Mokena Slate Addresses Phrenology Political Mailer

MOKENA, IL — The Friends of Mokena slate is addressing a recent political mailer involving the pseudoscience of phrenology, which several residents took issue with, citing a racist history of the debunked practice.

Resident Mark Cerkvenik tried to address the Mokena Village Board about the mailer at its Monday meeting. The Friends of Mokena slate includes current Mayor Frank Fleischer, current clerk Melissa Martini, current trustee George Metanias, and newcomer trustee candidates Rob Dauphinais and Melissa Fedora.

At the Monday meeting, Cerkvenik began to speak about the political mailer, but was interrupted by the village's legal counsel.

Village Attorney Stephen White said the meeting was not the forum for politics, and when Cerkvenik tried to continue to speak, he was eventually asked to leave.

In an email to Patch, Cerkvenik wrote that, "using the pseudoscience of phrenology with its racist and misogynistic roots is at best, poor taste and at worst using old racist pseudoscience of the 19th century in a political campaign."

Cerkvenik said he and several of his friends in neighborhoods throughout Mokena received the mailer a few weeks ago.

The mailer from The Friends of Mokena slate displays a picture of a brain divided into different sections, and has a slogan stating, "A recent phrenological study revealed they have a one-track mind." Different sections of the brain then list various goals or achievements of the slate.

Phrenology revolves around the idea that bumps on your skull could reveal personality traits or intelligence. Several scholars and universities have published studies about phrenology and its history of "racial science." The Guardian reported in 2014 that a "standard phrenological argument" made a racist claim that African slaves had a larger "tameable" part of their brain. However, in the 1800s, some abolitionists used phrenology as an argument that Africans should be helped, not enslaved.

When reached for comment, the Friends of Mokena slate said, "First and foremost, [we] condemn — in the strongest terms — all racism and hateful language of any kind in any form. They have no place in our community or our society."

The slate said the purpose of the mailer was "to find an illustration or visual that would communicate how our team keeps foremost in our minds, the taxpayers of our village and doing what is right for them."

Patch had asked the slate if it was aware of the racist history of phrenology, to which the slate said, "The basic premise of this question is false because it unfairly and inaccurately characterizes what the science was."

The slate said research shows that some people in the 1800s did "manipulate and mold" phrenology to fit twisted theories, but there were others who used phrenology to support abolishing slavery and promoting racial equality.

"Again, our sole purpose was to offer up a visual that communicated our laser-like focus on doing what is right for Mokena taxpayers — period," the slate said. "Having said that, we want to emphasize once again that our team collectively finds racism and hate in any form abhorrent; that we would never resort to those kinds of tactics ever; that we are proud of what we have accomplished for Mokena and that we stand behind everything we have done during this campaign."