A month ago, a Texarkana Gazette editorial asked Blevins school board member Ted Bonner to resign.
He had the audacity to dress up in blackface for a Halloween party. Subsequently, a photo of him in crumpled hat with blacked-out teeth and full minstrel garb started making the rounds on Facebook. Punctuating the costume was a sign he held stating "Blak Lives Matters." It was presumably an unflattering reference to the recent Black Lives Matter movement.
Presumably, he thought it was funny.
Many people looking in from the outside were simply horrified that such mindless personal commentary could still exist in this day and age. Maybe we shouldn't be so surprised. There are many things we don't know about each other and many inclinations we don't even suspect. Still, sometimes the ooze ekes to the surface.
But a school board member?
The Gazette wasn't the only one calling for him to step down. Others, including several civil rights groups across the state, made similar appeals.
The words fell on deaf ears.
The law provides no recall provisions. Whatever actions Bonner would take would have to be of his own accord.
And he took none. Perhaps he thought it would all blow over. Perhaps he was wrong.
Last Monday, a crowd of protesters drove in from many parts of the state and wedged into the small board chambers to complain and ask for his resignation again. Rationales and excuses were bantered around, and attempts to limit public discourse were toyed with. Eventually, when the public-comment part of the meeting had concluded, the unhappy dispersed, and the Blevins school board went on about its business.
But the damage had been done. Headlines followed, as did broadcast news reports.
And the critics calling for him to resign his post made commitments to keep coming back, to keep harping on their point.
Now, Mr. Bonner can try to wait out this story. And it's possible the ferocity of the storm will wane over time.
But until it does, it gives the whole town of Blevins a black eye and, to some degree, the state of Arkansas, as well.
And that's the problem with Mr. Bonner's position. It's not just about him.
The town is getting a bad rap, too.
That's not fair to the town, but the human heart has a way of establishing guilt by extension.
Situated north of Hope, Ark., and about 50 miles northeast of Texarkana, Blevins is called home by less than 400 people. Most of them are white. Public data generally shows 63 percent of the population is white, 23 percent is Hispanic and 12.4 percent is black. The black population is on a bit of a decline since 2000, and the Hispanic numbers on a bit of a rise.
The composition of the school board doesn't seem particularly representative of the minority population, so maybe the unrest outside the boardroom doesn't extend inside its hallowed hall. Maybe it doesn't even extend as far down its city streets as we'd like to believe.
In situations like these, sometimes the siege mentality takes root.
But no matter what forces are at work on this little stage, the only one that matters is the one that drives Mr. Bonner.
He may be a good and decent man, as some have said in his defense. Certainly, worse sins have been committed along the racial divide.
But he did a stupid thing.
So, if he is a good and decent man, it is now time to do the right thing.
Not for himself, but for the the town.
And if he won't listen to the sharp critique of outsiders-and part of the small-town mindset is bristling when outsiders tell you what to do-then townfolk and town fathers should get in his face and give him an earful.
He is hurting them.
And if this drama continues, regardless that this is the singular decision of one man, the people of the town will end up looking just as disrespectful and insensitive as he does.