60-year-old Indian-born citizen Tom Abraham, recently decided to run for City Council Seat 4 in Orange City, Florida. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports:
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| Hello. I’m ignorant. I want to be your city councilman. |
Change and new ideas versus continuity and experience highlight the race for Orange City Council Seat 4, where newcomer Tom Abraham aims to oust two-time incumbent Don Sherrill.“It is time for the residents of Orange City to go for a change,” Abraham said. “Don Sherrill has been a silent party participant, unless he is provoked by something like the salary increase. I don’t see him actively involved. If he is not involved, why give him four more years?”
Abraham, 60, was born in India and became a United States citizen in 1989. A nuclear medicine technologist, he has lived in Orange City for almost three years.
He got involved in city politics this year after the Orange City Mobile Home Park in which he lives was cited for various code violations.
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p>The old saying, “all politics are local” rings true once again. When a person feels that their very home is threatened, why not run? Abraham’s opponent is incumbent Don Sherrill. Says Don:
“I think I have done the job expected of me as a city councilman,” he said. “The proof is that my peers selected me vice mayor with added responsibility. They have the faith in me to get the job done.”
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p>I wouldn’t be so sure about that Don. Especially after they hear the following. From the Orlando Sentinel (thanks for the tip Arkaay):
A two-term City Council member has made disparaging remarks about the ethnicity of his Indian-born opponent in next week’s election.During a candidate’s forum and again in an interview with an Orlando Sentinel staff writer, Seat 4 incumbent Don Sherrill criticized challenger Tom Abraham.
Sherrill derided Abraham’s accent at a political forum hosted and videotaped by the John Knox Village retirement community Oct. 12.
“I don’t know what to rebut because I don’t understand what he was saying, and I don’t mean that facetiously, I really don’t understand him,” Sherrill, who wears a hearing aid, told the group of about 40 people.
It gets worse. A lot worse.
According to the article, Abraham actually learned to speak English in India from the age of five. Let’s put that issue aside for the moment and move on to the bigger one.
In a later interview with the Sentinel, Sherrill said that residents would not vote for Abraham if they saw and heard him.“I’m usually not prejudiced, but I don’t want an Indian in my government,” Sherrill said.
“As far as I know he could be a nice guy, but these kind of people get embedded over here. . . . You remember 9-11.”
Ouch. How do you really feel? Don’t worry guys, he is “usually not prejudiced.” I mean a guy named “Tom Abraham” could be an Islamic terrorist who is part of a sleeper cell, right? Don’s “peers” that he mentioned earlier quickly jumped ship:
“Wow, that’s harsh,” council member Jeff Allebach said. “I didn’t know there was a prerequisite for what an Orange City council member should look like.”…another councilman, was taken aback. “I don’t feel that there should be any racial or ethnic slurs made to you or to anyone else, period,” he said.
Council member Chuck Abell, a Sherrill supporter, reacted with disbelief. Abell said he did not condone “that type of comment,” though he agreed Abraham is difficult to understand.
Abraham is actually being gracious about the whole thing:
“It is not a very intelligent comment,” said Abraham, 60, a political newcomer. “That is just part of his personality that I cannot correct.”
Hopefully the voters will correct it.
raju – word brotha, illmatic the greatest debut album of any hip hop artist EVER!!!
“Visualizin the realism of life and actuality Fuck who’s the baddest a person’s status depends on salary”
we should swap some beats and shoot the shit. i can talk about hip hop for days… Buy my boyz new album!!! Mass Hysteria y’all
Tape-Player hmmm… like a 2-in-1.
His government? Let’s start talking tax bases, Mr. Sherrill.
Last weekend, on my way back into the US from a day trip to Mexico with US passport in hand, I was stopped and questioned by INS/DHS because I a) am brown, and b) was born in Kuwait City (klaxons – alarm bells – the works). After making me wait for 20 minutes while hew 386 ran a background check, the lady behind the counter asked me three questions:
When was the last time you went abroad? (same time last year, or just now if you count Mexico as abroad) Have you gone back to Kuwait in the recent past? (No.) Have you gone back to India in the recent past? (No.)
While I didn’t care so much about questions 1 and 2, 3 really got to me. What if I had answered in the affirmative? So what if I went to India last year? I’m thinking about going next year. Besides, I’m an American citizen (said in Cartman voice) – whatever I want (in Napoleon Dynamite voice)!
I am definitely writing to Orange City to ask what they’re doing about this because I can’t stand to see this country being hijacked like this. His government, indeed. Fascist. We’ve got to offer Tom Abraham all the support we can.
runnerwallah:
yeah, they sure are uncomfortable.. which is sad, since i’m their physician.. luckily the repoire is built up rapidly as i laugh and tell them i’m from piston town… :)… good doctor/patient skills i guess…
ahh.. you’re in my state of cali… 1.5 yrs and i’ll be back.. (do it in the arnold voice, of course 😉
awww….the “ignorant moron” caption was so much more appropriate. Don’t let yourself be censored by “the man”; if you think he’s an ignorant moron, speak your mind! 😉
PS: thanks for the Mayor’s contact info- that sounds like a good approach.
ditto to #55; the mutiny doesn’t pull punches.
besides, I thought the rules about abusive/offensive posting only applied to comments and how we play on the playground 😉
cocopuffs,
i’ll talk hip hop all day, but my knowledge unfortunately doesn’t to the underground these days, if it ever did
the last guy i was really into at an underground level was immortal technique, who admitadly was the shit when i saw him
but most definately keep bringing out good albums because i’m all ears, probably among many on Sepia Mutiny
extend….to the underground
speaking of Napolean Dynamite I think “Vote for Pedro” tee shirts are one of the best political statements ever
Just wrote to Erwin, the mayor, and Sherrill himself. Drop ’em a line.
I finally tracked down Thomas Abraham and he just now responded to me:
At this point I can only urge people to write letters to the editors of the Orange City, FL local papers (Daytona, Orlando, etc.) and also to send polite but firm emails to the Mayor’s office (I have the link in a previous comment) urging him to convince his Vice Mayor that it is time to retire.
Abraham sounds like a perfect replacement for Sherrill, and clearly, Sherrill has done more harm to himself than Abraham by his ignorant remarks.
On the other hand, Indolink reports this in such a way that makes it sound like the entire community is also ignorant and racist (it clearly is not), and takes time to mention that Sherrill is a Republican, while not mentioning the party affiliations of any of the other player in this drama, insinuating that this is the reason for his ignorance (it clearly is not).
The story is about one ignorant dumbass that is afraid to lose his job to a worthy competitor that will likely trounce his wrinkled butt.
More power to Abraham, but don’t ascribe his stupidity to either Orange City or Republicans.
There are a lot of people in this country who hold views similar to Mr. Sherrill’s in the US Government and state governments as well. Since 9/11 it has been very difficult for South Asian job candidates to get interviews, even if they are Christians like Tom Abraham. I myself have such an experience. In 2002 I applied for six US government jobs..I have a PhD from Harvard in economics. I also applied for a job in the foreign government as a backup. Guess what, I was only given an interview by the foreign government and offered a job after six months. I never heard anything from the US government. Since then, I have talked to several South Asian Americans..some have been told by the US government interviewers that their chances are slim due to 9.11.