Comments regarding Michelle Obama AIBU to feel like this is a bad dream...?

[Destinysdaughter]

"A West Virginia county worker was fired after penning a racist Facebook post calling first lady Michelle Obama an “ape in heels”.

“It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing a Ape in heels,” posted Clay County Development Corporation’s then director Pamela Ramsey Taylor to Facebook following Donald Trump’s presidential win last week.

Underneath Taylor’s post, Clay’s mayor, Beverly Whaling, voiced her approval: “Just made my day Pam.”

The racist post, now deleted from Facebook, caused an uproar, with thousands of horrified voters calling on the local mayor to be fired.

Ramsey, a well-known figure in town, was fired from her role as head of the government-funded non-profit organization." ( The Guardian ).

So, my AIBU is am I unreasonable to feel both in shock and despairing that it's ok for a respected woman to say this publically and for another influential woman to agree with this? And this isn't a private conversation in a cafe, it's the fact that they feel so confident in their views to express them in a public forum! I feel embarrassed and ashamed for them. But also really fucking angry. How dare they talk about an intelligent articulate professional woman this way, just because she's black...?

I hope they both become pariahs

You know that you are part of the problem when you post things like that? The solution is not more vicious, personalised hate. It is education and reason and all good things.

Disgusting. Utterly disgusting.
I am currently living is the US and it is utterly depressing - especially in this very conservative state. The vitriol, lies and outlandish conspiracy theories coming out of people's mouths is breathtaking sometimes.

One of the more utterly outrageous ones is that Michelle was born Michael and played American football at college before disappearing for two years and coming back as Michelle and then marrying Obama.

Such stupidity...

Brokenbiscuit that is horrendous. My DC are still relatively young but they are both becoming aware that there are people in the world who will have a problem with them just because they look "different".

My only positive thought out of this (that I HAVE to believe) is that it WILL NOT go the same way as it did in the 1930s (even though the rhetoric may be building up in the same way). I just DO NOT believe the global population will allow it - as has been mentioned, they have been sacked. Now, here my mind wanders into what that means in my belief that people will not allow Trump et al's beliefs/policies to win through- racism, anti-abortion, etc. And I can't imagine it can be done peacefully. But I genuinely don't see half the population letting it happen.

Ha part of the problem my ass. Not at all basket it's no more than they deserve but you defend their blasé racist attitudes if you like. I agree with yuckyuck and twogoats amongst others. People like you crying don't meet hate with hate, are part of the problem. It lets them off the hook.

AddToBasket I didn't see it firing back with hate at all. I saw it as American people saying, "Regardless of the election result, this is not ok". Yes, these women are irrelevant to the greater world. But they're not irrelevant in their own communities and they're not irrelevant, as paid officials, this soon after the election result.

And the people I was talking about are about as lacking in hate as you can get.

YANBU ...yet another news story that makes me feel a bit sick

I think you meet hate with strong resolve and firm red lines.

Love wouldn't have stopped the nazis would it?

Am happy they are leaving. The amount of race hate they endured I would not wish it on anyone. Let Americans have trump. The obamas deserve better.

They haven't just insulted Michelle obama. She might not even care, but there will be someone, somewhere reading this and feeling shit about themselves. Racism does not just affect the one person you are insulting, but every person of that race who comes across the message.

I honestly don't understand any of this. Disgusting attitudes like that, Trump being elected and the nasty racism that has come out of the woodwork since Brexit.sorry to break it to you but Michelle has always had this. They have always been open. The media just ignored it excluding the black blogs. A lot of the racist post have been from newspapers too. These are people who should no better.

Did any one see the New York Times one two days ago. I actually think that was worse. They were still stating that Michelle obama was the angry black woman. Am glad they will have Melania. Hopefully the comparing of Michelle obama (representing black women) and pitting her against what is standard European beauty will end. I know it won't but hopefully we will have less of it.

People who want to shut this down can fuck right off. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Donald trump just made the media more aware. They went looking for what has always been there because it used not paint trump in a bad light.

This is unfortunately nothing new. Michelle Obama has been called a man in a dress (by far the kindest insult), described as a monkey/ape, there's mating animals with her head photoshopped on (seriously! Not sure who the heck had this idea...), people calling her racist slurs etc...

That's nothing new for the Obamas, unfortunately. Not to mention the whole fuss about Obama being a Muslim, not being born in the US...

Pfft. I definitely want to meet that hate with some hate of my own. I actually cried a very angry tear of frustration when I read it.

I wanted to meet their hate with my friend, the hammer and pan their fucking racist cunty heads in.

Clay WVa population 483. I expect it's a redneck, podunk, hillbilly town out in the sticks, still stuck in the Jim Crow '30s.

Not the representative of the majority of us to be sure. Hillary won the popular vote. It's a very hard lesson many Democrats in battleground states have learnt about taking their votes for granted. Democrat voter turnout was the lowest it's been for years.

Hillary won the popular vote.

I do which more people would remember this when they make huge generalizations about the country as a whole. A majority of voters in the election actually voted for someone other than Donald Trump.

Disgusting comments, and disgracefull that a second elected position agreed with them.

Sack both, and prosecute both I say!

They can't be prosecuted. They haven't committed a crime. Speech alone in the US can almost never be criminal because of the protections of the First Amendment.

But they have been removed from their positions.

I do which more people would remember this when they make huge generalizations about the country as a whole. A majority of voters in the election actually voted for someone other than Donald Trump.

Amen, Sister Seneca!

I'm still in shock and haven't quite digested the election results. It just doesn't seem real.

Oh, god, yes AcrossthePond. Watching the news is like some strange reality TV show or a drama series that jumped the shark in the first episode.

Unfortunately the USA has always been extremely racist. I'm white and used to hitch-hike through it a lot but I couldn't hack the foul racists that I met on the way. They were all very nice to me and as they were doing me a favour I had to be very nice back, but the comments about people of other colours were horrendous.

And unfortunately Michele Obama has probably heard a lot worse.

Seneca and Acrossthepond YES! It's only a week since the election and I'm happily back watching, "This Is Us" and pretending nothing has changed. And EVERYTHING has changed.

Right there with you OP. I have such enormous respect for Michelle Obama - highly intelligent, highly educated, very funny, totally not-up-her-own-arse, compassionate, forward thinking, activist, so on and so on.

I know next to nothing about Melania but I do know that I want more from our leaders (the first lady has immense influence) than swishy hair.

“It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House

That's EXACTLY what we have just had, mixed with funny, intelligent & caring.

Any numb nuts who thinks the incoming is an improvement on the outgoing clearly isn't worth a passing thought.

I'd see these hateful women put in the stocks and have rotten food thrown at them and publicly humiliated for weeks until it they feel utterly broken. Utter, utter scumbag lowlife . I wish them everything bad forever more.

It goes without saying that it would be beyond the pale to make that comment about anyone and beyond stupid to say it on public record. But to say it about the sainted Michelle Obama, a woman who has been peerless and flawless in her role as First Lady, who makes women proud and black people proud and Americans proud is just too fucking much.

Despicable bitches.