Mayor resigns after reply to Michelle Obama 'ape in heels' Facebook comment causes backlash
Updated
A West Virginia mayor has resigned from her post following a public backlash after she posted a response to a racist comment about US First Lady Michelle Obama on Facebook.
The Clay Town Council accepted Mayor Beverly Whaling's resignation in a meeting late on Tuesday afternoon (local time) and said it would act quickly to name a replacement for the remaining three years of her term.
Council member Jason Hubbard issued a brief statement condemning the "horrific" post and said "racial intolerance isn't what this community is about", apologising on behalf of the town to anyone who was offended, including Mrs Obama.
Pamela Ramsey Taylor made the post following Donald Trump's election as president, saying "It will be so refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady back in the White House. I'm tired of seeing a [sic] Ape in heels", referring to Mr Trump's wife, Melania and Mrs Obama.
"Just made my day Pam," Ms Whaling responded.
Ms Taylor, a director at Clay County Development Corp, told local media on Monday night she had been put on leave.
Ms Whaling issued a written apology to news media outlets saying her comment was not intended to be racist.
"I was referring to my day being made for change in the White House! I am truly sorry for any hard feelings this may have caused! Those who know me know that I'm not in any way racist!"
The post, shared hundreds of times on social media before it was deleted, caused a backlash and earlier prompted calls for both women to be fired.
Owens Brown, director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's West Virginia chapter, was among those calling for the removal of both women.
"I feel it's so unfortunate that people still have these racist undertones," Mr 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 4 per cent of West Virginia's 1.8 million residents, according to the US census.
About 77 per cent of Clay County residents supported Mr Trump in the November 8 election. In 2012, US President Barack Obama received 31 per cent of the county vote when Republican Mitt Romney easily carried the state.
AP
Topics: us-elections, popular-culture, government-and-politics, race-relations, united-states
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