Beverly Whaling, mayor of Clay County, West Virginia, resigned from her position Tuesday and another official was placed on leave as fallout over a racist Michelle Obama Facebook post continues.
Clay County Development Corp. director Pamela Ramsey Taylor has been removed from her position and placed on leave for reportedly posting a racist comment on Facebook after the election that referred to the first lady as an “ape in heels,” according to The Huffington Post.
“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,” Taylor posted.
Whaling then chimed in, replying that Taylor's post “made her day.”
“Just made my day Pam,” Whaling wrote.
Taylor later deleted the post, but screenshots of her remarks surfaced across social media, prompting requests that both she and Whaling be fired.
By Tuesday morning, a petition calling for their firings had received more than 84,000 signatures. Whaling handed in her resignation, which was accepted by the Town Council, later in the day, The Associated Press reported.
Owens Brown, director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s West Virginia chapter, was among those who called for Taylor and Whaling to be fired, the StarTribune noted.
“I feel so it’s 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.”
Before deleting her Facebook profile, Taylor posted an apology saying that her comments “may be interpreted as racist but was in no way intended to be,” per WSAZ. She called the backlash she received “a hate crime against me,” adding that she and her children had received death threats over her comments.
Whaling offered an apology as well.
“My comment was not intended to be racist at all,” Whaling said, per the Washington Post. “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 of any way racist!”
“Again, I would like to apologize for this getting out of hand!”
The board of the Clay County Development Corp. appointed Leslie McGlothin in Taylor’s absence.