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It would seem a Republican activist in South Carolina has gotten himself into hot water. On Facebook (and let's put aside the conversation about how far we've come into the age of new media), Rusty DePass said that a gorilla that had escaped Riverbanks Zoo was "just one of Michelle's ancestors" in reference to the current First Lady, Michelle Obama. DePass is a former chair of the state election commission, and he's admitted that he was referring to the First Lady. CNN is now carrying video on the story from its local affiliate, but let's get beyond the actual story. It was a clearly stupid comment that probably gets made by any number of white GOP (and non-GOP) activists in the south (and the north, east, west, etc.), but in this case it was made on a public website. Bob Coble, mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, says in the video that DePass should apologize, and more important that it is a racist comment. Because, it obviously is a racist comment. Imagine, for a moment, this comment being made about a white First Lady. It wouldn't even make sense, outside of the racist bigotry that equates blacks with lower-order apes. The video kind of glosses over that, and when it comes back to Coble, a rival of DePass', he talks about the long tradition of First Ladies and how none of them deserve that kind of comment. But none of them, up until Michelle Obama, would be on the receiving end of that kind of comment. For obvious reasons. None of them before Michelle Obama has been black. So let's not frame this in terms of the stature of her office. Let's call this what it is in more explicit terms. A white, southern GOP blowhard called a black woman an ape in order to demean her. It's almost predictable to the point of not being news. Does it even matter that she's the current spouse of Oval Office occupant?
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