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A Florida school board member is facing resignation calls after video surfaced of him making racist remarks about Black people.
According to Atlanta Black Star, Robert Alvero, a Clay County School Board member elected in 2024, recorded a now-deleted Facebook Live video last month describing what he claimed were negative experiences with Black Americans.
In the video, Alvero said he had “80 percent more negative experience with the African American community in this country than with white people.”
“I have met a lot of great African American people, and I’m still friends with them because they are good decent people,” Alvero said. “But that’s 20 percent of the people that I’ve met, African Americans.”
“The other 80 percent, they’ve been nasty, they’ve been rude, they’ve been problematic—always trying to fight, disrespecting," he continued. "So, why would I want to be around people like that. No.”
Alvero also said he understood “where Nick Fuentes is coming from,” referring to the far-right extremist known for promoting white supremacy and Holocaust denial. He further claimed he sometimes feels racist toward people of his own nationality, stating, “I learned how to be an American, so right now I’m not even similar to my own race.”
Alvero represents the Oakleaf area of Clay County, where nearly 25 percent of residents are Black. He campaigned on keeping politics out of classrooms. Following public backlash, Alvero issued an apology, calling his remarks “wrong and offensive.”
“While I faced some negative interactions, including being called names and even physically assaulted, I also met many good, decent people some of whom remain my friends today,” Alvero's statement read. “These experiences are personal and not meant to generalize.”
Community leaders rejected the apology and called for mandatory anti-racism training along with Alvero's resignation. However, under Florida law, only the governor has the authority to remove an elected school board member.
“Words matter,” Bishop Marvin C. Zanders said in a statement. “When an elected official speaks with such broad condemnation of an entire community, it sends a harmful message.”
Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas has requested that Alvero appear before the State Board of Education on January 21 to address the controversy. Alvero’s attorney, Anthony Sabatini, said his client will not attend the meeting and defended him against criticism.
“School Board Member Alvero is a selfless public servant, won his election in a landslide, and is widely supported in Clay County,” Sabatini said. “These radical Democrat political activists who seek to eliminate his First Amendment rights are out of step with the people of Clay County.”
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