HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Henrico County Public School Board Chair Michelle "Micky" Ogburn resigned from the position on Friday, a month after publicly apologizing for a social media post she shared that some found "offensive."
The Facebook post dismissed a decision by Dr. Seuss Enterprises to no longer publish six of the author's books because they "portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong."
It featured a photo of Dr. Seuss' The Grinch character extending his middle finger and an accompanying poem written a day after the announcement to no longer publish some of Seuss' books was made.
The poem talked about taking no issue with Dr. Seuss' work and finding, "Not one vicious word/To make me offended" and called the pictures "whimsical" and the characters "unique."
The poem added that "whiners, crying in tears/With NO life to enjoy, must find someone to blame/Someone to hate/Someone to shame."
It told people to "go to hell" and to "Leave Dr. Seuss alone."
Ogburn had shared someone else's post and added the comments "I love this and Dr Seuss books."
She later deleted that post and wrote a new one that said "to anyone who was offended" by her earlier post "I sincerely apologize" and claimed she did not see the whole post or the attached picture before sharing.
She added the lesson learned was to read an entire post and "think about things through the eyes of others before posting" and said she deleted her post once she realized what the entire post was.
"If I had read the offensive poem in its entirety, I would have never reposted because this does not represent what I believe in. As soon as I read the entire offensive post, I immediately deleted it. But, I know that this mistake has caused others pain and opened wounds that I can only imagine," added Ogburn. "I cannot begin to describe the depths of my regret for that pain and the pain I have caused others. But when we make mistakes, we must own up to them and learn from them. I'm listening, I'm learning, and I promise you that will not stop."
Ogburn is the school board representative for the Three Chopt district. The resignation announcement did not state whether or not she was stepping down from the board completely.
