W. Va. official to return to job after racist Obama post
CLAY, W.Va (KTVU, AP) - The director of a West Virginia nonprofit group who was suspended for posting a racist comment about first lady Michelle Obama on Facebook last month, is set to return to her job next week.
Clay County Development director Pamela Ramsey Taylor came under fire for her post that said, “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 the message following Donald Trump’s election win and was later placed on leave from her job.
The Charleston-Gazette reported that a letter from the agency’s acting director Leslie McGlothlin to the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services says Taylor is scheduled to return to work Dec. 23 after her suspension.
The nonprofit provides services to elderly and low-income residents in Clay County. It is funded through state and federal grants and local fees.
Taylor was not the only one who found herself in hot water because of the post. Clay Mayor Beverly Whaling resigned after she responded to Taylor's post by saying: “Just made my day Pam.”
Whaling has said her comment wasn't intended to be racist.
“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 in any way racist!"
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.