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CAPAC Chair Blasts Hoekstra Campaign for Racially Charged Super Bowl Ad
Arcadia Weekly Feb 09, 2012
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Following the airing of former Congressman Pete Hoekstra’s racially charged political ad during the Super Bowl last night, Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-32), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), released the following statement:
“Thirty years ago, a Chinese-American man named Vincent Chin was brutally murdered on the streets of Detroit by angry workers who blamed Japan for the plight of the U.S. auto industry,” said Chu. “Three decades later, Pete Hoekstra is stoking the flames of these same anti-Asian sentiments as he runs for the U.S. Senate in the very same state. I am appalled at the Hoekstra campaign’s offensive and insensitive Super Bowl ad that relies heavily on negative Asian stereotypes. Politics of fear and division will never bring the American people together around the solutions they so desperately need, and I am calling on former Rep. Hoekstra to take down this atrocious ad and issue an apology immediately.”
Hoekstra’s advertisement depicted an Asian woman speaking in broken English and a heavy accent to thank Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) for sending money and jobs overseas. The ad also directed viewers to a Hoekstra-sponsored campaign website that featured Chinese characters and imagery.
