CBS NEWS: The mayor of Los Alamitos is coming under fire for an e-mail he sent out that depicts the White House lawn planted with watermelons, under the title “No Easter egg hunt this year.” Local businesswoman and city volunteer Keyanus Price, who is black, said Tuesday she received the e-mail from Mayor Dean Grose’s personal account on Sunday and wants a public apology. “I have had plenty of my share of chicken and watermelon and all those kinds of jokes,” Price told The Associated Press. “I honestly don’t even understand where he was coming from, sending this to me. As a black person receiving something like this from the city-freakin’-mayor – come on.” The Orange County Register first reported the e-mail on its Web site Tuesday night. Grose confirmed to the AP that he sent the e-mail to Price and said he didn’t mean to offend her. He said he was unaware of the racial stereotype that black people like watermelons. MORE
UPDATE: The mayor of a small Southern California city says he will resign after being criticized for sharing an e-mail picture depicting the White House lawn planted with watermelons under the title “No Easter egg hunt this year.” Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose issued a statement Thursday saying he is sorry and will step down as mayor at Monday’s City Council meeting.
RELATED: New York Post Chairman Rupert Murdoch apologized Tuesday for a cartoon that critics said likened a violent chimpanzee shot dead by police to President Barack Obama. In a statement published in the newspaper, Murdoch said he wanted to “personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted.” He said the Post will work to be more sensitive. Murdoch said the cartoon was intended only to “mock a badly written piece of legislation.” The cartoon, which was published Wednesday, depicted the body of the bullet-riddled chimp Travis and two police officers. The caption said: “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” The chimp was killed in Connecticut last week after mauling a woman. The president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which called for a boycott of the Post on Saturday, said Murdoch’s pledge to be more sensitive was welcome but did not go far enough. “Mr. Murdoch’s apology comes only after almost a week of tens of thousands of expressions of outrage and disgust from people across the country,” NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous said in a statement. “The offenders are still on staff and there are no measures being taken to increase diversity in its newsroom.” A spokesman for the Post said the paper declined to comment on the NAACP statement or questions about whether anyone would be disciplined. MORE