White congressman reckons he's an "Asian trapped in a white body"
- 5 years ago
HILO, HAWAII — A white Democratic Representative from Hawaii stirred controversy after stating he is an "Asian trapped in a white body", reports The Washington Post.
Hawaiian Congressman Ed Case is facing backlash after stating he is an "Asian trapped in a white body" in front of a crowd of Asian and Pacific Islander American members of the new Congress. Yeah, not a good move.
According to The Washington Post, the context for the statement is unclear but at this point, does it really matter?
By the time Case processed the awkward silence followed by his comment, National Journal fellow Nicholas Wu had already tweeted the congressman's remark and Twitter broke. Reactions from Wu's tweet have been varied but the public's favorite ones seem to be "Yikes", "Nope", or just disapproving gifs. Unsurprising.
Others simply replied with images of Scarlett Johanson playing Japanese anime character Motoko Kusanagi in 2017's Ghost In The Shell, comparing the congressman's comments to Hollywood white-washing of Asian characters. Yikes, indeed.
Case apologized, stating he was he was "fiercely proud" to represent a state as multicultural as Hawaii and that he regretted if he had offended anyone in the Asian and Pacific Islander community.
Case said he made this comment was because that's "what Japanese-American wife sometimes says about him.
Clarifying his comments, the Hawaii representative stated, according to a CNN report, "Like so many others from Hawaii who treasure our multicultural heritage, I have absorbed and live the values of our many cultures. They and not my specific ethnicity, are who I am, and I believe that this makes me an effective advocate on national issues affecting our API community."
SOURCES
CNN, The Washington Post, Nextshark
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/17/politics/ed-case-hawaii-comments/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/16/rep-ed-case-said-hes-an-asian-trapped-white-body-his-apology-didnt-help/?utm_term=.43ebad089b2d
https://nextshark.com/hawaiian-rep-ed-case-asian-white-body/
Hawaiian Congressman Ed Case is facing backlash after stating he is an "Asian trapped in a white body" in front of a crowd of Asian and Pacific Islander American members of the new Congress. Yeah, not a good move.
According to The Washington Post, the context for the statement is unclear but at this point, does it really matter?
By the time Case processed the awkward silence followed by his comment, National Journal fellow Nicholas Wu had already tweeted the congressman's remark and Twitter broke. Reactions from Wu's tweet have been varied but the public's favorite ones seem to be "Yikes", "Nope", or just disapproving gifs. Unsurprising.
Others simply replied with images of Scarlett Johanson playing Japanese anime character Motoko Kusanagi in 2017's Ghost In The Shell, comparing the congressman's comments to Hollywood white-washing of Asian characters. Yikes, indeed.
Case apologized, stating he was he was "fiercely proud" to represent a state as multicultural as Hawaii and that he regretted if he had offended anyone in the Asian and Pacific Islander community.
Case said he made this comment was because that's "what Japanese-American wife sometimes says about him.
Clarifying his comments, the Hawaii representative stated, according to a CNN report, "Like so many others from Hawaii who treasure our multicultural heritage, I have absorbed and live the values of our many cultures. They and not my specific ethnicity, are who I am, and I believe that this makes me an effective advocate on national issues affecting our API community."
SOURCES
CNN, The Washington Post, Nextshark
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/17/politics/ed-case-hawaii-comments/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/16/rep-ed-case-said-hes-an-asian-trapped-white-body-his-apology-didnt-help/?utm_term=.43ebad089b2d
https://nextshark.com/hawaiian-rep-ed-case-asian-white-body/