Virginia mayor calls Kamala Harris ‘Aunt Jemima’
Racism Score: 3.9
It is best to say less. Especially if you are on social media and you believe you are trying to be funny (the irony for us to say that!). Opinions and taste differ regarding jokes. Some funny jokes are racial in nature.
For example.
That is a funny joke in our opinion.
If you are telling a racial joke, the joke needs to be done in the appropriate setting, in front of the right audience with clear context. Probably even better if you are on stage holding a microphone at the Laugh Factory or a similar venue.
Hollywood has proven racial jokes are ok if you are acting in a movie, TV show, or hosting SNL. Fair or unfair as it is, racist jokes are usually reserved for entertainers, not public servants.
Barry Presgraves is a 77-year-old white male and the mayor of Luray, Virginia. Presgraves could not contain his excitement regarding Joe Biden’s VP pick that he had to tell the world.
He called Kamala Harris “Aunt Jemima!” Whew. Mayor Presgraves was not on stage, he was not acting, and clearly the setting was inappropriate. To be clear, we cannot think of time when this comment would ever be OK, even if it was a joke. Well, unless the right Black comedian delivered the joke in a funny captivating way but even then that is a stretch.
NBC News reports Presgraves apologized for his atrocious post.
“I want to make this very clear to everyone with absolutely no qualifications, I understand what I posted on social media was wrong, offensive and unbecoming. I also want to make a direct apology to all people of color and women. Passing off demeaning and worn-out racial stereotypes as humor isn’t funny, I now fully understand how hurtful it is and I can and will do better and we can all do better. We must.”
Audre King, a Black pastor and business owner in Luray believes Presgraves should resign as mayor. However, King does not think Mayor Presgraves intended for his post to be racist and added “although in the context, they very much were.”
Do you think Mayor Presgraves should be given the benefit of the doubt that he was just trying to be humorous?
