Two officials in the U.S. are under increasing pressure to resign from their positions after they posted racist comments on social media.
Pamela Ramsey Taylor a Development Corporation director in Clay County, Virginia posted on Facebook how refreshing it was going to be having a ‘classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House’ before adding she believed Mrs Obama looked like an ‘ape in heels’.
After this Clay Mayor Beverly Whaling responded to the post saying: ‘Just made my day Pam’, the Daily Mail reports.
Realising their mistake the posts were quickly deleted but not before they went viral, being shared hundreds of times on social media.
Many in the county branded the post racist’ and ‘vile’ and demanded both officials stand down, while a petition calling for them both to be fired has already reached more than 14,000 signatures.
Taylor has since suspended her Facebook account and both women have publicly apologised for their comments about Mrs Obama.
In a statement to The Washington Post Whaling claimed that her comments about Michelle Obama weren’t intended to be racist.
She said:
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 (sic) for this getting out of hand!
As awful as this story is, it’s nice to see that they’re still decent people willing to confront racism where they see it.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.