Election year, the politicians need to learn about diversity

Back in 2012, an insensitive material was distributed by a candidate in the Republican party using a stereotype of the Chinese take out boxes to depicts the trade with China deal made by their opponent, fast forward to 2016, same mistake is done again, but this time, by a Democratic party’s Ted Strickland. Johnny Wu and Lisa Was were recently interviewed on this exact issue and you can read it in  this article. And the interview can be read here.

OCA Cleveland Chapter release this statement with OCA National:

OCA is Disappointed With Insensitive ‘Fortune Cookie’ Political Gimmick

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

18 July 2016

CONTACT:  Nick Lee | Communications Associate
202 223 5500 | nlee@ocanational.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates is disappointed with the culturally insensitive ‘fortune cookie’ gimmick used on the Ohio campaign trail.

Yesterday, fortune cookies were distributed on behalf of a candidate in the upcoming elections in Ohio. These fortune cookies contained a message targeting the candidate’s political opponent in the upcoming election. The message reads “Rob Portman: The Best Senator China’s Ever Had”.

“This election season we have seen politicians from across the political spectrum stoop incredibly low to grab political points,” said Leslie Moe-Kaiser, OCA National President. “This fortune cookie ad is an unfortunate example of this lowering of the political dialogue. As others have pointed out, the fortune cookie is actually an American invention, so using it as a means to draw a negative association with the Chinese government’s trade policy is extremely misguided at best. Using Chinese American customs to criticize a foreign government will result in a negative association between Chinese Americans and a foreign threat, an association that was used to justify the dehumanizing Chinese Exclusion Act.”

“We at the OCA – Greater Cleveland chapter are dismayed by the use of this gimmick in Ohio, home of a strong Asian American and Chinese American community,” said Lisa Wong, President of the OCA – Greater Cleveland Chapter. “Our Ohio elected officials fail to accurately represent our communities when they equate Chinese Americans and our contributions to American culture with foreign trade, highlighting their own blindness to the cultural relevancy of Chinese Americans. We must protest against this insensitive behavior no matter the candidate or their political affiliation.”

OCA Cleveland previously joined efforts to remove an offensive campaign mailer in 2012 that used typical Chinese American takeout boxes to target a political opponent on trade.

OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national organization of community advocates dedicated to improving the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs).

# # #