What is up with Orange County's hilarious haters these days? We don't know if it's because we killed our Racist OC Register Reader Fustercluck of the Day column, but one thing is certain: this county just can't stop popping up in the news when it comes to racism, racial insensitivity, and bad jokes. The latest example: Orange County GOP central committee member and birther nutjob Marilyn Davenport sends out an email depicting U.S. President Barack Obama and his parents as–get this–chimpanzees! The punchline posits that this photo explains why the Prez won't hand over his state of Hawaii long-form birth certificate.
After the Weekly's very own R. Scott Moxley broke this story, he also nailed an exclusive interview in which Davenport apologized for her bad judgment, but continued to resist calls that she resign her post.
So is the Davenport kerfuffle Orange County's most embarrassing bigotry-related scandal?
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Or would that honor go to…
1) Orange County Republican Party Vice President Deborah Pauly, who called a Muslim charity event “pure unadulterated evil” in a speech to fellow Tea Party types. You can see a transcript of her speech and some related video here.
2) Or how about that blonde UCLA student's YouTube rant about Asians talking in the library in which she mocked their conversations in a stereotypical sing-song voice. That's not really an OC brouhahaha, but we did blog about it, and you can see our coverage and various clever remixes of the video here.
3) But let's not forget Thalia Surf Shop's MLK day sale, which featured a Photoshopped image of the slain civil-rights leader in a wetsuit. The sale offered discounts on all black-colored clothing. Details, and the prerequisite “sorry, dude, my bad” apology over here.
4) Speaking of bad MLK day tributes, how about the UC Irvine cafeteria that chose to celebrate by offering chicken and waffles on the menu. Would you like some watermelon with that turkey?
5) Did somebody say watermelons? Why yes, somebody did. Back in 2009, Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose resigned after catching fire for sending out a greeting card showing a field of watermelons growing in the front yard of the White House. You can see the full card here.
Readers, you get to decide which of the above items contains the most racism and/or bigotry
Vote early and vote often!
Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).