The Republican National Committee is under fire from bloggers and progressives after a member of their Facebook group posted a photo of the President of the United States eating fried chicken with caption that calls miscegenation, or interracial marriage “a CRIME against American Values.”

The creator of the image made reference to Loving v. Virginia–the landmark 1967 Supreme Court case that struck down laws banning interracial marriage.

Perhaps the person who uploaded the image on Facebook was inspired by the justice of the peace who recently refused to marry an interracial couple in Louisiana.

Finally, after being on their Facebook for close to a week, RNC officials removed the image on Tuesday.

Former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele has been elected Chairman of the Republican Party. On a sixth ballot, Steele won 91 to 77 over South Carolina Republican Party chairman Katon Dawason. “It’s time for something completely different and we are going to bring it to them,” said Steele, who ran for Maryland’s U.S. Senate in 2006. He is the first African American to hold the position. Another African American, Ohio’s Ken Blackwell, ran for the GOP top spot but dropped out after the fifth ballot.

Do you think Republicans elected the best man or are they just responding to Barack Obama’s win on the Democratic side?