AEA Associate Executive Secretary Joe Reed will be joining his long-time pal Paul Hubbert in retirement this weekend. He’s also joining Hubbert in having retirement puff-pieces written about him as he exits the stage.

If you’re interested in the AP’s send-off for Reed, you can read it here.

To summarize, the article mostly highlights Reed’s efforts to achieve racial equality for everyone. I hope you will agree with me that that is something worth fighting for. However, does this sound like a statement from a man who values racial equality?

“Reed was chairman of the Alabama State University board of trustees and thwarted gubernatorial efforts to put whites on the board. ‘That was a no-no,’ Reed said of Fob James’ effort to put the late Montgomery Mayor Emory Folmar on the board.”

Imagine for a moment if someone came out publicly saying it was a “no-no” for there to be a black member of the Auburn or Alabama board. First of all that would be an absolute disgrace. And you can bet we’d see something similar to this: