A Savannah police officer has been fired after sharing a Facebook post criticizing the concept of “privilege,” which activists say was racist.
On Monday, the Savannah Police Department fired former APO Edwin Myrick, stating the Facebook post violated the agency's internet usage rules and code of ethics, according to Savannah NBC news affiliate WSAV.
Myrick told the news station he was disappointed by his firing because the post is about his own experience, not race.
The post lists several privileges allotted to some of those who are protesting against police brutality and advocating for social justice, which some interpreted as targeting Black people.
“Privilege is the ability to go march against, and protest against anything that triggers you, without worrying about calling out of work and the consequences that accompany such behavior,” reads an excerpt from the post. “Privilege is having as many children as you want, regardless of your employment status, and be able to send them off to daycare of school you don’t pay for.”
Myrick said though the fiery post takes a critical view at those who receive government assistance, he said that applied to him at one point. He said he has been aided by such assistance at least twice in his life. He also cites the statistics that show more white people benefit from public assistance than any other race.
“For someone to just assume what I am feeling inside my heart as racism because I am a white police officer is frankly very disappointing,” he said in response to the backlash about the post.
Some folks responded to his post with accusations of racism and refuting the concept of white privilege.
"Edwin likes to use every racist trope he could think of to assuage his own white privilege," Jannis Glover wrote on Facebook with a screengrab of his post. "Facebook Edwin is a grand wizard racist. Don't be like Edwin."
A coastal Georgia mayor shared the same post last week and stirred controversy. Bloomingdale Mayor Ben Rozier posted a message on the Gossip Bloomingdale GA Facebook group last week, using the same meme and alluding to government assistance as “privilege.”
The mayor was not fired for his post.
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