Posted on February 26, 2025

Wake School Board Member Apologizes for ‘Mediocre White Men’ Comment

Emily Walkenhorst, WRAL, February 18, 2025

Wake School Board Member Sam Hershey has apologized for comments he made about “mediocre white men.”

Hershey said Tuesday night he didn’t mean to imply that all white men are mediocre when he suggested earlier this month that many white men have ended up in power who didn’t deserve it.

Hershey criticized opponents of diversity, equity and inclusion during the board’s Feb. 4 meeting.

He said this country has been run by “mediocre white men for 250 years.”

Hershey is white. {snip}

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Erik Shephard, a district alumnus who is white, said he thought Hershey was criticizing thousands of Wake County parents who are white men. Shepard rejected the notion that all white men are “mediocre” and said he fought for the United States in the military. He noted families have lost loved ones, “and it wasn’t for mediocrity.”

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During the Feb. 4 meeting, Hershey said people who call Black people “diversity, equity and inclusion hires” are just circumventing using the N-word {snip}

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