Kankakee Times

The Kankakee City Council heard a number of comments from the public and aldermen Feb. 1 regarding Ed Glazer's Facebook photos in blackface.

In the photos, Glazer, a Republican candidate for State's Attorney and the former chief public defender for Kankakee County, and his wife portray a battered Tiger Woods as well as Woods' former wife, respectively. 

In addition to raising concerns about insensitivity toward domestic violence issues, Glazer also drew attention for painting his face brown to mimic Woods' complexion. Glazer has since refused to apologize for the costume, downplaying its significance.

The council heard from social worker Heather Oosterhoff who provided a professional perspective on the controversy.

"My professional experience as a social worker has also shown me the harmful affects of domestic violence and cultural insensitivity," Oosterhoff said. "These are serious issues to many people and should not be taken lightly. Real pain can be inflicted without intention."

Trinity Christian College social work students Cassandra Boyd and Noel Huddleston raised similar concerns on the issue.

Alderwoman Chastity Wells-Armstrong offered to help generate an official response from the city of Kankakee by sitting down with Mayor Nina Epstein, Alderwoman Gloria Kennedy, police officials and others to ensure that people of color and victims of abuse feel comfortable going to law enforcement for protection.

"Some people may think, Well he’s running for the county, not the city," Wells-Armstrong said. "It affects our city because our police department works with the county. When there’s crimes in the city, they have to work with that office to make sure that our citizens who rely on them for support [are] protected. If it’s a crime to be prosecuted, they rely on that office for that to happen.... To me, this is an issue about insensitivity and it’s an issue about faith in the institutions that we have in place that are supposed to serve and protect our residents in our city."

The council also heard an announcement from Travis Miller, who is helping collect cases of bottled water to send to residents of Flint, Mich., to help ease the pressure of that city's water crisis. Miller said he has never organized a large campaign and was grateful for the connections provided by Wells-Armstrong, Kennedy and Alderman Glenn Davidson, who helped Miller network with Aqua Illinois, the Dr. Martin Luther King Foundation and other local leaders to make the donation happen.

Miller will be helping take the bottled water donations to Flint Saturday.