Chicago School Board Member: 'That Flag Means Nothing More Than Toilet Paper to Me'

Nick Kangadis | September 29, 2017
DONATE
Font Size

A suburban Chicago school board member disparaged the entire nation in a Facebook post supporting those that are taking a knee during the National Anthem before NFL games, while also comparing the American flag to something that she wipes her behind with.

In a now-deleted Facebook post, Elgin School Board Member Traci O’Neal Ellis wrote “that flag means nothing more than toilet paper to me," adding, "I promise you, I would take #TakeAKnee at school board meetings if my doing so would not be disruptive to kids and a distraction to the work we need to do for them.”

Ironically, by saying that she didn’t want to be a distraction, Ellis became a distraction.

The Chicago Tribune reported:

When asked if she regretted using the toilet paper analogy, she said no.

"My point was to convey the message that the flag doesn't mean anything to me. I could've said just that and not use the analogy," she said.

But, she did use the analogy. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

“I was taken aback that she would say that, even though it is consistent with things she's said in the past,” fellow school board member Jeanette Ward said. “To say it's nothing more than toilet paper, I'm appalled.”

In a subsequent Facebook post published on Ellis’ professional page, Ellis not only doubled down on her stance, but made herself the victim.

Here’s part of what she wrote:

So let’s talk about the FB post from my personal page that Jeanette Ward posted, ostensibly to try to embarrass me. But here’s the thing. I cannot be embarrassed by righteous truth. Whether anyone wants to accept it or not, my experience in America is vastly different than that of white people. This is true for most people of color. Unfortunately, many people are arrogant enough to deny the lived experiences of black people.

You know who makes everything an issue of race? Actual racists.

Ellis further proves that point when she wrote this:

Finally, the fact that so many of you are coming UNHINGED over my post actually proves my point. The freedoms you enjoy and the flag you profess to love so much do not extend to me as a black woman. They are not my birthright. Yet I demand them anyway, and that demand includes the right to not feel any patriotism towards a piece of cloth and a pledge of allegiance to a country that does not love me back. Forced allegiance is not patriotism. It is fascism. And I will not bow to that.

If Ellis is a natural born citizen of the U.S., then she is completely false in her assumption — that she passes off as truth — that the freedoms of this country don’t extend to her. They extend to everyone who is a citizen of this country, and sometimes even those that aren’t lawful citizens.

As for Ellis' future, Ward said that will be up to the voters to decide.

“The remedy for that [Ellis stepping down] is elections," Ward said. "If people are not happy about this, the remedy is the elections in 2019, if she chooses to run again.”

Just in case it gets Ellis' subsequent post is deleted as well, here's a link to an archive of the post.

donate