CLAY, W.Va. - The director of a West Virginia nonprofit group who was placed on leave after making a racist comment about first lady Michelle Obama on Facebook plans to return to her job this month.
Clay County Development director Pamela Ramsey Taylor made the post following Republican Donald Trump’s election to president, saying: “It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing a (sic) Ape in heels.”
The Charleston-Gazette reports a letter from the agency’s acting director Leslie McGlothin to the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services says Taylor is on suspension and scheduled to return to work Dec. 23.
The nonprofit provides services to elderly and low-income residents in Clay County. It is funded through state and federal grants and local fees.
Look at the face on this woman and she has the nerve to attack the first lady. The last thing she should comment on is how someone looks. Are there are no mirrors in her part of the country. Can't believe she is being rehired, the whole town must be red neck racist.
Clay Mayor Beverly Whaling also came under criticism after responding to the post: “Just made my day Pam.”
Whaling said in a statement sent to news media that she was referencing the change in the White House and said she wasn’t racist.
West Virginia official under fire for racist Facebook post about Michelle Obama
But Whaling later resigned following a backlash about the comment.
The Clay Town Council accepted Whaling’s resignation in a meeting in November.
Council member Jason Hubbard issued a brief statement condemning the “horrible and indecent” post and said racism and intolerance “isn’t what this community is about.” He apologized on behalf of the town to Michelle Obama and anyone who was offended.
“This community is a helpful, hopeful, empathetic and God-loving community,” Hubbard said. “Please don’t judge the entire community for one or two individual acts.”
African-Americans make up about 4 percent of West Virginia’s 1.8 million residents, according to the U.S. Census.
About 77 percent of Clay County residents supported Trump in the Nov. 8 election. In 2012, President Barack Obama received 31 percent of the county vote when Republican Mitt Romney easily carried the state.
The director of a West Virginia nonprofit who was put on leave for referring to First Lady Michelle Obama as “an ape in heels” will be back at work next week.
Pamela Ramsey Taylor, director of the Clay County Development Corp., will return to her position Dec. 23. She was originally suspended for racist comments on Facebook she posted after Republican Donald Trump won the presidential election.
“It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing an ape in heels,” Taylor wrote in the post that she later deleted but was preserved in screenshots.
1. Taylor Wrote That She Is ‘Tried of Seeing a Ape in Heels’ as First Lady
The controversy started on November 12, when Taylor wrote a Facebook message after seeing photos of Obama talking with the new First Lady, Melania Trump. Taylor’s post read:
It will be so refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady back in the White House. I’m tired of seeing [an] Ape in heels.Over an hour later, Whaling wrote, “Just made my day” in a comment on the post. A person who posted screenshots of the comments said that they should both lose their jobs.
The comments were picked up by WSAZ in West Virginia. Taylor told the station that she deleted the comment and apologized on Facebook, but her Facebook page has been deleted. Still, Taylor said that she has received death threats because of the comment and is talking with her attorneys about filing a lawsuit against those who slandered her.
2. Taylor Was Placed on Leave, but Will Be Back to Work on December 23
Taylor told WSAZ that she was reprimanded quickly after the post went live. On Monday, November 14, she was removed from her position. WCHS-TV reports that Taylor was placed on leave.
“While we respect Ms. Taylor’s right to free speech, we strongly oppose any form of racism or hate speech,” Joe Murphy, vice chairman of the Clay Democratic Executive Committee, told the West Virginia Gazette-Mail. “We fully support our president and the first lady.”
On December 11, The West Virginia Gazette-Mail reported that Taylor will get her job back. She will return to work on December 23 and the Clay Development Corporation did not provide the Gazette-Mail with a comment.
State Democratic Party Chairwoman Belinda Biafore also issued a statement on the controversy:
On behalf of my fellow Mountaineers I would like extend my sincerest apologies to first lady Michelle Obama. West Virginia truly is better than this. These radical, hateful, and racist ideals are exactly what we at the West Virginia Democratic Party will continue to fight against. These words and actions do not represent West Virginia values.The Clay County Development Corporation’s Facebook page is flooded with negative reviews now. One person praised the company for firing Taylor.
We will continue to fight for a West Virginia that is inclusive, not divisive and a home for all to feel safe, welcome, and protected. In a time when we are at a crossroads and many fear the future we must stand together against hate of all forms.
“I’d like to apologize to anyone who was offended and most certainly the First Lady. I’m sorry that this happened,” Clay Councilman Jason Hubbard told WSAZ. “The Town Council would like to condemn the horrible and indecent post that is the center of the controversy. This post is an individual and isolated act. This kind of racial intolerance is not what this community is about.”
3. Over 100,000 People Signed a Petition to Get Whaling Recalled, but Less Than 700 People Live in the City
After news of the post began to circulate, a petition on The Petition Site popped up, asking that both Taylor and Whaling lose their jobs. The petition has over 110,000 signatures. However, the city has a population of 648. The latest Census estimates show that just 9,386 live in all of Clay County, West Virginia.
The petition reads:
Clay County Development Corp. Director Pamela Taylor Ramsey posted a hateful, racially motivated statement to Facebook, which was not only liked by the Clay County Mayor Beverly Whaling, but commented on in a way that showed she agreed with her comments. Every grant and piece of paper Mrs. Taylor and Ms. Whaling have to fill out and sign promises equal opportunities and a racism free workplace.As the Gazette-Mail notes, a recall vote would need signatures from the registered voters who live within Clay. Ultimately, the recall wasn’t needed since Whaling decided to resign.
4. Whaling Says She Didn’t Intend for Her Message to be Seen as Racist
Whaling has been in office for just over a year, taking office on July 1, 2015. Her term wasn’t supposed to end until June 30, 2019.
Whaling did issue an apology for her comment to the Washington Post, writing, “My comment was not intended to be racist at all.”
Here is Whaling’s full statement:
I would like to apologize for any unintentional harm caused by my comment. My comment was not intended to be racist at all. I was referring to my day being made for the change in the White House! I am truly sorry for any hard feeling this may have caused! Those who know me, know that I am not in any way racist! Again, I would like to apologize for this getting out of hand!On Tuesday, Whaling resigned from her post.
5. Donald Trump Won Clay County With Over 70 Percent of the Vote
Trump easily won West Virginia during the general election against Hillary Clinton with 68.7 percent of the vote. Trump won every single county in the state.
In Clay County, Trump earned 77.4 percent, while Clinton earned just 19.1 percent of the vote. Clay County is located in the Southern area of West Virginia and borders Kanawha County, which includes the state capital, Charleston.
Since Trump’s election, there have been several cases of hate crimes throughout the country against minorities.
The Clay County Development Corp. is not a government agency but does receive state and federal funding for its work providing services to low-income and elderly residents of Clay County in West Virginia. The organization confirmed Nov. 15 that Taylor had “been removed from her position,” but did not say whether she would be fired.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that according to a letter from the agency’s acting director, Taylor will be back at work next week.
The director of a Clay County nonprofit group, who was removed from her position after making a racist Facebook post about first lady Michelle Obama, plans to return to her job later this month, according to a letter from the agency's acting director.
Pamela Taylor, whose online post referred to Obama as an “ape in heels,” is on suspension and is scheduled to return to work at the Clay County Development Corp. on Friday, Dec. 23, according to the letter from Leslie McGlothin to the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services.
The state bureau's commissioner, Robert Roswall, has warned the Clay agency that any discrimination from staff would jeopardize their state and federal funding.
In a letter dated Nov. 14 — the day media reports about Taylor's Facebook became widespread — Roswall warned that “any discrimination of staff or the customers [they] serve” could cause the agency to lose funding from state and federal agencies. The organization received about $1.5 million in federal funding and $363,000 in state funding in 2014.
Neither Taylor nor McGlothlin has responded to multiple phone calls from the Gazette-Mail.
The Clay County Development Corp. is a private nonprofit organization, and Clay County's second-largest employer, according to a recent study from Workforce WV. The organization provides senior services and financial assistance to elderly and low-income residents of Clay County. According to 2014 U.S. Census estimates, one out of every four people in Clay County is living below the poverty level.
Taylor became the CCDC's director in 2007. She was paid $75,000 in 2008 and almost $83,000 in 2014, according to tax returns from the group. The previous CCDC director, Betty Stalnaker, made about $63,000 before she retired. The agency's board sets all salaries, according to Ramona Stanley, executive director of the Appalachian Area Agency on Aging, which supervises the CCDC.
The governing board has 12 members, including Taylor. Board members are unpaid, and vote on decisions that affect CCDC programs.
According to meeting minutes obtained through a public records request to the Bureau of Senior Services when Taylor was initially suspended, board president Eunice Thomas and board secretary/treasurer Donald Holcomb decided on Taylor's suspension. Thomas, Holcomb and other board members did not respond to requests for comment.
Before she became director, Taylor was briefly removed twice from her job at the CCDC.
In 1999, Taylor and two other employees lost their jobs when Clay Development's board was restructured. Within a few days, a judge ordered that all three get their jobs back.
Taylor said in a lawsuit deposition that she was removed from her job again in 2002 after she was accused of pocketing fundraising dollars, but was hired back after a few months.
In 2009, Clay Development listed the job requirements for the executive director position. The director was supposed to have, at minimum, a bachelor's degree with 10 years' experience.
Taylor said in a 2008 deposition that she attended Clay County High School and had no college education. Prior to joining the Clay Development staff in 1989, she was a cosmetologist.
It's unclear if the organization's bylaws have been changed. Clay Development staff members refused to give the Gazette-Mail the most recent copy of the bylaws. They said the only person who could give the records was McGlothlin.
Stanley said the CCDC does not have to release records related to personnel matters, but are legally required to release all governing documents on request.
Taylor has been sued twice by employees for wrongful termination. One suit was settled and one dismissed.
Brenda Baird, who worked for Clay Development as a bookkeeper from 2000 to 2007, sued after she was fired. In her lawsuit, Baird said she found discrepancies on tax forms produced by Taylor, then a new employee. She said she was told not to question Taylor's work and got a written reprimand after arguing with another employee about it.
Later in 2007, Baird said, she told a CCDC board member about employees getting raises that were double the standard amount, and some employees getting bonus checks. The board member told Taylor, who then accused Baird of “trying to get her fired,” according to Baird's lawsuit.
By the end of the month, Baird was fired for “gross misconduct and insubordination.” She had not been formally disciplined for insubordination since 2002, according to her lawsuit.
Baird sued Taylor and Clay Development, claiming that Taylor fired her because of her concerns and spread lies about her.
The case was settled out of court in 2009 for an unspecified amount.
Baird declined an interview request from the Gazette-Mail, citing a gag order when the case was settled.
In a deposition in the lawsuit, Taylor claimed Baird was the one who authorized the disputed bonus checks, not her. She also said Baird had made an effort to make Taylor “look incompetent” in front of other employees.
Another former employee, Janet Fitzwater, sued CCDC last year. Fitzwater worked for the CCDC as a secretary from 1998 to 2010. Her lawsuit was dismissed in March 2015. Fitzwater did not reply to multiple interview requests from the Gazette-Mail.
Clay was established on the site of a farm that was the site of Clay County's first court meeting following the county's establishment in 1858. The community was initially known by the name of "Marshall," then briefly as "Henry," and then as "Clay Courthouse" and finally Clay. The town and county are both named for U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Henry Clay (1777–1852). The town was incorporated in 1895. Before 1880, Clay was inaccessible to traffic from horse-drawn vehicles, and the Elk River was its primary mode of transport. Expansion of the Coal and Coke Railway reached Clay in 1905.
In June 2016, the town was impacted by severe flooding from the Elk River.
In November 2016, Clay mayor Beverly Whaling approvingly responded to a social media post that referred to U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama as an "ape in heels". Following international media coverage of the incident and a petition of 200,000 signatures, Whaling, an admitted racist, resigned.
The mayor of the nearby town of Clay, Beverly Whaling, also came under fire for responding to the Facebook post with a comment that said “Just made my day Pam.” She resigned Nov. 15 after an online petition called for the resignation of both women got almost 200,000 signatures, but Whaling insists her comments were not racist.
“My comment was not intended to be racist at all. I was referring to my day being made for change in the White House!” Whaling said in a statement to the Washington Post. “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!”
The director of a West Virginia nonprofit who was put on leave for referring to first lady Michelle Obama as "an ape in heels" will be back at work next week.
Pamela Ramsey Taylor, director of the Clay County Development Corp., will return to her position Dec. 23. She was originally suspended for racist comments on Facebook she posted after Republican Donald Trump won the presidential election.
RELATED
'Ape in Heels': West Virginia Mayor Resigns After Liking Racist Facebook Post
"It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I'm tired of seeing an ape in heels," Taylor wrote in the post that she later deleted but was preserved in screenshots.
The Clay County Development Corp. is not a government agency but does receive state and federal funding for its work providing services to low-income and elderly residents of Clay County in West Virginia. The organization confirmed Nov. 15 that Taylor had "been removed from her position," but did not say whether she would be fired.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that according to a letter from the agency's acting director, Taylor will be back at work next week.
The mayor of the nearby town of Clay, Beverly Whaling, also came under fire for responding to the Facebook post with a comment that said "Just made my day Pam." She resigned Nov. 15 after an online petition called for the resignation of both women got almost 200,000 signatures, but Whaling insists her comments were not racist.
"My comment was not intended to be racist at all. I was referring to my day being made for change in the White House!" Whaling said in a statement to The Washington Post. "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!"
Taylor vowed to sue people who had "slandered her" following the incident, claiming the response had become a "hate crime against me.
You might remember reading last month about a woman who called Michelle Obama “an ape in heels” on Facebook?
Many of you were disgusted by her comments and called on her to be sacked.
You’d think that a racist comment against the First Lady would be enough to get you fired?
Well, despite her comments, it looks like Pamela Ramsey Taylor is heading back to her job next week.
It turns out, the director of the Clay County Development Corp was only suspended from her job – not fired.
We’re so used to hearing about people who have been fired over something they’ve said on Facebook, it happens all the time.
In fact, it happened just last week the actress who played Cindy Brady on the Brady Bunch.
So, why hasn’t Taylor been fired?
According to a letter from The Clay Country Development Corp’s acting director, published in the Charleston Gazette Mail, Taylor is returning to next week.
She’s being reinstated because her ‘ape in heels’ comment was “made outside of the agency on a personal social media post on personal time”.
“It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing an ape in heels,” Taylor wrote in the post after the election, that was later deleted.
Apparently, according to reports in the Sydney Morning Herald, Taylor is vowing to sue people who have “slandered her”.
She’s also described the response from people across the world as a “hate crime against me.
Her fate is different to the mayor of a nearby town, Beverly Whaling, who was forced to resign after commenting on Taylor’s post.
An online petition signed by almost 200,000 signatures called for both women to resign.
The eyes of the world need to be upon this community.
Amherst Democratic News
ACVDN
No comments:
Post a Comment