"If you didn’t see the video on YouTube of Champaign Mayor Jerry
Schweighart saying that President Obama is not American, let me tell
you this- it’s pretty scary. I quote him: ”I don’t think he’s
American, personally.”
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC4LBdSnhkE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC4LBdSnhkE</a></p><br>Actually, every email poster here has made valid points within their own context. Problem is it appears each email-poster has slightly tweaked Mayor Swine-fart's comments to highlight other issues that they may support or reject. <br>
<br>I was not troubled with the idiotic rants or comfortable racism that the Mayor unapologetically festers in nor the many who support him in this closet-Klan-community we call the Heartland, a place nestled deep within the Heritage Hierarchy (<a href="http://www.heritage.org/" target="_blank">http://www.heritage.org/</a>). <br>
<br>I am no longer shocked by the tragic fact that our local government can totally ignore social justice and McCar-tha-rize anyone who dares to enforce it. <br><br>No. I agree people can hold their own opinions---whether based in ignorance, perceived truths, or everything inbetween.<br>
<br>BUT, I do disagree with the head of our supposedly <b>non-partisan</b> form of government (a mandate created by the very same body of government the Mayor sits at the helm of)---to use his "non-partisan" seat to make such a personal political statement public while representing his political office. At the very least the Mayor should provide the public appearance of "for the people" given the Mayor is the face of Champaign, IL---a diverse community---home of our state's Flagship public university. <br>
<br>However, even with that, I <b>did not</b> draw the line on the Mayor's Freedom of Speech, questioning our President's Birth Certificate and whether it is legitimate or not----no...I drew the line at the way the question/statement/opinion was expressed, "I don't think he's an American, personally" which is coded language for Black folk who interpret that historically loaded meaning the way we have always understood it to mean. That goes hand-in-hand with, "'N's' should go back to Africa where they came from" for those of us old enough to remember that mantra chanted by angry White crowds whenever we protested and demanded an equitable co-existence and the rewards we, too, were entitled to benefit from. <br>
<br>For Black folk statements, such as the one made by the Mayor, continues to polarize our nation in terms of race relations, serving as a reminder, the term "politically in/correct" is only brought out for crowd control when it appears Black folk have said something that hasn't been "Whitified" first.<br>
<br>President Obama has been met with one insult after another since he first went on the campaign trail. Is it really because he is seen as a Liberal Democrat, though he self-identifies as a Centrist? There never was a "Cookie" named after any president that reflected his racial sterotype, such as in the case of the "Drunken
Negro Cookie" made on MLK day in "honor" of President Obama.
(<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/26/drunken-negros-cookies-ne_n_161073.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/26/drunken-negros-cookies-ne_n_161073.html</a>).
Or Waffles made using a President's name and packaged to remind us of the Aunt
Jemimah brand
(<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/13/conservative-political-fo_n_126243.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/13/conservative-political-fo_n_126243.html</a>)
A Curious George look alike for the image that adorned T-shirts with
Obama's name underneath (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU2sQ5ukOko" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU2sQ5ukOko</a>),
and so on and so forth...<br><br>Since the campaign, it hasn't been about where he was born or what nation his birth certificate claims---that is simply the excuse to exercise the underlying racism and hatred that has always lurked beneath our nation's red-white-and-blue while the Confederate one waves proudly at the top of their flag pole.<br>
<br>This "what lies beneath the surface" reared its ugly head when the religious-right Conservatives and allies of, spotted Obama not wearing an American Flag pin on his lapel during the campaign. That Stepford Moment came right out of the "Invasion of The Body Snatchers" as shrill voices united in chorus while their fingers pointed erectly at the unadorned lapel in yet another effort to alert the nation that Obama was not one of us (or should I say, 'them'), an American. It was all so surreal. I mean, forget about televised debates and political photo ops taken with Obama in attendance that clearly showed other presidential hopefuls were not wearing one either, not the least being then current GOP president, George Bush Jr.<br>
<br>So what I took pause with had nothing to do with the standard political party attacks on one another, but the fact the Mayor stated, "I don’t think he’s
American" was a direct throwback to the days when it was acceptable to treat Black folk as "sub-human" and a different species then White America. I guess only European ancestors who brutally invaded and ravaged the Americas (like our Mayor's (k)clan) can be an American. <br>
<br>Perhaps, that is why no one questions the origins of a name like Schweighart. <br>
<br><font face="arial, Helvetica" size="2"><b>SCHWEIGHART
ranks #
88083
</b> in terms of the most common surnames in the United States for 2000.
<br><br>
<b>
SCHWEIGHART
had
196
occurrences</b> in the 2000 Census, according the U.S. government records.
<br><br>
Out of a sample of 100,000 people in the United States,
SCHWEIGHART
would occur an average of
0.07
times.
<br><br>
<b>Race / ethnic origin</b>
<br><br>
The race categories shown in these files are the modified race
categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program.
All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and
Hispanic origin groups: "White only", "Black only", "American Indian
and Alaskan Native only", "Asian and Pacific Islander only", "Two or
More Races", and "Hispanic". <br><br>
For the last name of
SCHWEIGHART
the Census Bureau reports the following race / ethnic origin breakdown:
</font><ul><font face="arial, Helvetica" size="2"> <li>
98.98 percent, or 194 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic White Only"
</li><li>
Insignificant percent, or Less than 100 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic Black Only"
</li><li>
0 percent, or None reported total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only"
</li><li>
0 percent, or None reported total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native"
</li><li>
0 percent, or None reported total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races"
</li><li>Insignificant percent, or Less than 100 total occurrences, were "Hispanic Origin"
</li></font></ul>
<font face="arial, Helvetica" size="2"><br>
NOTE: Fields suppressed for confidentiality are assigned the value "Insignificant"
<br><br>
The presentation of data on this site focuses on summarized aggregates
of counts and characteristics associated with surnames, and, as such,
do not in any way identify any specific individuals.
<br><br>All data is derived from David L. Word, Charles D. Coleman,
Robert Nunziata and Robert Kominski (2008). "Demographic Aspects of
Surnames from Census 2000". U.S. Census Bureau.
</font><br><br><br><u><b>Historical records for name origin and Ellis Island passenger lists all show the surname Schweighart and derivatives of that spelling are of German descent and whose surname is liberally associated with Nazis and Nazi sympathizers in Germany pre and post WWII. That is not to say Mayor Schweighart has any direct ancestors to the Nazis---just that that surname appears to fall on that side of the spectrum when looking up the surname. Actually, Mayor Schweighhart's family history hails from Pesotum, IL which has been identified as a "Sundown Town" and historically poor. Much has remained unchanged over the generations. Today the stats report: </b></u><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" align="left">
Races in Pesotum:</p>
<div align="left">
<ul style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><li>White Non-Hispanic (98.8%)</li><li>Two or more races (0.6%)</li></ul>
</div>
<br>Dec. 2009 cost of living index in Pesotum: 73.8 (low, U.S. average is 100)<div style="border: medium none ; overflow: hidden; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
<a href="http://www.city-data.com/city/Pesotum-Illinois.html#ixzz0lZIGZ0ZF" target="_blank">http://www.city-data.com/city/Pesotum-Illinois.html#ixzz0lZIGZ0ZF</a><br></div><u><b><br>
</b></u><br><font size="4">I end with my response to Schweighart:</font><br><div style="padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 13px;" align="left"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(60, 96, 91); font-family: Times New Roman;">I, Too, Sing America <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">by Langston Hughes</span></span></div>
<div style="padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">
I, too, sing America.<br><br>I am the darker brother.<br>They send me to eat in the kitchen<br>When company comes,<br>But I laugh,<br>And eat well,<br>And grow strong.<br><br>Tomorrow,<br>I'll be at the table<br>
When company comes.<br>Nobody'll dare<br>Say to me,<br>"Eat in the kitchen,"<br>Then.<br><br>Besides, <br>They'll see how beautiful I am<br>And be ashamed--<br><br>I, too, am America. </div><br><div style="border-style: solid; border-color: black; border-width: 1px 2px 2px 1px; padding: 2px 5px; background-color: rgb(204, 255, 204); font-family: arial; text-align: left; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12px;">
</div>
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