NC county school board member blames unmasked ‘illegal aliens’ for COVID rise
Unmasked “illegal aliens” are to blame for rising COVID-19 numbers across the U.S., a county school board member in North Carolina said.
“I’ve got a lot to say about this, but better not,” Cabarrus County school board member Tim Furr said during a work session Monday night, according to a recording of the meeting on YouTube reviewed by The Charlotte Observer.
“I’m not trying to be on a high horse, and I’m not trying to make this political, but until this government keeps illegal aliens by the thousands coming across that border without masks, with COVID, putting them on buses, sending them all over the United States, we’re just beating our heads against the wall,”
“Because these numbers are going to continue to rise, and we’re going to be having this same discussion day after day and week after week,” Furr said.
Board members were discussing their previous vote to make masks optional for the 2021-22 school year. Furr voted in favor of making masks optional.
Another school board member, Keshia Sandidge, tried to interrupt Furr, asking, “Are we serious right now?”
“No interruptions,” board Chairwoman Holly Grimsley said in stopping the debate, saying members had a right to their opinion without interruption.
‘Not political’
“OK, I made my point,” Furr said. “It’s not a political point. I don’t care who’s in office. It’s wrong in so many ways. I get one vote, and I have one opinion, and I understand why parents have concerns (about masks). I got grandkids in the school system, but I’d be really dumb to put them in danger if I thought it was that bad.
“But we have to quit being hypocritical about this situation. That’s all.”
On Tuesday, Furr told WBTV that he didn’t mean to imply that any local increase in cases was due to immigration.
“When I say something, I mean it, but sometimes, like this one, I don’t really get the whole story,” Furr told the station.
Furr said he couldn’t be a racist, because he’s a football coach.
Board member responds
In a statement Tuesday, Sandidge apologized for interrupting Furr during the meeting but said he owes the community an apology for his “inaccurate declaration” about the virus.
”There is no single subset of people who can or should be blamed for the dangers before us because of a global pandemic,” she wrote. “The universal fact is the coronavirus knows no borders, ethnic groups, genders, or religious affiliations; it is an equal opportunity killer!”
“The inaccurate declaration made last night needs to be addressed with a formal apology to our community, students, teachers, and administrators,” Sandidge said, adding that Furr’s remarks made her “uncomfortable.”
“Health and safety must be at the forefront of all we do as a school board,” Sandidge said. “Additionally, dignity and respect for all human beings must be at the center of our thoughts, comments, and actions.”
Latino advocacy group responds
“That’s like saying, ‘I can’t be a racist because I have a Black friend,” Héctor Vaca, spokesman for the Latino advocacy group Action NC, told The Charlotte Observer.
“There’s a long history in the United States of blaming immigrants for pandemics,” Vaca said.
He cited the false blaming of Mexicans, Spaniards, Chinese and others for such outbreaks, as seen in the names those outbreaks were given. He cited “Spanish influenza” and former President Donald Trump’s blaming of Chinese people for COVID. At a campaign rally last year, Trump mockingly called COVID “kung flu.”
“We also have a problem of right-wing media like Fox News” encouraging people to stay unvaccinated and not wear masks, Vaca said.
CDC recommendations
U.S. government health officials blame unvaccinated Americans for the latest rise in COVID-19 cases.
“Infections happen in only a small proportion of people who are fully vaccinated, even with the Delta variant,” according to a July 27 post by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC said even fully vaccinated people should begin wearing a mask in public settings again, including K-12 schools and regardless of vaccination status.
Charlotte-area hospital experts agree with the new mask guidelines, the Observer reported.
This story was originally published August 3, 2021 at 3:30 PM.