Virginia mayor who said Joe Biden picked Aunt Jemima as VP faces calls to resign
A mayor in Virginia who said presidential hopeful Joe Biden will pick “Aunt Jemima” as his running mate is facing calls to resign.
Barry Presgraves, mayor of the town of Luray, drew backlash after a post on his Facebook page read: “Joe Biden has just announced Aunt Jemima as his VP pick,” WTOP and other news outlets reported this week.
In June, the makers of Aunt Jemima said the line of syrups and pancake mixes was “based on a racial stereotype” and announced it would be revamped. The brand “features a Black woman named Aunt Jemima, who was originally dressed as a minstrel character,” NBC News reported at the time.
After screenshots of his Facebook post from Sunday were shared online, Presgraves told the Page Valley News “people have gone overboard” and said he won’t step down as mayor.
“This was about a prominent woman who made pancake batter and the company was forced to take it off, which was wrong,” Presgraves said, according to the news outlet. “This was no more racist than the names I’ve been called. I don’t have a racist bone in my body.”
But several people said they saw his Facebook post in a different light.
“I am writing to strongly urge you to resign over a racist comment you made on Facebook,” Leah Pence, a Luray council member who is running again in 2020, wrote on social media. “The comment you posted has a type of humor that not been appropriate or funny in my lifetime or yours.”
Audre King, owner of the West Luray Recreation Center, said he spoke to community members and thinks it’s best for the mayor to leave his position, the Daily News-Record reported.
“Everyone there was outraged and calling for his resignation,” King told the newspaper. “Even the older people I spoke with, and some don’t have Facebook, were not surprised [by his post], but shocked it was made publicly known.”
Presgraves didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Wednesday morning.
He has previously said he won’t run for re-election in his town, home to the scenic Luray Caverns, WTOP reported. Without specifically mentioning the mayor’s controversial post, the town on Facebook shared a statement and said it planned to address it in a meeting Aug. 10.
“The Town of Luray rejects racism and is committed to working together with the community through understanding, compassion, and opportunity,” the town said Monday on its Facebook page.
The comments come as people are awaiting Biden’s vice presidential pick. The presumed Democratic candidate for the 2020 election has said he would choose a woman.
That’s raised speculation about whether Sen. Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams or other women of color would end up on the ticket.
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Virginia mayor who said Joe Biden picked Aunt Jemima as VP faces calls to resign."
