Racist E-mail Prompts Mayor to Resign

It's really one of the fundamental questions of racist jokes -- why? Why use low brow humor in reference to racial stereotypes while trying to be funny? It just doesn't make any sense. Mayor Dean Grose was just the latest person to realize that racial jokes are best left in the hands of professional comedians in a satirical context. They definitely have no place in the official e-mail communications of elected officials.

Grose sent an e-mail showing the white house lawn covered with watermelons and a caption reading "No Easter egg hunt this year." At least one of the recipients of the e-mail took offense and exposed the e-mail when she publicly scolded him for it.

Now Grose is going to step down from his position as mayor and he will likely spend the rest of his life trying to apologize for and explain his actions in sending the e-mail. He has already admitted that his e-mail was in poor taste and that he will no longer be able to govern effectively.

Los Alamitos is a town of 12,000 people in Orange County, CA. It's unclear at this point if other elected officials in California are commenting on the story. It's difficult to imagine former Mayor Grose re-entering politics in the near future, but stranger things have happened. If he uses this opportunity to speak out against racist e-mailing, he could mend his ties to the community and end up running for office again someday.

President Barack Obama