JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The city has terminated the contract of a consultant who wrote a controversial book. That man now claims he was let go because of his religion.
Action News first reported about Dr. Herbert Barber on Feb. 19. He made comments about racial integration and even President Obama in a book.
In it, he writes, "Integration has proven to be as bad as inter-marriage; it dumbs down America. Perhaps God separated us for a reason."
Barber was brought in to study the benefits of river dredging and was paid $60,000 by the city. He claims he turned in his report and was immediately terminated because of his religious beliefs.
A spokesperson for the city disagreed, saying his services were no longer needed because he'd finished the work and adding, "Nobody from the port task force or the Office of Economic Development told him that he was being terminated for religious reasons. That allegation is groundless."
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The following statement was issued on behalf of Barber to Action News:
"Xicon Economics was retained to conduct econometric analyses regarding the financial and economic feasibility of deepening the St. Johns River. After a thorough investigation by the principal researcher for the study, Xicon Economics delivered electronic and bound copies to the City and explained their analyses, after which Dr. Barber was told he was terminated, effective immediately. In so doing, the City expressed appreciation of Dr. Barber and his work.
"Clearly the termination resulted from religious (Biblical) statements Dr. Barber made in his 2012 book, Fall of a Nation, a book that parallels the demise of the US to the demise of the Israelites - who sold out to government and subsequently ushered in 430 years of slavery for God's people. With no doubt, this unwarranted termination violated Dr. Barber's freedom of speech, not to mention his freedom to express his religious beliefs... and other civil liberty issues. Sadly, the termination only offered credence to the central theme in Dr. Barber's book."
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