FORT PIERCE, FLORIDA — A City of Fort Pierce employee who was recently fired for racist comments has not yet been removed from his role with the School District of Indian River County (SDIRC).
On May 18, the City of Fort Pierce terminated HR manager Kevin Browning for violating City personnel rules, according to public documents obtained by The Florida Standard.
In addition to his job with the City, Browning represents the Indian River NAACP on the SDIRC’s Joint Equity Workgroup committee – responsible for resolving the district’s decades-old federal desegregation order.
SDIRC spokesperson Cristen Maddux said the district is not responsible for the selection of the NAACP’s committee members. Indian River NAACP President Anthony Brown did not respond to questions about Browning’s future status on the committee.
“DISPARAGING REMARKS”
Browning’s termination stemmed from a conversation he had with a coworker during a break in a recorded virtual training session, where Browning was speaking into his microphone.
A letter from the City’s attorney noted that Browning made “disparaging remarks regarding ‘white people.’” During the conversation, Browning also said of a woman, “maybe she needs to slide up in there and give him some.”
In March, Browning compared conservatives to Southern slave traders and members of the Klu Klux Klan.
“Take off your hood. Show us who you are,” Browning said of those who opposed the district’s “Racial Equity Policy.” The policy seeks to achieve “racially equitable results” and remove “practices that lead to the over or under representation of any student racial/ethnic group compared to peers.”
READ MORE: City Employee in Florida Compares Conservatives to KKK: “Take Off Your Hood”
Browning could not be reached for comment.
Upon learning about the comments, Moms for Liberty’s Indian River Chair Jennifer Pippin wrote a letter to Brown demanding Browning’s resignation, arguing: “A person of such character who falsely accuses people of racism should not be on the Joint Equity Workgroup.”
