The latest white public figure in St. Louis to learn the hard way that race isn’t always a laughing matter in mixed company is state Rep. Tom Villa, who reportedly joked with state Rep. Rodney Hubbard, “Two blacks now on the Board of E&A? Boy, the city has gone down the sewer” after Lewis Reed’s upset victory. If Villa and Hubbard face off for the 5th Senatorial District seat, this flippant remark will certainly come back to haunt Villa.