CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The director of a West Virginia development group has been fired and a mayor is under scrutiny after a racist post about first lady Michelle Obama caused a firestorm on social media and prompted calls for both women to lose their jobs.
Clay County Development Corp. director Pamela Ramsey Taylor made the post following Donald Trump’s election as president, saying: “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.”
Clay Mayor Beverly Whaling responded: “Just made my day Pam.”
The post, first reported by WSAZ-TV, was shared hundreds of times on social media before it was deleted.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported Tuesday morning that Ramsey Taylor had been fired.
The paper said a person who answered the phone at the Clay Development Corporation said Monday afternoon that Taylor had been removed from her post, but refused to comment further.
Both of their Facebook pages have now also been removed, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
Whaling didn’t immediately return a telephone message.
As of Monday afternoon, an online petition calling for the women’s terminations had garnered more than 14,000 signatures.
The two women have apologized for their controversial remarks, in a fashion.
Those who know me know that I’m not of any way racist
“My comment was not intended to be racist at all,” Whaling said in a statement to The Washington Post. “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!
“Again, I would like to apologize for this getting out of hand!”
Taylor could not be reached for comment, but WSAZ reported that she issued an apology on Facebook.
However, Taylor told the __news station that the public response had become a “hate crime against me,” explaining that she and her children received death threats. She said she is planning to file a lawsuit against people who have slandered and/or libelled her, according to the __news station.
The non-profit Clay Development Corporation provides services to elderly and low-income residents in Clay County. It is funded through state and federal grants and local fees.
It is not affiliated with the town of Clay, which is about 80 kilometres east of Charleston.
A representative at Clay County Development Corp., a nonprofit funded with state and federal money, said the board has “removed” Taylor from her position as director and appointed Leslie McGlothlin to take her place. McGlothlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Clay Town councillor Jason Hubbard told the Charleston Gazette-Mail that the town will address the incident at a council meeting Tuesday night.
Owens Brown, director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s West Virginia chapter, has been among those calling for the removal of both women.
This is a reality that we are dealing with in America today
“I feel it’s so unfortunate that people still have these racist undertones,” Brown said. “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.”
African-Americans make up about four per cent of West Virginia’s 1.8 million residents, according to the U.S. Census.
About 77 per cent of Clay County residents supported Trump in the Nov. 8 election. In 2012, President Barack Obama received 31 per cent of the county vote when Republican Mitt Romney easily carried the state.
Last week in Kentucky, Republican Dan Johnson defeated incumbent Democrat Linda Belcher in Bullitt County despite a series of Facebook posts that depicted Barack Obama and his wife as monkeys. Republican officials, including likely new House Speaker Jeff Hoover, had called on Johnson to drop out of the race. But Hoover declared last week that Johnson would be “welcome in our caucus.”
With files from The Washington Post
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