Federal Judge Roger Cebull Should Resign for Racist E-Mail

Federal Judge Roger Cebull emailed a disgusting race joke to his friends and then issued a half-hearted apology. He should resign.


Earlier this evening John S. Adams of USA Today posted Federal judge admits he sent anti-Obama, racist e-mail. Adams reports that Roger Cebull, Chief Judge for the District of Montana, has admitted sending the following email through his official account to six friends, who forwarded the "joke" to others:

"Normally I don't send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine.
"A little boy said to his mother; 'Mommy, how come I'm black and you're white?' " the e-mail joke reads. "His mother replied, 'Don't even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark!' "

When this message became public, Cebull issued a statement in which he admitted that the message was racist but that he sent it anyway not because he is a racist but because he is "anti-Obama." Cebull said:

"I didn't send it as racist, although that's what it is. I sent it out because it's anti-Obama."

That is not accurate. The "joke" does not have anything to do with the President's policies, actions, or decisions. It does not mock something that he said. It does not make fun of his habits or appearance. It does not denigrate any aspect of his character or personality. Judge Cebull's "joke" has nothing to do with President Barack Obama.

The "joke" relates solely to Obama's race and the race of his mother and father. It is based on the assumption that there is something wrong with being of "mixed race." The principal point of the story is that it is humiliating for a white woman to have a black child. It implies that a white woman would not have sex with a black man unless she was drunk. It equates sex with a black man to sex with a dog.

This is not a joke about the President. It is not anti-Obama. It is anti-Black. It is White Supremacy. It is a race joke, pure and simple.

Judge Cebull found this joke "touching." He hoped it would "touch his friends' hearts" as it did his own. If this is what is in Roger Cebull's heart, he is not qualified to preside over cases involving the civil and criminal rights of American citizens.

Judge Cebull excuses his conduct on the ground that he is "not a fan of our President." Fine. In the future, in accordance with what is in his heart he should pass along jokes that mock something Barack Obama has said or done or stands for.

And he should do so as a private citizen. Resign.

Wilson Huhn is 62 years old and he has heard quite enough race jokes in his lifetime.