After being called out for a collection of racist social media posts echoing the sentiments of noted Twitter political pundit Roseanne Barr, a board member of Alabama’s second-largest school district passionately explained herself by citing Michelle Obama’s unpatriotic hate for America and kneeling NFL players’ insistence on disrespecting the troops.
Donna Pike, a member of the Jefferson County School Board, recently shared a meme about Obama-administration senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, invoking the sentiments of the now infamous tweet by noted conspiracy theorist, and Trump supporter, Barr calling Jarrett a “Muslim, born in Iran.”
Local activist Carlos Chaverst came to the school board meeting after discovering the June 1 post and similar posts on Pike’s Facebook page, AL.com reports. Pike, a Republican who has been trying to make Jefferson County Schools great since 2016, openly admits that she supports Barr. However, to be fair, if the couple played by Barr and John Goodman actually had a daughter, sent the girl to Alabama and fed it a carbohydrate-rich diet of Wonder Bread and racism, it would eventually look like Pike, a rotund, decrepit white woman full of unapologetic hate.
“She’s not a Muslim; she’s an American,” Chaverst told the members of the board about Jarrett. “But your school board member stands with Roseanne.” Chaverst went on to show other racist-adjacent memes posted by Pike, including one of Michelle Obama refusing to salute the flag. Pike shooed Chaverst away with her hand as he explained: “She’s a racist, and if you stand with her, guess that makes you one, too. Everybody in this room, you have an obligation to stand up for these children and do what’s right. She is an elected official! I have a parent here who has children in Jefferson County Schools that is getting ready to pull her kids out of the school system because of you, Miss Donna Pike. And you don’t care!”
After Chaverst’s impassioned plea, the Barr-like white woman who, thankfully, covered her elbows, which I assume resemble albino raisins, explained herself to her fellow board members:
“I shared it, and I’m not sorry I did,” said Pike. “And I meant it because it shows hypocrisy in our country. Some people can get away with it and some people can’t. It was not racist.” Apparently unaware that first lady is neither an elected nor an appointed position, Pike went on to say that she sympathized with Barr because if Barr’s tweet was offensive, then others should be fired, too.
“It had nothing to do with color. It had nothing to do with race,” said Pike, explaining her post that specifically mentioned Jarrett’s race and color. “I’ve seen all kinds of people say vile, ugly remarks on the media, on television and some of ’em get in trouble. Some of ’em don’t. I thought that was a way to show the hypocrisy that happens.”
“Another thing about Michelle Obama ... I don’t care one way or the other,” Pike said about her posts, which seem to prove she cares one way (the racist way) but not the other. “I have a disabled veteran that’s a daughter and I have a son that’s a veteran. And for her not to salute the flag, if you’ll look at the picture, was offensive to me. Now, will I apologize for that? Never.”
In an attempt to understand Pike’s point of view, The Root took Pike’s advice and used our incredible investigative skills to examine this claim. We found the picture using a secret tool that is apparently unavailable in Alabama called “Google.” Here is an unedited photograph taken as the national anthem played at the Quicken Loans Carrier Classic, the Veterans Day event where Obama refused to salute the American flag because she hates our troops:
Pike went on to say that, unlike Valerie Jarrett and Michelle Obama—those two disgraceful black demons who set aside lucrative careers to help Barack Obama serve the country—Pike shared those memes because she loves America, not because she is a bigot.
“I don’t appreciate you putting that I’m a racist on social media, and I don’t appreciate you sharing it,” Pike said. Yes, she actually reprimanded people for spreading derogatory information about her to explain why she shared derogatory images about people, which could possibly be the whitest thing on the internet ...
Unless you are Facebook Friends with Donna Pike.
But it is easy to understand why Pike shared the meme. After all, the information that disproves her narrative was only available on 4.5 million sites when we Googled it. Pike might not have seen the YouTube video showing Michelle Obama saluting the anthem at that game because Alabama’s internet is notoriously racist.
When the head of the school board tried to explain to Pike why her posts could be problematic to the parents who might worry that their children’s education is in the hands of a racist, Pike responded by explaining why this entire meeting was an attempt to oppress her:
If we’re to state that we’re so oppressed that we can’t stand up for our children who fought for this country, I take offense to that ...
Because this is my country, and my children gave a lot to help it still be my country. I’m just saying that’s my story. And I will not apologize because that’s the way I feel. And I saw it, and frankly I was shocked. How dare her stand there and not salute our flag when she was the former first lady?
Pike never addressed the fact that every part of what she posted on Facebook was a lie. Furthermore, the Facebook timeline of the wicked witch of the school board doesn’t seem to contain any posts about white people who disrespected the flag or “her country.” It seems that she only chooses to denigrate and lie on black women and—as The Root’s senior producer, Danielle Young, calls them—the “sport blacks.”
“It was not shared because I’m a racist,” Pike explained before going in on the national anthem protests. “It was shared because ... I’ll tell you another thing: I won’t watch the NFL because I’m tired of people kneeling instead of people saluting our flag. Let me get that out there. If that’s racist, then so be it.”
Then so be it. Donna Pike is a racist.
She said it, not me.