US congressman Ed Case says he’s ‘an Asian trapped in a white body’, sparking an online backlash
- The Democrat says he has ‘absorbed and lives the values of many cultures’ in Hawaii
- He says he is regretful ‘if my specific remarks … caused any offence’
Shortly after being sworn into office two weeks ago, US Representative Ed Case, a Hawaii Democrat, told his new staff: “I feel the aloha.”
He may be feeling less of that aloha this week, after some remarks he made drew controversy at an event for Asian-American and Pacific Islander voters in Washington on Tuesday night.
At a reception intended to be a “celebration of Asian-American and Pacific Islander members of the 116th Congress”, Case reportedly told the crowd he was “an Asian trapped in a white body”, according to National Journal fellow Nicholas Wu.
It’s unclear what the pretext for Case’s speech was, but Wu tweeted a picture showing the congressman speaking at a lectern, indicating he had been invited to give remarks. It didn’t take long for Case’s remarks to reach an audience online, as well, where the reception was a collective head shake.
It’s time to stop whitewashing Asians off the big screen
“I just oof’d so hard I blacked out for a sec,” one Twitter user commented.
“As a haole who lived in Japan for 7 years and now lives in Hawai’i, I couldn’t imagine saying something like this,” another said, using a Hawaiian term for a foreigner. “Check your privilege Ed Case.”