Los Alamitos Is Full Of Morons

A few weeks ago AP ran a piece about Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose. He was resigning due to an e-mail he sent out that had a picture of watermelons on the lawn of the White House with the title "No Easter egg hunt this year." Grose said he didn't mean to offend anyone when he forwarded the e-mail to a "small group of friends." He also said he was "unaware of the racial stereotype that black people like watermelons." His black friend, Keyanus Price, wanted a public apology, which he gave.

Are people really expected to believe Grose was unaware of the stereotype? I mean,first of all he's an idiot because he forwarded the e-mail in the first place, and forwarded it to a black friend no less, so one would believe that supports his position that he was "unaware." Think rationally for a minute, though. If he was unaware of the stereotype, why forward the e-mail? People forward things like this because they think it's funny. If you are unaware of the stereotype (which is why the e-mail is supposed to be "funny"), you wouldn't get the joke and would therefore have no reason to forward something you don't understand. How many people want to seem like morons in front of their friends?

This leaves some other unanswered questions, too. Does Grose think voters are so dumb that they can be lied to that easily? Are they so dumb that they would either A)Vote in a racist, or B) Vote in a man so ignorant that he didn't realize the stereotype? My guess is the former on that one, though in all fairness he probably didn't run for office in black face.

I have no problem with people being racist and open about it. It's their right. I prefer to know what their opinions are because the ones who hide it (perhaps like this mayor) sometimes get into positions of power and then let their feelings through in their actions. I'd much rather have someone be proud of their feelings and let the world know. It makes them easier to deal with, and I respect it much more.

The people of Los Alamitos have little to do with this mayor's social faux pas, other than electing him into office. He probably hid his racism well enough to get there, which is to be expected. After all, Los Alamitos is in Orange County and you can't really run a David Duke-style campaign there because it will make the citizens look bad. But Los Alamitos does have some responsibility to really call this guy out on his stupidity. I'd like to see him grilled in the press about this. (He may have been, but I haven't delved into it that deeply.) I want to see him explain why he forwarded an e-mail he couldn't have found funny if he didn't get the stereotype.

What was he thinking? Answer: He wasn't. That's the problem with people who don't admit their racism. They don't think their feelings through. It worked out well for him, didn't it. It sure worked out better for the people of Los Alamitos ... though I'm not sure they deserved to get off that easy.