A school leader in North Carolina is receiving backlash for sharing a meme on social media about children picking cotton.

Bill Nolte, the superintendent of Haywood County Schools, posted a meme consisting of a black and white picture of kids holding bags that may have been filled with cotton on his Facebook page, according to the Mountaineer. The caption of it read: “Poor children of every color picked cotton, open a book and gain some knowledge.”

Now, the superintendent is apologizing, but claims the post “was not about race.”

RELATED: ABC News Executive Under Investigation For Racist Remark About Asking Robin Roberts To ‘Pick Cotton’

“I want to sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by my repost of poor white children picking cotton that said picking cotton was not about race,” he wrote in a follow-up Facebook post.

Nolte said he posted the meme on his social media after an ABC leader was accused of telling Robin Roberts to “pick cotton.”

“I thought the executive’s comments were appalling,” Nolte relayed in his apology. “My repost was intended to point out that picking cotton was done by many white people including my family. Unfortunately, [my] attempt to address a racist comment has been interpreted as racist.”

It continues: “Those of you who know me will remember my first college roommate was a dear high school friend who was black. I have spent a lot of my life trying to bring people together and hate that this well intended repost has added fuel to the fire.”

According to WLOS, Kasey Steffen, whose children attend Haywood County Schools, explained why she was offended by the post.

“[He said] that it wasn’t about race, it was about income,” Steffen told the TV station. “For all of those Black people who were out there, they got no income, they were forced to do that. He is the most powerful person in education in our county. So, I have a real problem that he doesn’t understand this.”