In a December 9 post on the Chicago Tribune's “The Swamp” blog, Mark Silva wrote that the Piast Institute, which is “a nonprofit group dedicated to promoting the understanding of Poland and Polish Americans,” condemned Beck for mocking the name of Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) in his comments this week about her and her husband, Robert Creamer.

Silva wrote:

It took a smug-faced Beck five or six syllables to get through Schakowsky's name - which he used to suggest that Creamer is “well-connected'' in Washington.

And it took the Piast Institute, a nonprofit group dedicated to promoting the understanding of Poland and Polish Americans which is based in Hamtramck, Mich., about a day to protest Beck's attempt at ethnic humor.

”American names come from all over the world and it is incumbent on all of us, especially those in the media, to learn to pronounce them correctly,'' the institute said in a statement released today. “Ms. Schakowsky's name is only three syllables long and its original spelling was altered to make it easy for English speakers to say.

”Our names are a key to our identity, self-esteem and our pride in our heritage and family,'' the institute noted. "To fail to pronounce them correctly, especially on national television, is a mark of disrespect. This is a serious matter. The prejudice the Polish-Americans have suffered has usually begun with the mockery of our names.''