Schools
Cobb School Board Member Takes A Knee During Pledge At Meeting
School-board member Jaha Howard knelt during the Pledge of Allegiance at a recent meeting to protest a Black man's death at the Cobb jail.
COBB COUNTY, GA — A member of Cobb County’s school board has drawn online support — and some blowback — for kneeling during the Pledge of Allegiance at the board’s last meeting.
Dr. Jaha Howard told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he took a knee on Oct. 15 to protest “systemic racism” and to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the death of a Black inmate at Cobb County’s jail.
Kevil Wingo was found unresponsive in his cell on Sept. 29, 2019. He was later determined to have died from complications of a perforated gastric ulcer. Wingo’s family has since filed a lawsuit against three Cobb County Sheriff’s deputies, several medical professionals and Wellstar Health system, saying that his dying pleas for help had been ignored.
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Thursday’s Cobb County school-board meeting was the first in-person meeting since February, just before pandemic restrictions began. Only board members and Superintendent Chris Ragsdale were in the meeting room, with the proceedings live-streamed to those outside.
Feedback on Howard’s Facebook page Wednesday was largely positive. Most of it supported Howard, while some attacked fellow school-board member David Banks, who Howard quoted from an Oct. 16 email saying “how much (Howard) hates the USA” for kneeling.
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“He (Banks) has yet to ask me why I took a knee, nor share with me directly how he feels,” Howard wrote on his Facebook page. “He chose to email a bunch of his supporters instead.”
Post 1 board member Randy Scamihorn, who represents north Cobb County, demurred when asked for an opinion by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"We’ve had controversial board members in the past, as well as other politicians, and I’m sure we’ll have controversial politicians in the future," Scamihorn told the Atlanta newspaper.
Howard, a dentist from Vinings, represents Post 2, which includes Smyrna, Mableton and parts of Marietta. David Banks represents Post 5, which covers East Cobb.
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