Obama Delegate Quits After Campaign Finds Remarks to Neighbor Kids to be ‘Unacceptable’
Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski (Photo Courtesy of: Daily Herald)
A Barack Obama supporter has given up her role as a pledged delegate after the campaign found “unacceptable” her description of her neighbor’s children as “monkeys,” which she says she called them because they were climbing in trees.
Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, an a Hispanic trustee for the Village of Carpentersville, Ill., was accused of racism following the interaction with her African-American neighbors.
“Given the incident, she is stepping down and will be replaced as delegate,” Ben Labolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign told FOXNews.com, calling Sliwinski’s remarks “unacceptable.”
The campaign discussed the incident with Ramirez-Sliwinski, who decided to step aside as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in August, Labolt said.
Police issued a $75 citation for disorderly conduct on Saturday to Ramirez-Sliwinski , Carpentersville Police Cmdr. Michael Kilbourne told FOXNews.com.
“This is like a parking ticket,” Kilbourne said. “She was not arrested, she was not fingerprinted.”
Police officers were dispatched to Sparrow Road for a neighbor dispute, Kilbourne said.
Ramirez-Sliwinski told the kids to stop playing in her next-door neighbor’s tree because she was worried they would fall out of the tree and hurt themselves, Kilbourne said.
Dametta Stewart, a parent of one of the kids, alleges that Ramirez-Sliwinski came outside and told the kids to “quit playing in the tree like monkeys,” according to the police report. Stewart told police she was upset and felt the comment was racist since her children are African-American, Kilbourne said.
Ramirez-Sliwinski told officers that she didn’t believe the comment was racist and that she calls her own grandkids monkeys.
Ramirez-Sliwinski told the local Daily Herald, based in Arlington Heights, Ill., that her remarks were not racist despite ill feelings between the neighbors.
“Technically, I don’t consider it a mistake because that’s not what I meant,” Ramirez-Sliwinski told the newspaper. “They’re children. They’re climbing in a tree. What would you think?”
Ramirez-Sliwinski said she likely won’t run for re-election as a trustee after her term expires in April 2009.
May be she now understood how stupid she was to supprt Obama!
She would have called the white kids the same way!
Those people are under the influence of Rev. wright and seeing white people their enemy!
I cannot believe what I just read. What is becoming of this country? One cannot even make an innocent remark without being called a racist. What is wrong with people?
This doesn’t even deserve comment!
It is sad to see what this country is heading towards. A parent teaching their child to be a victim and how to work the system.
I will be on the edge of my seat waiting for Jackson and Sharpton to fly in and hold their press conferences. Next the ACLU and NAACP will sponsor a law suit. The Clintons will get a hold of it and it will be lead story at the NYT and CNN -
The poor lady will be destroyed and will have to go into therapy and take sensativity classes.
And to cap it all off - if it can be documented that she ever visited Texas, it will all end up being President Bush’s fault.
Uhhh.. I hate to admit it, but I call my daughter a monkey whenever I see her climb on things. I hate it that we’re getting so sensitive. I’m a strong Obama supporter, but this political correctness is bringin’ me down
It is kind of safisfying in a way to see the liberal democrats get caught in the PC trap they have been setting for Republicans for so long. I can’t remember when I have enjoyed a democratic primary as much as I have this one. Let me get a fresh bag of popcorn and let the show go on.
I find this absolutely unbelievable and at the same time it doesn’t surprise me in the least. I can not understand how the citizens of this country have allowed political correctness to replace common sense. How long until a class action lawsuit is filed for an entire generation of children who have been forced to grow up without a spine because they have been shielded from such “unacceptable” comments as these. Imagine who would have been blamed if the kids actually fell and were hurt and it was discovered that this woman knew the dangers of this particular tree in advance and failed to warn the delicate children. I bet the same mom who complained about the remark would be first in line to complain about that as well. When did we become a society of victims? How long before the “unoffended” become the minority so we can have a voice?
I AM A DEMOCRAT AND THIS STUPID NONSENSE NEEDS TO STOP. PRETTY SOON WE AS INDIVIDUALS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SAY ANYTHING. THIS IS STUPID AND THE LADY THAT SAID THAT IT WAS HURTFUL SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HERSELF. IT WAS CLEARLY NOT MEANT TO BE RACIST ANYONE CAN SEE THAT. THIS HAS GONE TOO FAR NOW!!!!!
This is why I am not a Democrat. This is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard.
Seriously!! This is absurd to the worst degree. When did we lose our common sense…?