Free Republic

Rick Gale, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, resigned Tuesday from the union post amid mounting criticism over reports that he made a racial slur against President-elect Barack Obama. Gale, a lieutenant with the West Allis Fire Department, also resigned from all public and government boards he served on, according to his resignation letter, which was included in a union statement announcing the resignation. In the letter, Gale apologized for using a "single racially charged word in connection with our President-Elect." "The word has no business in my vocabulary and I should not have used it - not...

Delegate for Obama quits over remark CARPENTERSVILLE, IL Says when she called black kids 'monkeys,' she was asking them to get out of tree April 8, 2008 BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Political Reporter/apallasch@suntimes.com Moving to nip in the bud some potential bad press, White House hopeful Barack Obama's campaign persuaded a delegate to step down after she was ticketed for calling her neighbor's African-American children "monkeys." Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, a Carpentersville village trustee, was elected as an Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention. She sports an Obama sign in her front yard. On Saturday, two neighbor children were playing in...

South Elgin police are investigating a possible hate crime after a racial slur was painted on a work counter and a noose was found hanging from an exit at a Home Depot store under construction, authorities said today.

President Vicente Fox on Sunday defended his commitment to minorities and human rights on a U.S. radio program, in his first public response to his controversial comment that Mexicans take the U.S. jobs that "not even" blacks want. U.S. civil rights activist Jesse Jackson pressed the Mexican president for an apology for the remark that has strained already tense relations between U.S. blacks and Hispanics, during an interview on a Chicago gospel station. "I very much regret the misinterpretation," said Fox, touting laws created under his administration that outlaw discrimination and protect minorities. Fox met with Jackson behind closed...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for joking that Mahatma Gandhi used to run a gas station in St. Louis, saying it was "a lame attempt at humor." The New York Democrat made the remark at a fund-raiser Saturday. During an event here for Senate candidate Nancy Farmer, Clinton introduced a quote from Gandhi by saying, "He ran a gas station down in St. Louis." After laughter from many in the crowd of at least 200 subsided, the former first lady continued, "No, Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader of the 20th century." In a nod to...

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for joking that Mahatma Gandhi used to run a gas station in St. Louis, saying it was "a lame attempt at humor." The New York Democrat made the remark at a fund-raiser Saturday. During an event here for Senate candidate Nancy Farmer, Clinton introduced a quote from Gandhi by saying, "He ran a gas station down in St. Louis." After laughter from many in the crowd of at least 200 subsided, the former first lady continued, "No, Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader of the 20th century." In a nod to Farmer's underdog status against...

Apology accepted? It depends Record often speaks louder than words in surviving racial gaffes 12/17/2002 By BILL MARVEL / The Dallas Morning News When it comes to race, apologies may not be enough. Trent Lott's situation shows that what a politician has or hasn't done on racial issues may do more to determine his fate than mere words of repentance, observers say. "Race is the 'third rail' of American politics," said Dallas political consultant Rob Allyn. "They can survive financial scandals, sex scandals, foreign policy scandals. But let them make one remark in this area and it's all over."...