Conn. lawmaker claims Asians ‘have never been discriminated against’
A liberal Democratic state lawmaker apologized Tuesday for dismissing the diversity of Greenwich and minimizing the discrimination faced by Asians.
ln a virtual hearing Monday night that touched on the role of systemic racism in suburban zoning, Rep. Mike Winkler, D-Vernon, ignored recent attacks on Asians and the history of racism directed at Asians in the United States.
Winkler was questioning the chairman of Greenwich Communities (formerly the Greenwich Housing Authority) during a hearing on one of the year’s most contentious issues: Whether the legislature should limit the ability of municipalities to restrict affordable housing through zoning.
He asked Sam Romeo, the chairman, how Greenwich, one of the wealthiest communities in the United States, ended up with a Black population of just 3.7%.
“People go where they want to go, and people go where they can afford to live, and where they can find work,” Romeo replied. Accurately referring to the most recent census estimate, he added, “I believe we’re at 37% minority in the town of Greenwich.”
“Yes,” Winkler said, “you count Asians and other minorities that have never been discriminated against.”
As Winkler would acknowledge Tuesday, that statement was astonishingly ignorant of current events, as well as dark chapters of U.S. history, including the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
“My comments are inexcusable, especially with the recent rise in violence against Asian-Americans,” Winkler said in a statement. “There is a long, painful history of Asian-Americans experiencing racism in this country, and I sincerely regret that I ignored that history and those experiences in my comments.”
The written apology made Tuesday came after a curt statement of regret during the hearing — after he was publicly challenged by Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, and privately admonished by at least one leader,
House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford.
Ritter said Tuesday that Winkler has more to do.
“My hope is he will have conversations with members of the Asian community in Vernon and beyond,” Ritter said.
On Tuesday, there was anger and suggestions that lawmakers other than Winkler had been gifted a teachable moment, even if there was no ready consensus on precisely what lessons to draw.
Hwang said he saw Winkler as engaging in a lazy racist trope about Asians as a “model minority,” assimilated and successful in academia and business.
“The ‘model minority’ concept, what does that conjure?” Hwang said. “The same bias that lead Mr. Winkler to say, ‘You’re not discriminated against, because you succeeded.’”
Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat who served with Winkler in the House and who is the first Asian to hold statewide office in Connecticut, said the history of bias and hate against Asian Americans is “long and largely invisible.”
“The myth of the so-called ‘modelminority’ is a dangerous fiction that for too long has allowed this country to erase and ignore this shameful history,” Tong said. “I invite Representative Winkler to seize this moment as a teaching opportunity, to educate himself by speaking to his Asian-American neighbors and colleagues, and to commit to joining me and others in fighting discrimination in all forms.”
House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, cast Winkler’s comments as another pointed reminder of the frustrations and missteps that can come with dialogues about race and discrimination.
“This year, the legislature is working on a number of bills to address the legacy that racism and discrimination has had on our communities, and over the past year there has been a particular emphasis on our Black and Latino communities,” said Rojas, the first person of color in House leadership.