Cobb County School Board member under fire for use of offensive term

COBB COUNTY, Ga - A Cobb County School Board member is under fire for a recent newsletter emailed to people in the district. 

In the email, David Banks used the term "China virus" when talking about COVID-19. It's a term deemed offensive by Asian Americans. 

The email sent on August 18 contains the sentence "since the China virus is still of concern the CCSD retiree ceremony was canceled this year." 

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"When something is called out as racist, we need to take a step back and consider it. And accept the fact that people are offended by it," said John Martzall, a Cobb County resident. 

Martzall said he sent a letter to the school board members on behalf of his family and his fellow community members. 

"In the letter I sent to board members that showed some trends from United States searches and it's not a commonly used phrase no matter who you are. It's been continually called out as a racist term," Martzall said. 

According to the Pew Research Center, Asian Americans have reported experiencing racism during the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Twenty-six percent said they fear being threatened or physically attacked, while 31 percent said they've been subject to slurs or jokes. 

"I just feel like it adds to that and adds fuel to that. I think it's just an inappropriate term to be using there where there are so many other terms we can use instead," said Kym Lee, a Cobb County parent. 

She said her children have not dealt with racism due to the virus, but she was worried about what could happen if they return back to school in person. 

Johnathan Chen, another Cobb County parent said elected officials, like Banks, should be held to a higher standard. 

"I would ask David Banks to issue a public apology but I would also like Cobb county school district to issue a disapproval of the statement because they are responsible for each other," Chen said. 

Chen also said his colleague received that same email but it said virus instead of "China virus". 

It's not clear if Banks later sent out a different version of the email. 

FOX 5 reached out to Banks for a comment but did not hear back. 

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Fellow board member Dr. Jaha Howard sent FOX 5 a statement: 

"I am appalled, but not surprised by my colleague's harmful statement. I'm also disappointed that collectively we did not condemn his language.  As leaders, we must do better in acknowledging our issues and commit to getting better for the sake of our children." 

Board member Charisse David also said she was not surprised by Banks' language. She said she suggested the board issue a statement saying they do not approve of Banks' use of the term, but that did not happen during Thursday's work session. 

This isn't the first time Banks has been under fire. People called on him to step down back in 2017 after an incident involving an email containing alleged derogatory statements. 

The Cobb County School District sent FOX 5 this statement: 

"As a District, we are entirely focused on a successful start to a very complicated school year, on our students and on our staff. Mr. Banks is an elected official and communicates his own views and opinions. His newsletters are not District communications and any Board member questions should be directed to Board members."