ELMHURST, IL — The Elmhurst City Council heard about racial issues in town at its meeting this week. It was told about a woman who said she was called a “Mexican b—-” and other ethnic slurs when she attended York High. A Hispanic businesswoman spoke about Hispanic and Black baristas facing discrimination. And a man reported that neighborhood children have harassed his biracial children with anti-Black slogans.
They were among a number of speakers supporting Black Lives Matter and asked the city for some type of committee to deal with diversity and inclusion.
Elmhurst resident Abby Ciccarone read a letter from a Hispanic woman who grew up in Elmhurst and is a 2018 York High School graduate, but who did not feel safe coming forward publicly. The woman recalled that when she was in kindergarten, she wore folklorico clothing for a Cinco de Mayo event. She was laughed at. Before that, her father told her to be proud of her Mexican heritage. “Thank God for five years of blissful ignorance,” the woman wrote.
Also in kindergarten, she said, three girls cornered her and told her she could never like the boy she had a crush on. He had blond hair and blue eyes; she had brown hair, brown eyes and tan skin.
“I can still name those girls and hear them say it just wouldn’t look good together,” the woman said in the letter. “And, yes, we were 5 and I should get over things.”
But the woman, who is half Hispanic and half white, said such treatment continued. At York High, she said she was called a “Mexican b—-” and a slur meant for Hispanics. She also said white friends would tell her that she was “not really Mexican because I don’t speak enough Spanish.” And, at one point, York students spread rumors that her father, who held a green card, had been deported and that she did now know when she would see him again, she said.
Resident Andrew Stricker, who is white, said his wife is of Indian descent and their children biracial. They have had “Black Lives Matter” and “We Welcome Refugees” signs stolen three times.
Stricker, who lives on Emery Lane, said his family has been harassed a number of times by neighborhood children “banging on the door and chanting pro-Trump and anti-Black messages.”
“I want for my children to grow up in an antiracist, pro-Black community that they and I can be proud of,” Stricker said.
Another speaker was Melissa Villanueva, owner of Brewpoint in Elmhurst and a recent applicant for the City Council’s Ward 1 position.
“The amount of times I have had to swallow my words when racism occurs is uncountable at this point,” Villanueva said in her statement. “I have had to work with city workers who have outright told me they prefer white baristas to brown baristas. I have watched brilliant people of color be passed up for commission positions because they did not have the right connections. The one Black barista I had working for us quit with the strong feedback that our community was racist toward him.”
Villanueva said her business has a “Black Lives Matter” poster out front. She said customers have yelled at her staff saying, “Those people kill each other. Why bring that here?” or “I am going to complain about you on Facebook if you don’t take that poster down.”
She said she keeps the poster up because many people appreciate it. But she said the division over issues such as Black Lives Matter is palpable, making many feel unsafe and vulnerable.
“The continued silence by leadership in our town perpetuates those feelings, and the gap in our community continues to grow,” Villanueva said. “So I ask, will you help set an example by leading through listening and by taking steps to create a better, more inclusive Elmhurst?”
