I would like to comment on the front-page article titled, “Teacher resigns after emails call him a pro-Nazi.” Unfortunately for Mr. Hitson, the Board of Education cannot reply due to privacy restraints. I also am bound by certain constraints as his former principal.
The Atlanta Antifascists are well aware of this fact. They can accuse and publish with no recourse. The Citizen only had one side to report and I know The Citizen is a fair newspaper that will report the facts and the news as unbiased as they can.
There is a key word in the article that needed to be in a bold and all caps: “ALLEGEDLY!” Yes, allegedly fits these accusations by the Antifa. Let’s look at the facts that I can relay.
Mr. Hitson began his teaching career at Creekside High School in Fulton County in 2011. According to public-schoolsstart.com, Creekside is 98 percent minority with the African-American population at 85.3 percent. If Mr. Hitson was a neo-Nazi and a white supremist, why would he choose that school for employment? He taught there for three years.
I hired Mr. Hitson at Whitewater High School in 2014, where he has worked ever since. In my three years working with Mr. Hitson, I never had a complaint about his teaching nor any problems with his relationship or rapport with students or parents. I find it interesting that after Mr. Hitson has taught for over six years, now the Antifa has decided what he allegedly stands for in his personal life. Where were they previously?
Yes, I began receiving emails and phone calls about Mr. Hitson in March of this year after the inauguration of President Trump. The emails were either sent anonymously or they were sent so that I could not return a comment and not determine their origin. Most of the emails used the word, “allegedly.”
Yes, I received phone calls. Some of the calls were from New York and as far [away] as Maine. I did not have one pleasant phone call, and many times the caller used profanity and even threatened me. Of course, on those phone calls, there was no way to track down the caller, and they used blocked numbers.
I did investigate the situation as it was my job as principal to ensure the safety of the students. I cannot discuss the contents of the investigation as it is protected by law.
I did recommend Mr. Hitson to return to Whitewater for the 2017-18 school year.
Anyone who knows anything about Mr. Hitson’s personal life should be laughing at these allegations. If they know anything about his family diversity, they would dismiss these allegations.
Why did Mr. Hitson resign? Having worked with Mr. Hitson for three years, I believe he resigned to save Whitewater High School and the community from any further embarrassment. He is that type of person.
Unfortunately, the students suffer as they will not have the opportunity to learn under Mr. Hitson. He has been tried and convicted in the social media. This is social terrorism to destroy a man’s career and life.
In your article, you stated that the Atlanta Antifacists would like a public apology. Where is their apology to me for their threatening phone calls and emails that I received? Of course, they were anonymous and I am sure they would allege they knew nothing about them.
Remember, even they said “allegedly.”
Roy A. Rabold
Fayetteville, Ga.
