WATERMELON EMAIL JOKE - California Mayor in heated controversy over "Racist" Email

NO EASTER EGG HUNT THIS YEAR
Load up the politically correct bandwagon for another trip down protest lane. A recent Email joke forwarded by Los Alamitos California Mayor Dean Grose has anti-racism protesters up in arms. The picture, shown on the left is of the Whitehouse lawn replaced by a WATERMELON patch with the headline "NO EASTER EGG HUNT THIS YEAR"


Although Mayor Dean Grose did apologise for sending this Email out to all his friends, including a Black business woman, the Mayor admitted not fully understanding the "racist" overtones in the WATERMELON JOKE. Honestly, neither do I.

The source tags of the White House image are: "watermelon," "kfc," "whitehouse," "obama," "easter," "uncle tom" and "house nigga."

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Grose is in firm crisis-control mode now as he tries to stem the public anger caused by the e-mail. The mayor has sent an apology for the e-mail to the Los Alamitos City Council and to Keyanus Price, a black businesswoman and community activist, who said she was appalled when she received the e-mail from the mayor saw the image and so took her concerns to The Orange County Register. The apology was also sent to Ms. Price's boss, who is an apparent valued member of the city's business community.

The mayor did not return two calls for comment from Raw Story on the source of the image in his e-mail.

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"The mayor said he was unaware of the racial stereotype that African Americans like watermelons," reported The Orange County Register.

In his apology letter for the e-mail the mayor wrote, "I am deeply embarrassed... It was poor judgement on my part and was never intended to be offensive to Ms. Price, your company or anyone in the African American Community.... You can be assured that I will not allow this to happen again. I in no way was representing the City of Los Alamitos, or my role as a council member in sending this out and it went via my private business email. That doesn't justify the fact that it was sent, however, we gratefully appreciate the contributions that your company makes to our community and I wish to publicly apologize to anyone within the firm or organization that may have been offended."

Price told The Register she was "horrified" when she read the e-mail.

"What I'm concerned about is how can this person send an e-mail out like this and think it is OK?" Price said, adding, "He's putting the city into a bad place, and he is a liability."

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Of course, there are others pointing out the possibility this cartoon was simply stating any monkey could have written the bill or even that we all are monkey's. After all, do all humans not evolve from apes?

Darwinian theories aside, this NEW YORK POST COMIC STRIP is sure to raise some more hackles as the day progresses. So what do you think, is this recent SEAN DELONAS / NEW YORK POST CARTOON a step back in race relations or is it just a simple misunderstanding?

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NEW YORK POST MONKEY CARTOON - Are we all not monkey's

JENA SIX Member MYCHAL BELL Shoots himself

A JENA SIX teenager whose arrest in a racially charged assault case drew thousands of protesters to his rural Louisiana hometown was in a hospital early Tuesday after a shooting that his lawyer said was accidental. MYCHAL BELL was cleaning a gun when it accidentally discharged, shooting him in the shoulder, his attorney, Carol Powell-Lexing, told CNN. He had surgery Monday night at a hospital in Monroe, Louisiana, and has not yet been able to talk, she said.

Monroe police Sgt. Cassandra Wooten said the wound was not life-threatening.

MYCHAL BELL was one of JENA 6 six black teenagers who faced adult felony charges in the 2006 beating of a white classmate in the town of Jena. The beating followed months of racial tensions in the community of 3,000 after three white students hung a noose in a tree whose shade was traditionally off limits to blacks at Jena High School, hence the name JENA SIX.

The case of the JENA 6 drew national attention from civil rights groups who argued that the charges were excessive. An estimated 15,000-plus people turned out for a September 2007 rally in the Louisiana town on the black youths' behalf. MYCHAL BELL eventually pleaded guilty to battery in a juvenile court, served several months in a youth home and later moved to Monroe, about 70 miles north of Jena. MYCHAL BELL was released in September 2007 and later agreed to a plea deal in the beating of a classmate.

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About two years ago, the JENA 6 were at the center of one of the biggest racially charged controversies in a long time. The six black students at Jena High School in Louisiana severely beat up a white student, but after three white students hung a racially insensitive noose up in front of the school. The subsequent prosecution of the JENA 6 for their beating drew ire from the black community, with the racially charged atmosphere making national headlines. But one JENA 6 member is back in the headlines for even more ugly reasons, after shooting himself by accident.

MYCHAL BELL, a JENA 6 member who moved from Jena after the controversy ended, went to the hospital earlier this week after accidentally shooting himself with a gun he was cleaning. MYCHAL BELL had surgery for the wound on Monday, and has not been able to talk since.

MYCHAL BELL did not shoot himself on purpose, although the heated circumstances of the JENA SIX case may have made some speculate that he did, at least before the news reported otherwise. MYCHAL BELL and five other black Jena students were championed by the black community for several months, in a case that reignited old racial wounds.

Activists like Al Sharpton argued for the JENA SIX and Bell to face lesser charges or be released altogether, since the noose supposedly drove them to beat up a white student to such an extent. Others argued for charges against the Jena 6 and Bell that were called excessive and racially biased by many.

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Ultimately, MYCHAL BELL himself went to a juvenile court and confessed to second-degree battery, serving several months at a youth home. When Bell was released and the JENA SIX case finally faded from national attention, Bell left Jena and moved 70 miles north to Monroe, Louisiana. The now 18-year-old Bell has been living with a foster family.

MYCHAL BELL had already faced an extra bit of attention last week, after he was arrested for shoplifting. According to Monroe police sgt. Cassandra Wooten, Bell felt upset over the extra media coverage he got for this arrest, due to his JENA SIX celebrity. This may help further the notion that Bell really tried to shoot himself.


Jena Six was the name given to a group of six black teenagers charged with the beating of Justin Barker, a white student at Jena High School in Jena, Louisiana, United States, on December 4, 2006. Barker was injured, but was released from the emergency room the same day. He has since brought suit against members of the Jena Six, their parents, the school district, and others allegedly involved.

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A number of events took place in and around Jena in the months preceding the Barker assault, which have been linked to an alleged escalation of racial tensions. These events included the hanging of nooses from a tree in the high school courtyard, two violent confrontations between white and black youths, and the destruction by fire of the main building of Jena High School. The incidents were often linked in the extensive news coverage regarding the Jena Six.

Six individuals (Robert Bailey, then aged 17; Mychal Bell, then 16; Carwin Jones, then 18; Bryant Purvis, then 17; Jesse Ray Beard, then 14; and Theo Shaw, then 17) were arrested in the assault on Barker. One, Mychal Bell, was initially convicted as an adult of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. His convictions were overturned on the ground that he should have been tried as a juvenile. Prior to a retrial in juvenile court, he pled guilty to a reduced charge of simple battery. The other five defendants still await trial.

The Jena Six case sparked protests by those viewing the arrests and subsequent charges, initially attempted second-degree murder (though later reduced), as excessive and racially discriminatory. The protesters asserted that white Jena youths involved in other incidents were treated leniently. On September 20, 2007, between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters marched on Jena in what was described as the "largest civil rights demonstration in years". Related protests were held in other US cities on the same day. Subsequent reactions include songs alluding to the Jena Six, a considerable number of editorials and opinion columns, and Congressional hearings.

Klan not Happy with Obama Victory

Ray Larson, the Imperial Wizard of the KKK has vowed to "end the philistine rule of the United States of America." Claiming the White House is meant to be "White" Ray Larson told his followers, "The American People have been brainwashed by Hollywood and slick political posturing." Making reference to the hit TV Show "24" the Klan leader and devout hater of "coloured people" said "Hollywood made the American People think that a Black man could effectively rule America."

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Larson also made reference to previous media spoofs which stated the KKK Endorsed Obama calling the statements "Blasphemous and Anti American in nature and contrary to the natural order of things." Larson went on to further state that America was in for a "frightening future filled with gang bangers and rap music."

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In an early morning statement, Larson vowed "This would not be the way America ends." Larson joined the KKK in 1960 and is determined to attract more members than ever before.