TCU investigating alleged racist behavior, posts from members of family with school ties
A family with deep ties to TCU is the focus of a university investigation after the daughter, a recent undergraduate student, made an apparent white power sign during a protest in Sundance Square.
The daughter’s action prompted protesters to explore the family’s social media activity, and they say they unearthed racist social media posts from some family members going back years.
TCU was made aware of posts that “do not represent the university’s stated values” and is investigating them, the university said in a prepared statement. University spokesperson Holly Ellman wouldn’t specify which member or members of the Parris family are at the center of the probe.
It’s also unclear if the daughter, India Parris, has remained enrolled at TCU since the June 12 protest in which videos and photos captured her using her right hand to form an OK sign. The hand gesture, once innocuous, has taken on a new meaning as an Anti-Defamation League-recognized hate symbol, making the rough shape of WP for “white power.” Ellman said in a June 25 email that India Parris was registered for fall classes but later said she isn’t, without answering whether she’s still enrolled as a student.
A Sundance Square representative confirmed to the Star-Telegram that India Parris was terminated from her job with the district’s valet vendor, where she was working during the protest. “Sundance Square does NOT condone any form of bigotry or hate mongering,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Sheri Parris, India Parris’ mother, is a research scientist at TCU’s Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development who has maintained a professional online presence, her Facebook and Twitter page show. Her husband, Joseph Edgar Parris, has been outspoken and antagonistic on social media, from proudly sharing images of the Confederate flag to angrily attacking Black Lives Matter protesters, according to screenshots of the posts.
Joseph Parris, a TCU alumnus who has attracted the most outrage online, has never been employed by the university, Ellman said. But in 2018 TCU Extended Education did accept a proposal from him to teach a free enrichment class as a volunteer. “After the first meeting, TCU canceled the class,” Ellman said.
His name is listed on a university webpage as a TCU Extended Education teacher, though Ellman said this is inaccurate.
Among his posts on Twitter that have attracted outrage was his June 13 response to a tweet from a reporter covering a protest in Fort Worth: “I say the police should kill them all. They have no cause that I care about.”
Sheri, Joseph and India Parris didn’t respond to multiple Facebook messages and emails seeking comment. Phone numbers listed in online records were disconnected. A message sent to Sheri’s school email address triggered an automatic response stating she’s on a leave of absence, which the school wouldn’t comment on.
Their son, Alexander Parris, a TCU graduate, didn’t respond to a Facebook message and email requesting a comment as well as assistance getting in contact with his sister. India Parris’ Facebook page, which screenshots show was active before the protests, appears to have been taken down.
Ellman, the TCU spokesperson, wouldn’t say if disciplinary action has been taken against India Parris, who also once shared an image of the Confederate flag on her Facebook page, or any other members of the Parris family.
Questions raised by concerned Fort Worth residents remain about whether Sheri Parris, the family member serving the college in an official capacity, could or should be held responsible for the actions of her relatives. Or what the school’s responsibility is in addressing the racist behavior of alums with long and proud histories with the university.
“Due to university practice regarding personnel and student conduct matters, TCU will not comment further,” Ellman said in a prepared statement.
A small group of Fort Worth activists who uncovered the offensive posts say the school should take immediate action, starting with acknowledging the hurt caused by the racist posts before weighing punitive action against appropriate parties.
Malia Hubbard, a 37-year-old TCU alum, sent a letter to the college’s head of human resources with several screenshots and later contacted the school through social media, she said. But she said she never heard back.
She was watching a livestream of the June 12 rally when she noticed India Parris. The valet employee in a red shirt, she said, was shouting at protesters who were marching through Sundance Square. Instagram videos provided by Hubbard show Parris later holding the OK symbol beneath her waist as people spoke.
Seeing this behavior, in the context of their peaceful calls for justice, pushed Hubbard and others involved with the Enough is Enough protest group to research if this was part of a larger pattern. What they found shocked them, Hubbard said, and made them feel TCU had to know.
“If I were an administrator, what I’d want people to realize is that words have consequences. Actions have consequences,” said Hubbard, a Fort Worth resident. “I think for too long people have been able to say whatever they want whenever they want to say it and it has largely been overlooked, especially when it comes to minorities. And we’re done. We’re over it.”
For those who have been raising their voices about the posts, the family’s close connection to TCU has raised questions about the values and the culture of the school, which is facing a lawsuit in which five Black students allege everything from casual racist behavior to physical assault. TCU has denied the allegations in the lawsuit.
The TCU faculty council also recently considered a vote of no confidence in the administration in part due to racial discrimination claims.
In response to the faculty’s concerns, TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini told the Star-Telegram, “I am committed to an anti-racist campus where everyone has a ‘place’ at the table. We will do whatever necessary to achieve that goal. I also have the 100% support of our trustees to keep working toward that goal.”
Hubbard’s chief concern about the offensive posts — and the main reason she wanted to copy the Star-Telegram on one of her emails to TCU — is the possibility that individuals who might harbor hateful and racist views are representing the university in an official capacity. Specifically, in the case of Sheri Parris, someone whose job relies on her to be impartial.
April Marie Thompkins, 37, of Fort Worth, spent days digging into social media posts after the June 12 protest. She shared screengrabs of several posts and images to the Enough is Enough Facebook group, with the caption, “We need an answer TCU.”
She stayed up past 3 a.m. one night, she said, wondering: “How is this going on?”
“All this is public and nobody has said anything,” Thompkins said.
Years of controversial posts
In October 2016, the Parrises’ son Alexander, then a TCU student, wrote a letter to TCU administrators addressing demands from the Black Lives Matter movement. Those demands, which came from a group of student activists, included mandating campus-wide online sensitivity training and establishing a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech and microaggressions.
In the letter, shared to his Facebook followers, Alexander Parris wrote that the proposed actions “are inherently racist and demeaning” and existing programs “that link value with ethnicity such as affirmative action” should be done away with immediately.
He also described himself as part of a line of people going back three generations to attend TCU. “My grandfather knew both M.J. Neeley and Amon Carter.”
Screengrabs taken by protesters show that pride in TCU tradition is shared by his family.
So is — for certain family members — a reverence for symbols of white nationalism.
In 2015, India Parris had made the Confederate flag her Facebook profile picture, screengrabs show. Sheri Parris was one of at least five people who liked the post updating her photo.
Joseph Parris has repeatedly defended the Confederacy and slavery, according to dozens of screengrabs. In writing back to a Facebook comment underneath his own Confederate flag profile photo in 2015, he said: “I didn’t say all negroes should be slaves. I said I have no problem with slavery.” He also said in a comment on another post in 2016 that he is a racist, if that means “belief one race is superior to another if by no measurement than preference alone.”
On Twitter, screengrabs show he recently tweeted “it’s time to release the dogs and get out the water hoses” on protesters marching in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
Joseph Parris works in Fort Worth as a licensed real estate broker, according to property search website Homes and Rentals (HAR). He uses the name AlexIndia — a combination of his children’s names — on multiple platforms including YouTube, where he runs a channel in which he offers commentary on topics ranging from “The Crash of 2020 a planned attack from China” to “Ukraine Trump Trap.” On his Instagram, he discusses a family company, the AlexIndia Group, that manufactures wooden structures.
Hubbard, the TCU alum who helped bring Joseph Parris’ posts to the attention to the college, said the school needs to determine if Sheri Parris brings any biases into her work as a research scientist. The Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development, a program from TCU’s College of Science & Engineering, is focused on providing outreach for children who have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma, according to its website.
A neuroscience major at TCU, Hubbard said racism “skews your ability to be objective” and “invalidates all of the research that you produce.”
She would like to see her alma mater reckon with what she described as a normalized “undercurrent of racism” that has existed since she was a student. She remembers one time she brought up that she was a single mother with a small group of students, and one person remarked it was surprising because she wasn’t Black. The rest of the group agreed, she said.
Her son has said his whole life he would like to follow in her footsteps and go to TCU, she said.
But she won’t let him — unless the school makes some changes soon.
“In two years we’ll be making that decision,” Hubbard said. “This is where we are as a world — and there is no place for racism or discrimination anymore.”
Ellman, the university spokesperson, said “TCU is focused on creating a respectful and inclusive community for all students and is actively implementing diversity, equity and inclusion programs.”
An ongoing investigation
Thompkins, who lives with her husband and three children in Fort Worth, said she believes TCU needs to respond to these posts in a way that “denounces white supremacy and the views that have been put out there.”
The school would be wise to avoid what she sees as hollow gestures such as a Facebook post from the TCU page on June 5 with the message Black Lives Matter in a solid purple box, she said. More than 750 people commented, many questioning if the school believes its own words.
Even though she’s white, Thompkins said she’s used to encountering discrimination in the world with her Black husband and children.
And she doesn’t like to see institutions try to sweep it under the rug, she said.
“I got mad because so many people that look like me want to pretend this isn’t happening, or want to pretend that this is made up or we’re out in these streets every day being a nuisance for no reason,” Thompkins said. “Deny that it’s happening, but clearly it’s not made up.”
Thompkins and Hubbard said the school should immediately sever any ties it has with Joseph Parris over his offensive posts, as well as Sheri Parris if it’s found that she has promoted or holds onto hateful views.
On India Parris’ status as a student, Hubbard said: “How can a school continue to host a person like that with already a minority population that feels marginalized?”
Ellman, the TCU spokesperson, said in an email on Tuesday the college couldn’t provide any more updates on the investigation.
The school, she said, can’t comment on personnel matters or investigations into student conduct.
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
