Northwest Side Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez defended herself late Friday against backlash she’s received for promoting a Twitter poll that several leaders in Chicago’s Italian American community said they found offensive.

       Short of an apology, Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, said the poll she posted on her political Twitter account late last month seeking opinions about “the Best Way to honor Italian Heritage in Chicago” was intended to be “playful” and “lighthearted” and was instead being “spun into a narrative of disrespect.”

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       Responding on her same social media account, Rodriguez Sanchez shared screenshots of insulting and hateful messages she received in response to the poll, including one that disparaged her Puerto Rican ethnicity and said “your heritage is inferior.”