Obama Delegate Steps Down After "Racist" Remark

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Apr 8, 2008 9:05PM

A Carpentersville woman who serves as a village trustee was asked to step down as an Obama delegate over an incident in which she called the children of her African-American neighbors "monkeys." Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski was fined $75 and ticketed for disorderly conduct for the incident, which happened last Saturday.

Ramirez-Sliwinski "came outside and told the children to quit playing in the tree like monkeys. The tree was not on Ramirez-Sliwinski's property," Carpentersville Police Commander Michael Kilbourne said.

Ramirez-Sliwinski admitted she used the word "monkeys," but said she did not intend racism. She said she was only trying to protect them from falling out of the tree.

Ramirez-Sliwinski stepped down from her delegate position at the request of the Obama campaign and also stated she would not run again for village trustee position.

Ramirez-Sliwinski, who is Hispanic, and her neighbors have an allegedly rocky history. Village President Bart Sarto's view seems relatively sane: “I think this entire thing has been blown out of proportion…She went over to caution the children to be careful not to fall out of a tree.” Sarto adds that the Village Board has “a trustee who has been convicted on four counts of domestic battery and refuses to resign from the board. He beat his wife with a baseball bat. This seems far less egregious to me.”

Uh, what the hell is going on in Carpentersville? [Trib, S-T]

Image of Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski from the Village of Carpentersville website