Guilford County commissioners can’t fire sheriff’s deputies, but, at the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Thursday, March 21 meeting, Deputy Sheriff Bryan Herndon found out why it’s a very bad idea to put up a Facebook post saying that a proposal by Skip Alston “smells like [deleted]” and telling Alston to shove his “reverse racism” up his rectum.
Herndon posted the comment on Facebook in response to a proposal Alston made earlier this week to spend an estimated $300,000 on a comprehensive disparity study that would assess the scope and capabilities of black-owned businesses in the area – and, hopefully, Alston said, allow the county to increase the number of black-owned businesses that participate in county construction contracts and other contracts in the future.
At the March 21 commissioners meeting, Alston called out Herndon and said he was very disturbed that a deputy employed by the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department would post such a highly offensive comment on social media.
The post, which Alston read out loud at the commissioners meeting, stated: “Spend 300K of taxpayer money to understand why minority businesses can’t do business with Guilford County? Business 101, something smells like [manure emoji]! Save the 300K and use the businesses that can QUALIFY for a county contract. And while your at it skip, shove the reverse racism you so routinely practice up your rectum sideways!”
At the meeting, Alston tore into the deputy.
“This is a Facebook post by, unfortunately, one of our local deputy sheriffs,” Alston began.
Alston said that, since Herndon had posted the comment on his Facebook page, he clearly wanted it to be public so, Alston said, he had no problem naming the deputy at the televised commissioners meeting.
Alston said that posts like that were the result of a mentality that emanates from President Donald Trump as well as some of the white Guilford County commissioners.
“That’s the Trump poison,” Alston said.
He added that, in Guilford County government, that type of poison was perpetuated by the members of the Board of Commissioners who routinely give contracts to firms using no black subcontractors. He said the white male Republican commissioners didn’t give credence to the situation of black contractors in a world where contracts are routinely handed out largely through the white-dominated good old boy network.
Alston said the deputy had apologized to him and Alston added he had asked Herndon to do so publicly on his Facebook page since he’d made the post public in the first place.
Alston also said he had brought the matter up with Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers but had not asked for any retribution.
“I said, ‘I don’t want you to do anything – I’ll deal with it.’” Alston said.