The Asian Pacific Americans for Civic Engagement C4 and PAC Boards condemn the sexism, racism, anti-Blackness, Islamophobia, and xenophobia fueling the attacks on King County Council Position 9 candidate Ubax Gardheere.
We stand in solidarity with Ubax as she shares her experience with postpartum depression. Attacks on Black, Indigenous, People of Color candidates are, sadly, predictable. The propagation of the “perpetual foreigner” stereotype, and excessive scrutiny of the “electability” or qualifications of these candidates, are prejudiced and hypocritical, especially when our white peers are not subject to the same level of scrutiny. The treatment of candidates who also identify as women or gender non-conforming is even more severe.
This is unacceptable.
We call on democratic actors, institutions, powers, and processes to do better and lead better. As Asian Pacific Americans, we stand in solidarity with all Black, Indigenous, People of Color, women, and LGBTQIA2S+ people and candidates working to build a truly multicultural, multiracial, and gender-inclusive democracy.