A West Virginia official who called Michelle Obama “an ape in heels” on Facebook has been placed on indefinite leave from her job and is calling the backlash against her a “hate crime,” the Telegraph is reporting .
Until Monday, Pamela Ramsey Taylor had been the director of the Clay County Development Corp, which provides services to elderly and low-income residents. She and Beverly Whaling, the mayor of the town of Clay (population: approximately 500), have both been facing intense public criticism following a now-deleted Facebook post that didn’t get the reaction they’d apparently hoped it would.
In a post that has since been deleted, Taylor took to Facebook to make her feelings about the election of Donald Trump — and by extension, the elevation of Melania Trump to first lady. Even though the original post is gone, the Huffington Post was able to save a screenshot.
Official removed from post after calling Michelle Obama “ape in heels” https://t.co/FS8q2OaACt pic.twitter.com/gDsdP32DJ0
— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) November 15, 2016
Before the post was deleted, Whaling weighed in on Taylor’s post.
“Just made my day Pam.”
Taylor later deleted the post and replaced it with an apology, but it was too late , according to WSAZ (Huntington). Within hours, an online petition had popped up calling for the firing of both Taylor and Whaling.
“Clay County Development Corp. Director Pamela Taylor Ramsey posted a hateful, racially motivated statement to Facebook, which was not only liked by the Clay County Mayor Beverly Whaling, but commented on in a way that showed she agreed with her comments. Every grant and piece of paper Mrs. Taylor and Ms. Whaling have to fill out and sign promises equal opportunities and a racism free workplace.”
Seriously, #PamelaRamseyTaylor and #BeverlyWhaling , did you think that you could make these kinds of vile remarks and get away with it? pic.twitter.com/UD2EAwzNwi
— Turn Tennessee Blue (@TurnTNBlue) November 14, 2016
As of this writing, the petition has received 158,000 signatures out of a goal of 160,000.
As it turns out, however, the petition is now redundant, at least as far as Taylor is concerned. She has submitted her resignation, according to WSAZ. Although it is not clear whether or not her resignation is the final word on her employment, a previous WSAZ update stated that the Clay County Development Corp had removed her from her position.
Regardless of the facts of Taylor’s dismissal, she is continuing to insist that she meant nothing racist by the post about Michelle Obama.
“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 in any way racist.”
Further, she also claims that she and her children have been the subject of death threats and other harassment since the incident. Sheriff Garrett Samples confirmed that threats have been made against Taylor and Whaling, although there have been no official police reports.
Taylor calls the backlash a “hate crime against me.”
As of this writing, it appears that Beverly Whaling remains the mayor of Clay, and she is not returning calls from the media, according to WSAZ.
Whaling and Taylor are not the first public officials who have made racist social media posts about the Obama family. Just last week, according to the Los Angeles Times , Kentucky Republican Dan Johnson was found to have made several Facebook posts depicting the Obamas as monkeys. Johnson won his election to the state’s House of Representatives despite the emails and calls from within the Kentucky Republican Party to step down. Johnson refused.
Do you believe the West Virginia officials who called Michelle Obama an “ape in heels” deserve to be fired from their jobs?
[Featured Image by Krista Kennell /Shutterstock]
