Tempers flared Monday at a meeting of the Oak Park, Illinois, city government as trustee Susan Buchanan told fellow board members to “shut up” while discussing a resolution in support of diversity. What was context of the outburst? Buchanan said, “Why are you arguing what is a system of oppression? You’ve never experienced one, so shut up! I don’t want to hear from you!”
The local CBS station in Chicago reports “a discussion on rewriting the village’s diversity statement got heated over some specific words. Those words were: ‘We work to break down systems of oppression.'” (RELATED: While Colleges Spend Hundreds Of Millions On Diversity Offices, A Majority Of Students Report Zero Or Negative Impact)
Another Trustee, Dan Moroney, said, “I hesitate to send the message to our police department that they are a system of oppression.” That reportedly upset Buchanan, who is a medical doctor. (RELATED: New York Times Article Praises Soviet Union For Diversity In Losing Space Race)
“You have been white from birth! Why are you arguing, what is a system of oppression? You have never experienced one, so shut up!” Buchanan responded, “I don’t want to hear from you.”
Buchanan added, “You have not spent a day with dark brown skin and tried to walk through this society!”
The city’s “diversity statement” reads, in part, “We reject racial barriers that limit and divide us, and we reject bias towards any group of people.”
Watch: