Photo: getty
You won't believe her reasonings.
By Elizabeth Ward — Written on Aug 27, 2019
Marysville City Council candidate Jean Cramer, 67, left quite the impression during her speech at a Michigan city council candidates’ forum. She was one of five candidates running for one of the three seats in November’s election but has since dropped out due to backlash in her racist remarks. She caused a commotion when asked what she would do to attract diversity to the community, and it was evident how even articulating her own ideas were very difficult for Cramer to comprehend.
The overall speech was very scattered and filled with several "uhs" and "ums" between each thought. After her initial response to “keep Marysville a white community, as much as possible” was announced, you can hear immediate gasps from a stunned audience, but this leaves Cramer unaffected. Cramer continued with her speech by attempting to justify her stance with, “No, um, foreign-born people ... we in our past, have, um, simply, um, are American born, put it that way.”
Cramer continues to remain unfazed on her stance and has continued to elaborate more on her beliefs in newer interviews.
So, who is Jean Cramer?
Listen to Jean Cramer’s speech here.
1. Amid backlash, Cramer initially said that she had no plans in dropping out of the council race
According to USA Today, Cramer had no plans to withdraw from the race despite receiving an overwhelming amount of backlash for her racist comments. However, Mayor Dan Damman and other local leaders took matters into their own hands and formally withdrew her name from the election. According to the Times Herald, the mayor also said he didn’t believe Cramer was “fit to serve as an elected official in Marysville or anywhere else.”
2. Cramer’s name will still be on the ballot
The deadline to alter names on ballots was April 26, so Cramer’s name will still appear on the Nov. 5 city ballots despite her being removed from the race, according to the Associated Press.
3. Cramer was given a chance to clarify her response
After the forum, Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Hayman took Cramer’s comments very personally, mentioning that her father is 100% Syrian. Cramer was asked if she wanted to clarify her response. Here is what she said: “As long as, how can I put this? What Kathy Hayman doesn’t know is that her family is in the wrong,” she said. “(A) husband and wife need to be the same race. Same thing with kids. That’s how it’s been from the beginning of, how can I say, when God created the heaven and the earth. He created Adam and Eve at the same time. But as far as me being against blacks, no I’m not.”
Given a chance to rectify the situation, Cramer brings a whole new issue to surface; her belief that interracial marriage is also wrong. Not only this, but she says that even the bible supports this statement.
4. She doesn't believe in interracial marriages
In an interview with USA Today, when asked about the topic of interracial marriage, Cramer clearly did not support this as an option for interracial couples. Her response was that marriage is never the answer for people in an interracial relationship, even if they love each other. She goes on to say that interracial “people don’t necessarily have to get married, and, if they love somebody, love them single. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
5. She doesn’t view her statements as racist
When asked by USA Today if she viewed her comments as racist, she said, “No, not at all.” She went on to explain that she is aware racism exists but believes in the ideology that God created Adam and Eve as a separate entity from racism and that marriage should not be between interracial couples.
Elizabeth Ward is a writing student finishing her bachelor’s at the University of Louisville. She covers news, entertainment, relationships and everything in between.