Georgia Politician Considers Resigning Amid Interracial Marriage Remark

A councilman in a mostly white Georgia town who drew nationwide scorn for his comments on interracial marriage says he’s considering stepping down from his position.

City Council member Jim Cleveland said he is praying about the decision, though some townspeople have urged him to stay on the council in Hoschton, he said Wednesday.

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Hoschton Mayor Theresa Kenerly also faces calls for her resignation.

In documents released by the city, Councilwoman Hope Weeks wrote that the mayor told her they had a strong candidate for the city administrator job ‘but he was black and we don’t have a big black population and she just didn’t think Hoschton was ready for that’.

Mayor Kenerly has said she doesn’t recall saying that. Messages left for the mayor at city hall Wednesday were not immediately returned.

Cleveland drew furious responses by some townspeople and others when he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he opposes interracial marriage because he’s a Christian.

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He thinks his comments are being taken the wrong way, he said, and that he wants to apologize for ‘anything I’ve said that offended anybody.’

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If there are multiple resignations among the mayor and city council, he worries the city would be unable to carry on its official business.

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But in recent days, the fallout from his comments about racial issues seems to have gotten progressively worse.

‘The more I talk to anybody, it seems like the worse everything gets,’ he said.

Residents of Hoschton protested on Monday and called for both politicians to resign.

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