Following a meeting organized by the Arizona school district where six high school girls wore T-shirts spelling out the n-word (more or less), Don Harris, head of the Maricopa County chapter of the NAACP—who also happens to be white, and Jewish—commented on a reporter’s appearance: “Nice tits!”

Tempe Union High School District invited about 50 community leaders and educators to a private meeting on Tuesday to discuss the shirts worn by six Desert Vista High School students. The group agreed to take steps to eradicate use of the n-word, the Phoenix New Times reports.

According to the Arizona Republic, Desert Vista High is 66 percent white and 7 percent black,, and, in 2014, the median household income in the school’s zip code was $95,628. At least one of the students—the ‘R’—has apologized.

The Maricopa County chapter of the NAACP is the state’s largest. Its president, Harris, a former U.S. Marine officer who served in Vietnam, was one of the community leaders in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting. He reportedly pledged $5,000 towards the group’s efforts.

A Channel 12 News reporter, Monique Griego, stopped Harris on his way out of the meeting. “How did this meeting fix anything?” her cameraman asked. “It doesn’t fix anything,” Harris replied. “We’re on a pathway now to making things better.” Griego thanked him and moved on to speak to someone else.

Harris then turned to the New Times reporter and said, “Nice tits.” Then, he said it again. (The New Times has audio.)

Asked on Wednesday what he would do to combat sexism as well as racism, Harris lost his mind. “I’m going to slash my wrists,” he said. “Better yet, I’m going to throw myself out of a fucking window, except I’m on the first floor...I’m one of the best goddamned people in the state.”

“I’ve given up my law practice. I’m down here six, seven days a week. That’s what my commitment is. I support NOW, the women’s organization—goddamn!—are you shitting me? Are you going to write this up?”

Incidentally, Harris spoke to CNN’s Anderson Cooper about Rachel Dolezal last year. “You’ve gotta have credibility,” he said at the time. “Once you lose that credibility, the efficacy of your leadership fails.”

Here is a picture of Harris with anti-immigration hard-liner Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who just endorsed Donald Trump for president:

The Maricopa NAACP did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Gawker.


Image via CNN. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.