According to WSPD Local 6, Julie Harris, the Executive Director of Paducah's River Heritage Museum, has admitted to receiving and forwarding a racially charged email on her work account "Black Hurricanes". According to Snopes.Com the email below is an example of the "Black Hurricanes" email that has been circulating since September 2005, and this may not be the exact email Julie Harris forwarded:
Snopes.com
Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006]
Well, it appears our African American friends have found something else to be pissed about. A black congresswoman (this would be Sheila Jackson Lee, of Houston) reportedly complained that the names of hurricanes are all Caucasian-sounding names.
She would prefer some names that reflect African-American culture such as Chamiqua, Woeisha, and Jamal. I can hear it now: A black weatherman in Houston saying ...
"Wordup, Muthas! Herr-i-cane Chamiqua be headin' fo' Galveston like Leroy on a crotch rocket! Bitch be a category fo'! So, turn off dem chitlins, grab yo' chirren, leave yo crib, and head fo' de nearest FEMA office fo yo FREE shit!"
According to WPSD Local 6 Julie Harris released the following statement Tuesday September 9, 2008:
"I would like to apologize to anyone whom I may have offended." I recently sent an e-mail to a close group of friends that was, in hindsight, in poor judgment. I realize it is too easy to receive an e-mail that makes you smile for whatever reason and then hit the forward button not realizing the spirit in which it may be received by others. Being Jewish myself and having experienced life-long insults and prejudices, I have learned to accept prejudicial comments made against those of my faith with humor instead of being offended. I realize that others may not react in the same fashion when such emails are shared. I sincerely apologize."
Snopes.com
The racist nature of the message quoted above has cost the job of at least one person who passed it along via e-mail. In 2005, a contract employee for Cobb County, Georgia was fired for sending it through the county's computer system. Cobb spokesman Robert Quigley said of the incident, "Cobb County has been embarrassed by the actions of [name of employee] and apologizes for any offense."
In August 2007, the Mayor of Oak Ridge North, Texas, was moved to ask for the resignation of one of its councilpersons who had forwarded the e-mail to three city employees in June of that year. The e-mailer, Councilman Tony Butler, has admitted he "made a stupid mistake" but says he does not plan to step down.
I can't help but remember Heather Ryan, Democratic Candidate for Congress in Kentucky's First Congressional District, and she wasn't given the chance to apologize before she was fired from her job as the executive director of the Maiden Alley Cinema, in Paducah, KY. One could easily conclude some of these folks have one standard for Senator Mitch McConnell and another standard when the entire black population is insulted.
It's nice that Julie Harris apologized, but I suggest Paducah's River Heritage Museum Board Members need to take a look at all the emails she has sent from her work place to insure that this is just an isolated incident and not a pattern. To do any thing less could be considered negligent and possibly endanger Paducah's River Heritage Museum's non profit status because you never know what's out there and the people that have it may not be friends!!!