Despite calls for her resignation following the discovery of a racist text message, Galveston County GOP chairwoman Yolonda Waters has made no indication she plans to leave her elected post.
On December 7, the Galveston County Daily News unearthed a months-old text message from Waters showing the local party chief referring to a black GOP official as a “typical Nig.”
Emails and calls from the Signal to Waters went unanswered. Aside from her initial statement to the Galveston newspaper and a Facebook post apologizing for the “offensive typo” (Waters has yet to actually explain what the typo was), the GOP chair has remained quiet and ignored calls for her resignation.
Among those calling her removal are sixteen Galveston County precinct chairs.
In the March text message, Waters used the racial slur against her local State Republican Executive Committee member, J.T. Edwards, one of the only Black members of the Texas GOP’s governing board.
The text shows Waters complaining that Edwards asked for money to attend an Austin meeting, writing that he “lives off everyone else” and “really abuses.” When Alicia Youngblood, secretary for the Galveston County GOP, asked if Edwards worked for a living, Waters responded with the slur.
C. John Young, Jr., the Democratic Party’s Galveston chair, said Water’s comments affected both parties since joint party primaries are conducted in Galveston County. “It is very difficult to interpret the message as anything other than overtly racist,” Young said in a statement. “However, we should not look at this incident through a partisan lens. We all need to call out racism and other types of discrimination whenever and wherever we see it.”
Photo: Yolanda Waters for Republican Party Chair Facebook Page
