came along here, he was going from side to side -- >> reporter: as texas's first black trooper, rodney pearsonthe body of james bird junior, dragged to death by three white men. >> his head and shoulder caught this culvert and snapped it completely off his body. >> reporter: not long ago pearson became first black police chief, but his term ended after no more than a year. >> i make a motion that mr. pearson be terminated as police chief. >> reporter: he was fired in 2011, four black council members voted for him. the one white member didn't. 16 months later he was fired by a different city council, majority white. the vote also 4-1. >> i was fired over race. and now i feel that me and my family are marked. >> reporter: what seemed like a simple hire, has turned jasper upside down, reopening past wounds, pitting blacks against whites. >> our local radio station, kjas, they've made me a huge target. >> reporter: who owns that station? >> the mayor. >> reporter: mayor michael loud backed someone else for the job. >> when you looked at the nine finalists where did rodney pearson fall in terms of

when you looked at the nine finalists, where did rodney pearson fall in terms of that scoring system?think he was way below at the bottom, close to the bottom of the list. they just wanted their person in there. >> reporter: pearson says his credentials were identical if not better than past police chiefs. comments on the radio station's facebook page contained racial slurs. >> from day one to the day he was fired, he's had a target on his back. >> reporter: for those against pearson, the only way to get rid of him was to get rid of those four black city council members who voted to hire him. a group of all-white residents, calling itself concerned citizens, launched a petition drive to recall the black councilmembers, accusing them of incompetence and misconduct in hiring pearson. were all of you incompetent? >> we make a positive decision, something positive for the city of jasper, and we find ourselves recalled. >> reporter: how far apart are people? >> i think that we're probably back at that same stage that we were at during the james byrd time. >> reporter: so, that rift is back