California Democrat Loretta Sanchez has come under fire for using a stereotypical and cartoonish gesture to describe Native Americans.
From the Los Angeles Daily News:
Senate candidate Loretta Sanchez apologizes for Indian whooping-cry caricatureU.S. Senate candidate Loretta Sanchez has apologized after a videotape surfaced showing her making a whooping cry in reference to Native Americans during an apparent joke.Speaking to delegates at a state Democratic convention Sunday, the 10-term congresswoman said she said something offensive “and for that I sincerely apologize.”The video, which was shared on social media, shows Sanchez tapping her hand over her open mouth and making a whooping sound while speaking to a group of delegates Saturday.Her chief rival in the Senate race, Attorney General Kamala Harris, called the gesture shocking.Sanchez said everyone makes mistakes and defended her record on civil rights, human rights and Native American rights.Sanchez said American Indians have “a great presence in our country and many of them are supporting our election.”Harris, whose mother was an immigrant from India, said, “There is no place for that in our public discourse.”
Here’s a video of the incident:
This isn’t the first time Sanchez has stirred controversy with race related comments.
Back in 2010, she made some questionable remarks about her Vietnamese opponent.
Professor Jacobson wrote about the incident:
Can you imagine if Van Tran had said something along the lines of “let’s take the seat from the Hispanics”? There would have been a mainstream media firestorm.
During the senate race between Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown, Democrats decried similar tactics by some Brown supporters as racism.
Will they condemn Sanchez in the same way? Enquiring minds want to know:
Featured image via YouTube.
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