Calls for Loudoun County treasurer to resign after racially insensitive Facebook post
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Calls for Loudoun County treasurer Roger Zurn to resign are growing louder after he posted a racially insensitive post on his personal Facebook page earlier this week -- and it's not the first time he has shared offensive posts.
On Wednesday night, FOX 5 first reported that Zurn wrote: "Wondering if Aunt Jemima will change to Uncle Tom's," in the now-deleted post.
RELATED: Loudoun County official facing backlash over racially insensitive social media post
Zurn's post immediately attracted comments condemning its message and it was ultimately deleted within five minutes, with him apologizing saying he realized he made a mistake and it was a stupid joke -- but today, the Loudoun County NAACP says that’s not enough.
Amanda Tandy, the vice president of the Loudoun County NAACP says, “He can take diversity and inclusion training. That hasn’t worked out so well. We have a recent example of a school board member who took it and didn’t benefit but maybe it will work better for me. Zurn. He can also join our monthly membership meeting.”
Zurn’s post came after the Quaker Oats company announced it would change the name of the Aunt Jemima brand.
A few months ago, Zurn posted about the coronavirus coming from China and mocked Asian names using insensitive language. He was criticized for that post, too.
Despite calls for Zurn to resign, he is in an elected position.
FOX 5’s Tisha Lewis reports the Board of Supervisors cannot fire Zurn — there are only two ways for him to be removed from office.
One is his resignation and another is a petition with at least 11,000 valid signatures from residents that would then have to go before a judge.
The Virginia GOP did support Zurn’s candidacy and we’re awaiting a response from them about this controversy.
We did reach out several times to Zurn and have yet to receive a response.