Hawaii Congressman Claims He’s an ‘Asian Trapped in a White Body’

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Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii) told attendees at an event celebrating the Asian-American and Pacific Islander members of Congress on Tuesday that he is an “Asian trapped in a white body.”

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The comments, unsurprisingly, did not go over well with many in the Asian-American community, drawing comparisons to actors who have whitewashed Asian characters.

Case spokesman Nestor Garcia said the congressman had been commenting “on what his Japanese-American wife sometimes says about him.” The Democrat, whose state boasts the largest percentage of Asian-Americans in the U.S., told HuffPost in a statement that he has “absorbed and lives the values of our many cultures.”

“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 [Asian and Pacific Islander] community,” the statement said. {snip}

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