision was a personal one.
“I do this for personal reasons not the least of which is my conviction that right now my voice and skill set can best be put to use in other avenues,” she wrote.
Poore told the Lynchburg News and Advance, the media attention from her Facebook posts were not the sole reason she decided to step down.
“My number one responsibility as a School Board member is the work of the board and the schools,” Poore wrote to The News and Advance. “I could not do that work and respect the work of my colleagues if I were a lightning rod for outside distractions. To preserve the integrity of the board and our school system, I needed to step away.”
Jenny Poore
Poore said she was not asked to resign for her comments and the decision to resign was her own.
“I was very vocal after the election. However, I have always been very vocal. It seemed like after this election there was new scrutiny on people voicing dissent. I didn’t want that to blow back on the board and our schools. That blowback needed to be for me alone,” she wrote.
Poore, who was with board for five years, is no stranger to controversy.
Earlier this fall, she garnering attention for sitting twice during the Pledge of Allegiance at school board meetings to protest the deaths of Terence Crutcher and Keith Scott, black men killed in police-involved shooting.
