Mill Valley Chamber Apologizes For Offensive Blog Post

MILL VALLEY, CA — The Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce has apologized for a blog post that was condemned as racially insensitive.

In a March 16 post about Marin County nearing the less restrictive orange tier of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, the chamber published a photo of two Black women from the Netflix show “Orange is the New Black.”

Jim Welte, the chamber’s director of membership and community engagement, issued an apology Sunday for using the photo that he acknowledged had a "horrific impact on my neighbors in southern Marin and beyond."

“I screwed up, badly,” he wrote.

Welte attributed his error in judgement to publishing the post late at night.

The offensive photo has since been replaced by a photo showing sliced oranges.

Welte’s apology included an acknowledgement of harm his use of the photo caused to the BIPOC community, among others.

His apology appears in full below.

A link the blog post can be found here.

This story was first reported on by Pacific Sun.

(Full Disclosure: Welte is a former Patch staffer and a former colleague of mine.)

"Hi all – I posted this in the comments below but also doing so up here to be sure you see it: "I deserve all the arrows on the use of an Orange is the New Black image. Sincere apologies. I screwed up, badly. In putting the blog to bed late Thursday night, I sought an image that conveyed our likely move into the orange tier, and I made a lazy, horrendous choice. I'm a massive fan of the show and its work to give sunlight to the need for criminal justice reform and the treatment of incarcerated women, and I failed to view it through a larger prism than simply artwork that included orange. I'm embarrassed by the stupidity. I am deeply sorry.

"I also want to speak directly to the harm that the use of this photo has caused to our BIPOC community members and the community at large: my lack of ill intent with the photo choice does not in any way excuse its horrific impact on my neighbors in southern Marin and beyond who have been dealing with these insensitivities and micro-aggressions for far too long. I am torn to pieces about this, and will continue the Chamber's commitment to helping to implement the task force recommendations that are specific to our work as a Chamber. Lastly, to be clear, this is on me and me only – not the hundreds of members of the Chamber, not anyone associated with the City. Just me. It's not representative of who I am, but I own it and will do better. I welcome your comments. " — Jim Welte