A racist Facebook post about U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama has caused a major controversy involving a town Mayor in the U.S. State of West Virginia.
Pamela Ramsey Taylor, who runs a local non-profit group in Clay County, referred to President Barack Obama’s wife as an “ape”.
“It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing a ape in heels,” Ms. Taylor said. Local Mayor Beverly Whaling responded by telling: “just made my day Pam”. The Washington Post and New York Daily News reported that Ms. Taylor was removed from her position on Monday.
She told local news outlet WSAZ, which first carried the story, that she acknowledged her post could be “interpreted as racist, but in no way was intended to be”, and that she was expressing a personal opinion on attractiveness, not the colour of a person’s skin. She told the channel that she was considering legal action for slander against unnamed individuals.
In a statement given to the Washington Post, Mayor Whaling said: “My comment was not intended to be racist at all” and apologised for the comment “getting out of hand.”
“I was referring to my day being made for change in the White House! I am truly sorry for any hard feeling this may have caused! Those who know me know that I’m not of any way racist!” she said.
Owens Brown, director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People West Virginia chapter, said it was “unfortunate that people still have these racist undertones“.
“Unfortunately, this is a reality that we are dealing with in America today. There’s no place for these types of attitudes in our state.”
West Virginia Democratic Party Chairwoman Belinda Biafore issued an apology to Michelle “on behalf of my fellow Mountaineers”, referring to a nickname for inhabitants of the state.
