Hawaii rep regrets saying he’s ‘an Asian trapped in a white body’ to those offended
Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii) said Wednesday he regrets the comments he made claiming he was “an Asian trapped in a white body” to those that he may have offended.
Case was responding to the controversy he sparked at a reception in Washington billed as a “celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander members of the 116th Congress,” according to the Washington Post.
Case was quoted by National Journal fellow Nicholas Wu as having said, “I’m an Asian trapped in a white body.”
Congressman Ed Case, who represents a majority Asian district in Honolulu – “I’m an Asian trapped in a white body” pic.twitter.com/Roro6Yk8CW
— Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) January 16, 2019
In an email to the Post, Case said he had “regret if my specific remarks to the national API (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community on my full absorption of their concerns caused any offense.”
“Like so many others from Hawaii who treasure our multicultural heritage, I have absorbed and live the values of our many cultures,” Case said. “They and not my specific ethnicity are who I am, and I believe that this makes me an effective advocate on national issues affecting our API community.”
Case’s spokesman Nestor Garcia added in the email that Case was referring to “what his Japanese-American wife sometimes says about him,” according to the Post.
Case’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
Case is in his second stint in Congress, representing the majority-Asian district that includes the greater Honolulu area, as he also did from 2002 to 2007.
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