Rohnert Park vice mayor highlights racist outburst
Rohnert Park’s vice mayor, who last fall was the first Black woman elected to the City Council, rebuked an anonymous caller who called her racial slurs and told her to “go back to Africa” while disapproving of her support for a ban on fireworks in the city.
Jackie Elward said in an interview the incident highlights the harassment elected women of color, particularly Black women, face in Sonoma County. She first posted about the call from a blocked number on her Facebook page Tuesday afternoon.
“Why can’t we make a decision like everyone else and be treated the same?” Elward said in an interview. “Why do people feel the need to go the extra mile to hurt like that? Do you really have to bring racial slurs to make yourself feel better?”
The person on the phone expressed disapproval of the City Council’s decision to ban the sale and personal use of fireworks on March 9, a proposal that passed with a 3-2 vote.
The person, whose voice Elward said sounded masculine, then hurled swear words at her, as well as racial slurs related to her being a Black woman and her upbringing in the Congo.
“You are free to call me and be angry with me,” Elward said in her Facebook post. “I have thick skin and can take it. However, as happened earlier today, I will not tolerate being told to go back to Africa along with being called the N word. This is totally unacceptable.
“Rohnert Park, we can do better.”
She did not engage with the person, who eventually hung up after a few minutes, she said.
Rohnert Park Mayor Gerard Giudice said he condemned the “disgusting and racist” comments Elward described in her post. Those comments would not be tolerated in Rohnert Park, he added.
“She’s living her American dream and it saddens me that someone would choose hatred in advocating for their personal agenda — in this case, fireworks,” Giudice said in a voicemail left for a Press Democrat reporter.
The call shone a light on a larger issue facing women of color in positions of power in Sonoma County, an issue she hoped to draw more attention to with her post about the call, Elward said.
She described instances of discrimination during her initial run for the Rohnert Park City Council in 2018, in which she failed to secure enough votes for a seat, and again last year, when she and two other challengers beat out two longtime Rohnert Park City Council members vying for reelection.
Past discrimination included comments, mostly online, from people who have made fun of her accent or questioned her level of education, remarks Elward believes were made because of her race, she said.
Other elected women of color in have described facing similar instances of discrimination in the county, among them Petaluma City Schools Board President Joanna Paun, Elward said.
Paun was one of two Black women who were dismissed from their jobs at Petaluma’s St. Vincent de Paul High school last summer, which resulted in the educators pursuing legal action alleging discrimination.
The school contended the dismissals were solely due to the school’s budget. While the civil suit was resolved, the details are not public.
“We need to be dealing with racism in Sonoma County,” Elward said. “It is a problem. Black female elected officials are being attacked.”
You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.