Estherwood, Louisiana (CNN) A Louisiana police officer almost resigned from his job after sharing a racist Facebook meme. Then, he became his town's police chief.

Almost two years ago, Wayne Welsh, then assistant police chief of Estherwood, came across a meme on Facebook and shared it. The image depicted a white woman pushing the face of a white girl underwater in a bathtub.

"When your daughters (sic) first crush is a little negro boy," the meme reads.

Welsh was suspended from his job after sharing it, and he later apologized. When the spot for police chief was vacated last year, he was the interim for nine months. He ran unopposed for police chief last November.

The village is predominantly white, and less than 5% of the population is African-American, according to the 2010 census. Six black residents declined to be interviewed on the record, saying they feared retaliation.

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