NAACP, Crestwood’s Derwin at odds over VP ‘whore’ posts

Crestwood School Board member Robert Derwin owes the community a public explanation about why he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as a “whore” and a “Black whore” in social media posts, a representative of the local NAACP said Wednesday.

Derwin, meanwhile, told the Times Leader the remarks weren’t “meant to be racist” and stands by calling Harris a whore.

Daryl Lewis, assistant secretary of the local branch’s executive committee, said there are plans for several NAACP members to attend a special Crestwood board meeting set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the secondary campus, 281 South Mountain Boulevard.

It is not immediately clear whether the issue will be addressed in any way, or whether the public would be allowed to address it, because the matter is not on the agenda.

The agenda does indicate that an executive session is planned prior to the special meeting “regarding contracts, personnel, actions, and pending litigation,” but — as is standard in such situations — does not elaborate.

The agenda also indicates that the board’s Financial Planning Committee — of which Derwin is chair — is scheduled to make a recommendation regarding a resolution to not raise taxes above the state’s Act 1 index.

Told that Derwin said he will not be able to make the meeting due to a pre-scheduled medical procedure, Lewis replied: “I hope he recovers well and continues to have a speedy recovery. But I also believe he owes the public a response, and to show whether he has any sort of evidence proving she has a sexually promiscuous past that would back things up. Otherwise he would have to explain why ‘Black whore’ is such an easy and common expression for him to use.”

‘It wasn’t meant to be racist’

Contacted Wednesday, Derwin said: “I do regret bringing race into it, and if I’ve offended the Black community, I apologize. I don’t think it was racist. It wasn’t meant to be racist.”

He does regret bringing race into his posts, but said he stands by calling Harris a whore, stressing it can have other meanings beyond sexual promiscuity.

“There’s more than one definition to ‘whore,’” he said. “It’s a scandalous person. I could call Joe Biden a whore. No one ever asked me how I mean it.”

“I’m in the real estate business. People who overcharge for rent, to me you’re a whore,” Derwin added. “It may be a word that offends some people, it may be a word that doesn’t offend others.”

NAACP seeking resignation

Derwin ran for School Board last year and came in sixth in a race for five seats. When Board Member Randy Swank resigned near the end of last year, the board voted to appoint Derwin to complete the term, which runs to the first Monday in December of 2025.

The local NAACP has called for Derwin’s resignation over the posts.

“Freedom of speech and opinion is something we all hold dearly, but when it is abused by a public official to express an opinion that reflects poorly on the community and institution they represent it needs to be called out and appropriate action must take place,” a statement by NAACP Chapter President Bill Browne read. “We believe that Mr. Derwin should resign for these scurrilous comments.”

Language rooted in slavery

In an interview on Tuesday, Derwin told the Times Leader that the NAACP branch did not contact him and did not send a copy of the statement to him, saying they “didn’t figure I needed to see it.” As a result, he said “I can’t give you a comment” regarding the statement.

Lewis also said the statement calling for the resignation was sent to sitting board members but not to Derwin because those board members were all elected by residents, while Derwin was appointed by the board to complete the term of Randy Swank, who resigned in December.

Derwin may not seem to have posted anything overtly racist about Harris on his Facebook page, but historically the language he used has strong roots in the treatment of slaves, Lewis said regarding the local chapter’s decision to call for Derwin to resign.

Lewis noted that statements calling Harris — who is both of Asian and Black descent — a “whore” and “a Black whore” are very much in the historical language of slavers.

“Using allegations of promiscuity, lasciviousness and moral depravity is a technique that literally goes back since slavery. It’s often that women who were owned or did not have a right to choose were sexually abused, and the wives of the people who owned them would accuse them of being seducers or whores,” Lewis explained. “It is this instance of highlighting her race and the insistence of throwing the accusation of ‘whore’ that provides the overtone of racism.”

A Times Leader review of several years of postings shows Derwin’s primary focus is sports, though politics are peppered in from 2020 on. Much of that is aimed at President Joe Biden, but several older ones are aimed at Harris.

Lewis noted that fairly recent history is replete with presidents demonstrating sexual promiscuity, including John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson (“with a tendency to flash himself whenever threatened”), Bill Clinton “cheating in the White House,” and Donald Trump including a “court-validated sexual assault.” Yet “none was referred to as a whore.”

“Now we have a woman with (college) degrees and a long-standing career with no questions of her sexuality repeatedly referred to as a whore,” he said.

No specific protocols

Lewis said the local branch of the National Association of Colored People has no specific protocols for following up when such statements are issued, tailoring responses to each situation. But there are plans for several members to attend the Crestwood special meeting scheduled for Thursday.

“Crestwood is a prominent and popular institution here, and the students and the community deserve institutions that embody excellence. In order for fairness, justice and equity to prevail in these systems they cannot be operated by people who have implicit or hateful biases.”