This is funny to me. If we can't laugh at ourselves, and rather innocent remarks like this, we are doomed.
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Virginia mayor urged to resign after saying Biden picked ‘Aunt Jemima’ as his running mate
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A Virginia mayor has been urged to resign after he allegedly wrote that “Joe Biden has just announced Aunt Jemima as his VP pick,” on his Facebook page.
Barry Presgraves, the mayor of Luray, Virginia, posted the comment on his Facebook page over the weekend, but swiftly deleted it after backlash from residents and local officials.
The post came as presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden, is reportedly finalising his choice for his running mate, with several black women mooted as contenders, according to CNN.
Quaker Oats also announced earlier this year that it would retire the Aunt Jemima brand later in 2020, after acknowledging that its “origins are based on a racial stereotype”.
Earlier this week, in an email to Mr Presgraves, Luray councilwoman Leah Pence urged the mayor to resign, and wrote: “The comment you posted has a type of humour that not been appropriate or funny in my lifetime or yours.”
She added: “While a resignation alone will not resolve the systemic subliminal racism that plagues our community, your resignation is imperative as we work towards ending racism in our community.”
She added: “You are accountable for your words and decisions as the leader of the town of Luray and your recent actions have caused me and many citizens to lose faith and confidence in your capacity to effectively and justly serve as mayor of the town of Luray.”
According to local station WHSV3, councillor Ron Vickers added: “Barry does not speak for the council and does not speak for me.”
Mr Presgraves initially refused to apologise for the post, and told Page Valley News: “I had no idea people would react the way they did. I think people have gone overboard on this....It’s an election year.”
However, councilman Joey Sours told the station that he spoke to Mr Presgraves, “to encourage him to publicly apologise for sharing the meme, regardless of his intent due to the resultant impact, and to make every effort to rectify the situation”.
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http://news.yahoo.com/virginia-mayor-urged-resign-saying-163641925.html
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