DuPage Township, IL. (ECWd) –
In a Sep 2020 article we detailed how DuPage Township Trustee Maripat Oliver’s intentional mispronunciation of Trustee Alyssia Benford’s last name could be considered a form of micro-racism.
Trustee Oliver continued in her angry micro racist behavior by mispronouncing Benford’s name again at last Friday night’s meeting, twice.
During the May 12, 2020, meeting (and other meetings) Oliver interrupted Benford, and called her “Trustee Ben-e-ford or Trustee B” or whatever she wants to be called, and was told by Benford to pronounce her name correctly. She refused. This is part of a pattern of marginalizing Benford as somehow not worthy of having her name pronounce properly.
It has been well-documented that intentionally mispronouncing a person’s name is a form of micro racism/aggression – take this article discussing the issue with Kamala Harris’ name (here), you can find many more by searching for scholarly articles on the subject.
We once again ask Oliver to reevaluate her behavior and actions. Everyone apparently sees it but her.
Now she has apparently teamed up with other people who have taken to calling a man with a Hispanic heritage a racist – all because he is running for the office of DuPage Township Trustee.
With the continued intentional mispronouncing of Benford’s last name, and teaming up with people calling another person a racist because he is running for office, we are starting to see a definite pattern of behavior.
Watch this portion of Friday night’s meeting below:
5 Comments
Robert O. Bogue
Posted at 17:10h, 09 DecemberMaybe this disrespectful behavior explains her loss in the 2010 State Representative Election. Voters saw through the paint, hoopla, smoke and mirrors for the person she really is.
Anon
Posted at 15:56h, 09 DecemberHey, your online contact form isn’t working — it throws a server error. Not sure if you’re checking the email account you have on the contact page.
James J. Pancrazio
Posted at 11:23h, 09 Decemberi agree with the idea that the issue goes beyond race in the sense that bad behavior, rude comments and a lack of common decency could be part of someone’s general demeanor. By that I mean that she could be a hostile person that treats others like this as well. There are people that act like bulldozers, volcanos or snipers in their interactions with others. Anyone that brings up a question is met with name calling, the finger or hostile language. There is one thing I would observe. Most of the discussions about micro aggressions go back and forth between intentional and unintentional. Those that tend toward the unintentional side of the dialogue often favor the idea that the sender owns the meaning of the message, that is, if I didn’t mean to offend, the other person is wrong about being offended. Like many either/or situations, these are false dilemmas that get in the way of common courtesy.
Tony
Posted at 09:25h, 09 DecemberI really dislike jumping to racism as the issue, because more often than not, it really isn’t the case. However based on previous articles here, it’s looking that way.
With that being said, there is no micro-aggression/micro-racism. Either it was unintentional (which can happen alot), or it was intentional. And intentional could be passive-aggressive or straight up disrespectful or even hostile. The whole “micro-aggression” term is a result of people wanting to be offended that others aren’t particularly careful with their speech and unintentionally insult one another.
So this is a case of “either you’re pregnant or you’re not,” not a case of “being a little bit pregnant”.
James J. Pancrazio
Posted at 08:41h, 08 DecemberUnfortunately this practice is all too common, and the different ethnicities that make up US history have faced this kind of treatment.