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HomeHomeGeneralGeneralPoliticsPoliticsObama delegate resigns after remarkObama delegate resigns after remark
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4/9/2008 9:18 AM
 

Tue Apr 8, 3:14 PM ET

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. - An Illinois delegate for Democratic Sen. Barack Obama resigned after using the word "monkeys" to describe black children playing in a tree, the Obama campaign said Tuesday.

Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, a trustee in the Chicago suburb of Carpentersville, was issued a $75 ticket for disorderly conduct after neighbors complained to police. She says the word wasn't meant racially and she will fight the ticket.

"Given the incident, Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski is stepping down as a delegate and will be replaced," said Obama spokeswoman Amy Brundage.

The incident occurred Saturday, when two children were playing in a tree next door to Ramirez-Sliwinski's house.

She said the parents were outside supervising the children, but she went over and told them to get out of the tree because she was concerned about the boys' safety and because the small magnolia tree was being damaged.

The father of one of the boys told her it was none of her business, she told the Chicago Tribune, and "I calmly said the tree is not there for them to be climbing in there like monkeys."

The mother of one boy called police.

Cmdr. Michael Kilbourne said Tuesday a ticket was issued because the ordinance bans conduct that disturbs or alarms people. One of the boys told police he was scared by her comment and a mother said she was disturbed, he said.

Ramirez-Sliwinski does not have a listed telephone number. She did not respond immediately to an e-mail.

Ramirez-Sliwinski says she doesn't plan to run for another term on the village board. "In the eyes of the public, this is wrong," she told the Arlington Heights Daily Herald.

 
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4/9/2008 9:44 AM
 

Why is it immediately assumed that this woman's use of the word "monkey" was a reference to the children's color.  Perhaps it was a reference to the fact that THEY WERE CLIMBING IN A TREE!  What the hell is wrong with people?  I can't even recall how many times I was called a monkey because of how much fun I had climbing trees. 

How can referring to children in a tree as monkeys "disturb or alarm people"?  Does the term "monkey bars" offend people on the playground of a primarily black school?  This is absolutely ridiculous.

I think we should apply a new common sense rule:  if the term and context could just as easily be applied to people of any other race without offending, it should not be considered offensive.  This is so stupid.

 
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4/9/2008 9:57 AM
 

Because people are just looking for a way to get paid or get into the news. That the whole new age "white man's burden" thing stating; it is up to white people to aleviate the oppression and feelings of contempt felt by minorities.

 

It's like cool to be offended nowdays no matter how trite the aledged "offence" may be.

 

 

F'ing sickening. 

 
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