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The Village of
Wheeling Human Rights Commission
The Human Rights Commission is charged with
preventing discrimination and promoting better relations between
the Village’s diverse racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, and
social groups.
The commission is made up of seven people
appointed by the Village President and approved by the Village
Trustees.
One of the problems that the Human Rights
Commission is concerned about is bigotry. Below is the text of a
speech given by the Commission to local groups concerning this
subject.
That’s Not Right!
Today, I would like to speak to you about
Wheeling, a history of immigrants and their effects on our
community, and bigotry.
In 1864 a group of German immigrant farmers
founded what is now the Community Presbyterian Church of
Wheeling.
The services were initially in German. It was
not until 1918, some 54 years later, that the services were
conducted in English.
 Thus
a tradition was started in Wheeling that continues through
today: providing a place where the newly arrived to this country
can worship in their native tongue as they and their children
become assimilated into the culture and language of their
adopted country.
Until 1957, the Community Presbyterian Church
was the only house of worship located within the boundaries of
the Village of Wheeling.
Today, there are at least ten: three have
Spanish language services, two with Korean and one with Polish
services. We also have a Hindu Temple.
Congregation Beth Am, a Jewish Temple recently
moved to Buffalo Grove as they out grew their building in
wheeling.
These houses of worship reflect the
ever-changing cultural diversity of our community.
In 1955 the village had a population of
approximately 1,000 people.
By 1958 the population had dramatically
increased to approximately 8,000 people.
These "immigrants" to Wheeling at that
time came mostly from Chicago and were drawn to the Village by
affordable housing such as the Dunhurst and Meadowbrook
subdivisions.
These "immigrants" from the city
initially found some hostility from the residents of the
"Old Wheeling" part of the Village. The frigid
reception was attributed to the fact that "Old
Wheeling" resented the change wrought by the new-comers due
to higher taxes, overcrowded schools, overtaxed infrastructure,
and a dramatic change in the atmosphere of the village.
The population in Wheeling in 1980 was
approximately 23,000 and today it has increased to more than
32,000 inhabitants.
The Village is diverse in age of population;
income, occupations, and ethnic make up.
Recent arrivals are Eastern Europeans, and
people from the Asian/Pacific areas.
People of Hispanic origin have been in Wheeling
since the early 40’s and 50’s when they first came here to
the truck farms as migrant workers. Some stayed, and, not unlike
other arrivals, brought their families to the area.
The new residents of Hispanic origin are
probably the largest group of recent "new comers" to
the Village.
Due to its expanding job market, the Wheeling
area is a magnet for both native-born and foreign-born people
seeking work and a better life.
Wheeling, which began as a village of German
immigrants, has become a village of wide diversity and promises
to become even more diverse. This follows a national trend
This brings me to the subject of bigotry.
 Whenever
a "new " or "different" group of people move
into an area, especially an area where they have not been
numerous before, they bring a certain amount of
"change" with them which may be resented at first, not
unlike the changes that the so called immigrants from Chicago
brought with them.
Many of the complaints against today’s
immigrants, especially the accusation that they are different
from and far worse than earlier immigrants, are identical to the
charges leveled against those same earlier immigrants.
 However,
each group thrived, refuting the stereotypes attributed to them
as they assimilated into the local culture.
In recent years we have been advised to be
"Tolerant" of other people’s views. That is fine
unless it is carried too far. By that I mean that we are
becoming tolerant of many forms of socially unacceptable
behavior and this is not to our credit. It is simply tolerance
gone amuck!
There is a new permissiveness, which is
increasingly willing to regard behavior as an entirely private
matter.
The reasoning goes something like this,
"Who are we to judge people if they are
sincere, if they believe that they are entitled to act as they
do? It might not be right for me, but it may be right for
them."
I am not comfortable with that
argument for the obvious reason that we and other people may be
affected in ways that we find unacceptable. Those effects are
unacceptable regardless of the sincerity of the people
concerned.
It is not uncommon to hear a person making a
derogatory remark regarding an individual, a nationality, a
race, or a gender.
We have been taught to mind our manners and to
be polite to people, even when we disagree with them.
Today, this also falls under tolerance or
permissiveness.
The problem with that approach, especially when
bigotry is involved is that you, by your silence, condone or
appear to condone their actions or words.
This makes the person think that you agree with
them and it encourages them to continue.
This is called tacit approval! If the listener
tolerates the remark, the listener is as bad as the person
making the remark is.
We cannot and we should not be tolerant of
bigotry. Bigots have to be shown up for what they are, or else
they may be taken seriously.
Now, we have to be careful here because a
problem arises that some people cannot identify bigotry, or they
may be prone to allege bigotry where none exists. They may claim
bigotry when it is not bigotry but an honest difference of
opinion or in some cases, a person abiding by higher standards.
When I speak of bigotry, I’m talking about
hard core straight out bigotry.
With that said, I would like to propose that you
join the Village of Wheeling Human Rights Commission in a
program called, "That’s Not right!"
"That’s Not Right!" is a phrase to
be used in conversation after someone makes a derogatory
statement regarding a person or a group of people.
"That’s Not Right!" indicates that
you do not approve of what has just been said.
It can end there, or if necessary, be followed
up with why they are wrong to say what they are saying.
I have found that in most cases, it ends there.
It is not easy to do; in fact it takes some courage to stop
someone in their tracks like that.
However, if you don’t make this point, you
too, are giving tacit approval to this person’s bigotry.
The idea is to make bigotry or bigoted remarks
socially unacceptable.
So, please join us in this campaign. Let’s
help stamp out bigotry in Wheeling. We ask you to wear a
"That’s Not Right!" button to show where you stand.
Let’s all be less tolerant of bigotry!
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Wheeling, IL 60090
(847) 459-2600
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