Marshfield City Council Member's Facebook Post Sparks Criticism
Wednesday, June 17th, 2020 -- 8:49 AM
(Marshfield News Herald) -Marshfield City Council member Rebecca Spiros is facing criticism for comments she made in a Facebook post about race.Spiros, who represents Marshfield's District 8, questioned in the post whether people could still order black coffee, say "black olives" or if a black crayon should be renamed. In the post, Spiros, who is married to State Rep. John Spiros, asked whether those questions have legitimacy in a country that considers the children's television show "PAW Patrol" to be offensive. Amid growing racial tensions in the U.S. after the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died May 25 after Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes, social media users have criticized the popular children's show that follows a group of public rescue dogs that includes a police officer. Echo Means, who recently moved to Milwaukee from Marshfield, took notice of Spiros' post and said the comments made were "tone deaf" and "pointless." "No one has said that Black people don’t want to be called black," Means said. "It’s not about political correctness, it’s about people dying at the hands of police." Spiros said in a statement to the Marshfield News-Herald that she is sorry to those she offended with the post and said she should have been more sensitive to what is going on in the world.
"I want to be clear that I represent only myself on my page and while I had intended to put out a message about the over-stretch of political correctness my message was poorly phrased and perceived by some as something other than what I had intended," Spiros said in the statement. Spiros said she has been contacted by several people who said the post didn't show good leadership. "Through these open dialogue conversations I have reflected and been reminded that, while we all have freedom of speech protection, it is still important to show sensitivity and compassion, especially at this time when our nation is in complete turmoil. Spiros' comments come as Marshfield residents have protested against racism and police brutality in recent weeks. Protesters gathered June 3 for a march and the Marshfield Police Department hosted a community rally June 4 to increase communication with residents.
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