Mayor Patrick Rushing, of Air Heights, Washington, is refusing to resign after posting Facebook comments referring to Michelle Obama as "gorilla face" and President Barack Obama as "monkey man."
The Air Heights City Council asked Rushing to resign his position after his comments engendered numerous complaints from the city’s
residents, The Spokesman-Review reported Tuesday.
Saying he was unaware his comments were racist, Rushing told the SR, "I made a mistake. I owned up to my mistake. If I do resign that’s admitting I’m a racist and I’m not. "
The Facebook comment said,
as published by KHQ, "Gorilla face Michelle, can't disagree with that. The woman is not attractive except to monkey man Barack. Check out them ears. LOL." It has since been deleted.
Rushing told KHQ he did post the statement, and added, "It's just playful back and forth banter that my friends and I do."
But the comments offended many people.
"Because I'm black, it's offensive to me because many times blacks have been compared to a gorilla, a monkey. Some type of animal," Airway Heights resident Tommy Gilbert told KHQ. "I'm a joking and jovial person but I know when something is acceptable or not and that is not acceptable under any circumstances."
SR reported that the city council, whose hands are tied because Rushing is a public figure, is drafting a resolution about the incident, which may include sanctions against Rushing.
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