City Councilmember-elect Justin Brannan released community leader Warren Chan from his 36-member transition team amid a racist comment Chan posted on Facebook.
In response to a thread discussing the Alabama election turnout last night, Chan wrote, “I don’t understand why so many politically-connected Chinese people like to suck black ck.”
Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, (D-Manhattan), who initiated the thread with a infograph expressing the racial breakdown of Alabama voters during the recent senate election, responded to Chan calling his comment disgusting and inappropriate.
Niou further called out Chan in a separate post that read, “Have to put this disgusting post on blast from Warren Chan. I don’t think my post about the election turnout in Alabama warranted this kind of response.”
Former Republican candidate, Liam McCabe, a Facebook friend of the assemblymember, further highlighted the incident with his own Facebook and Twitter post calling on Brannan to remove Chan from his transition team.
The Councilmember-elect responded this morning in a swift removal of Chan from his transition committee with the following comment,“Warren’s comments were reprehensible and vile,” said Jonathan Yedin, Brannan’s transition committee director. “He was removed from the transition committee immediately.”
The executive director of the Asian Community United Society confirmed the Facebook posts as his own and gave the following statement to KCP, “I want to apologize to everyone that was offended by my recent social media comment ‘in language only,” wrote Chan in an email this afternoon. “I want to re-emphasize the social media post is my opinion and statement only. Due to a upcoming tournament I’m scheduled to attend over the weekend. I will be issuing further statement in the coming weeks.”
Niou, in a separate correspondence, spoke out against Chan’s comment early this afternoon.
“Bigotry and racism are never acceptable, and it is critical that we call out hatred and prejudice when we see it,” said Niou. “I resent the attempt by a member of our Asian community to undercut the unity between our Asian American and Black communities. As minorities, we face many different challenges but also have a lot in common when it comes to a history of oppression in America.”
“We cannot allow small-mindedness, racism, and prejudice to divide us and further fuel oppression. Now more than ever, we must embrace our commonalities and prevent hatred from crippling our message of hope and unity,” Niou added.
