Facebook posts by Palmyra school board candidate use racially divisive themes and memes
She complained that she has the wrong color skin to get government assistance.
A candidate running for Palmyra Area School District's Board of Directors has shared memes and made posts to her Facebook that appear racially and ethnically insensitive, the Lebanon Daily News has found.
The posts, shared on Facebook by candidate Suzan Gilligan, include one in which she states she has the "wrong color skin to get any type of assistance," two in which she states support for the Confederate flag and claims to be buying one to fly herself, and others in which she complains about people on welfare.
The Lebanon Daily News tried numerous times to reach Gilligan for this story. On one occasion, a woman answered the phone, said she was busy and to call back later, then hung up. Subsequent calls to that number went to voicemail and were not returned.
A text to Gilligan's cell phone last week asking for comment on the posts was answered with this response:
"No comment to Fake News."
The Rev. Dr. Franklin Hairston-Allen, president of the Greater Harrisburg NAACP, said it was important for these posts to be made public before the election.
"People need to know who they're voting for," he said.
Posts in question
Most of the posts flagged by the Lebanon Daily News were several years old.
Two promoted the Confederate flag, both from the summer of 2015 in the weeks after nine parishioners were killed at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The shooting set off a national debate about the Confederate flag after people protested the flag flying above the South Carolina state capital building.
"This is our heritage and it it's nothing to be ashamed about fly it with pride," Gilligan wrote on a post with a re-shared picture of a Confederate flag with the words "Can I get a h*ll yeah?" written on it.
Hairston-Allen said he sees the flag as a symbol of white supremacy.
Robin Burstein, the Senior Associate Regional Director for the Anti-Defamation League in Philadelphia, said while Confederate flags are often controversial and are increasingly seen as offensive, they are still used by some people to show pride in southern heritage.
While the Anti-Defamation League lists the flag in its hate symbol database, Burstein said it is important to judge the use of the flag in context.
Blackface, KKK hoods and mock lynchings: Review of 900 yearbooks finds blatant racism
Special report:These central Pa. police officers shared racist, sexist, anti-Muslim pics on Facebook
Later in 2015, Gilligan re-shared a meme from the Facebook page The Comical Conservative. The post contains a photo of someone's arms, with a series of numbers tattooed on one forearm. The meme reads:
"Back when I studied the Holocaust in school, I remember thinking, "how did Hitler get over 6 million people to follow along blindly and not fight back?" Then I realized, I'm watching my fellow Americans take the same path."
Burstein said images such as the one Gilligan shared trivialize the complexities of the Holocaust.
The Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting hate, does not support or oppose any political candidates, Burnstein said, adding that she was commenting only on the image in the post.
"Right now we’re finding that in the political sphere and in the public sphere in general, many debates are being tainted with inappropriate invocations of Hitler, or the Nazis or the Holocaust," Burstein said. "They not only rely on historically incorrect premises ... but deflect the attention away from important discussions."
There were several posts on Gilligan's page disparaging those who use welfare, including one from September 2015, when she wrote, in part, "People out there are on drugs don't work say they have a disability and get everything."
In another post from January 2017, Gilligan complained about waiting behind someone in line at Turkey Hill who was using an access card, writing "How about go get a job."
In a post from October 2016 that was generally about support for Donald Trump, Gilligan wrote:
"Oh and remember I make too much money and have the wrong color skin to get any type of assistance for anything."
According to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, more than 20 percent of students at Palmyra Area School District are economically disadvantaged and nearly 90 percent are white.
Upcoming election
Gilligan won over 1,300 votes in the Republican primary, earning her a slot on November 5 ballot.
In a post before the May primary, Gilligan wrote that she brings "fresh new thinking with a successful business background" to the table.
The Lebanon Daily News also looked into the Facebook accounts of other school board candidates running in Lebanon County and found no posts that would seem likely to offend. Several other Palmyra school board candidates running on the Republican ticket with Gilligan could not be reached for comment.