Illinois senator makes racist comment in debate

[abaris]

Well her ancestors did serve in the revolution...

That's why the comment is stupid, since he could have known reading her biography - or one of his staff anyway. It just seems to escape his notice that people usually have paternal as well as maternal lineage. Kind of needed to create a child.

[account_inactive]

Foreigners always seem to think I'm (Northern) Irish because of my surname, and for some reason can't tell the difference between my accent and an Irish accent.

So prejudiced!

[account_inactive]

-snip-

[Doubting Thomas]

I think it's a bit racist because he's only focusing on her maternal lineage and not her paternal lineage. Yes, her mother is an Asian immigrant. However, her father is a white American. Yet when this guy comments on her ancestry all he can focus on is the non-white half. Like I said, when he looked at her, he just saw an Asian. He didn't see her as an American.

[Alex K]

Yeah but he said "parents"...

I'm guessing it was just a slip of the tongue, I hope so anyway

I suspect he was trying to mock her for theatrically overstating her personal connection to American history with her "I'm a daughter of the revolution" line, and it backfired.

[Doubting Thomas]

I think that's what he was trying to do, too, but bringing up her Asian heritage was the wrong way to go about it.