STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (WPIX) -- A Staten Island man who was appointed to an Education Department parent council resigned Tuesday after admitting he forwarded racist emails.
Borough President James Molinaro called up Salvatore Ballarino and asked the education official to resign because his conduct, according to Molinaro, was "inappropriate and unacceptable as my appointee."
According to the New York Post, the email contained a series of photos showing then-Senator Barack Obama and John McCain during a Presidential debate with invented dialogue, including one that refers to black men hanging from a tree and equating black babies to excrement.
Ballarino then forwarded the emails to dozens of co-workers and people active in Staten Island politics, the report said.
Upon hearing news about Ballarino's resignation, NAACP National Committee leader Tammy Greer Brown said "Great, good, great! Thank you for leaving."
As for Ballarino, he told the Post the email was just one of hundreds containing jokes that he forwards to friends and co-workers.
"So what's the big deal?" he said. "I have plenty of black friends and plenty of black people I think the world of."
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