Heidi Anne Wys, an adviser to Puerto Rico House Speaker Jenniffer González, has tweeted racist things about President Barack Obama over the course of the last month or two, and Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito is just not going to take it anymore.
“Wah! Wah! I feel like vomiting! Dinner with a guy borned in Kenya and claims he was borned in Hawaii!” Ms. Wys tweeted at the President offering contributors the chance of dining with him back in June, for example.
Another time, Mr. Obama tweeted a reference of his wife’s birthday, causing Ms. Wys to lash out with, “Who cares? Take her to Burger King, buy her a sundae with double banana, take her to your homeland, Kenya!”
Understandably, a number of folks found these comments offensive, including Ms. Mark-Viverito, who sent out the following press release earlier this afternoon condemning the tweets as “vile and disgusting, and represent the height of ignorance”:
NYC COUNCIL MEMBER MELISSA MARK-VIVERITO DENOUNCES RACIST ANTI-OBAMA TWEETS BY ADVISOR TO SPEAKER OF PUERTO RICO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
New York, NY – New York City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito has denounced racist tweets sent to President Obama by an advisor to the Speaker of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives named Heidi Wys (@HeidiWys) on July 26, 2012. In response to a photo of Barack and Michelle Obama holding a birthday cake, which was tweeted with the message “Someone has a birthday coming up,” Ms. Wys replied “Who cares? Take her to Burger King, buy her a sundae with double banana, take her to your homeland, Kenya.” Last month, Ms. Wys replied to a tweet regarding an Obama fundraiser saying, “Wah! Wah! I feel like vomiting! Dinner with a guy borned in Kenya and claims he was borned in Hawaii!”
She has sought to “defend” her comments by saying that she is not a racist since “mis sobrinas más queridas son prietas” (“my dearest nieces are dark skinned”) and that she is just anti-Obama. She tweeted yesterday, “Combato a Obama con todas las fuerzas de mi corazon y pasion como descendiente de alemanes!!” (“I am fighting Obama with all my heard and passion, as a descendent of Germans!!”). These tweets come just a few months after another set of racist Twitter attacks by Zaida “Cucusa” Hernández, a former Speaker of Puerto Rico’s House, against Rafael Cox-Alomar, a Democratic candidate for Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner in the U.S. Congress.
“Heidi Wys’ comments against the President are vile and disgusting, and represent the height of ignorance,” said Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito. “I am sickened by the continued racist attacks from prominent political figures in Puerto Rico. Instead of setting a civil tone and engaging in a responsible debate, Ms. Wys has stuck by comments that are inflammatory, highly offensive and continue to demonstrate the deep-seated racism that abounds in Puerto Rican political and social discourse. I call on Ms. Wys to retract her comments and issue a real apology. If she continues to spew this kind of hateful and ignorant diatribe, she should be fired. I also call on all Puerto Rican elected officials to denounce these racist statements.”
