Public Outcry After CT Rep Says Asians Not Discriminated Against

GREENWICH, CT — One state lawmaker is under fire after saying Asian people are not victims of discrimination during a recent discussion of inclusive housing.

State Rep. Michael Winkler, D-56, made the comment Monday during a public hearing of the Planning and Development Committee.

Winkler was engaged in a back-and-forth with Sam Romeo, chair of the Greenwich housing authority board, about diversity and public housing in the town.

When Winkler remarked that Black people make up over 10 percent of the population in Connecticut, but only about 3.5 percent of the population in Greenwich, Romeo responded that roughly one in three Greenwich residents is a minority.

“You count Asians and other minorities that have never been discriminated against,” Winkler replied in a 16-minute video posted on YouTube by the Connecticut Senate Republican Caucus.

The video of Winkler's comment and the discussion that followed represents a small fragment of the nearly 10-hour hearing.

Following Winkler’s statement, committee chair and state Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-133, noted many minority groups face discrimination, making specific reference to the recent shooting in Atlanta, where six women of Asian descent were killed.

State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-28, was in another meeting when Winkler made the comment about Asian people, but, upon hearing what had happened, Hwang delivered a passionate condemnation.

“I demand that he apologize and understand what he said was beyond inflammatory, beyond derogatory and beyond ignorant,” he said. “I’m absolutely disappointed, and I’m infuriated.”

State Rep. Kimberly Fiorello, R-149, defended her hometown of Greenwich.

“Racism can only be solved on an individual basis and maybe that’s what we’re doing right now,” she said. “I bristle at the idea that an entire town can be called racist.”

Winkler responded to Hwang and Fiorello by making an effort to clarify his point.

“Every immigrant group has been discriminated against in the past and is being discriminated against currently, but Blacks have suffered the most,” he said. “The Blacks have always been at the bottom and have remained there, and so they’re the group that I look to when I’m trying to judge how well we’re doing for the most downtrodden, the most oppressed.”

Hwang, however, was not satisfied.

“Racism against anyone, and bias, is never acceptable,” he said. “There is no tolerance for it, and I’m appalled that you don’t feel a compulsion or an understanding to apologize to Asian Americans that you just disparaged because you believe that they have been discriminated less.”

Hwang issued a news release Monday in which he again admonished Winkler and rebuked McCarthy Vahey for not stopping Winkler from speaking.

In an interview Tuesday, Winkler said Fiorello had accepted an apology from him and that he had contacted Hwang’s office to apologize.

“All I have is an apology,” he said. “My comments are, were, inexcusable.”

In a prepared statement, Winkler acknowledged the history of racism against Asian Americans and expressed a desire to better understand the experiences of those who face discrimination.

McCarthy Vahey also issued a statement Tuesday, in which she condemned intolerance and said that after Monday’s committee hearing she had taken bystander intervention training to help stop displays of racism.

Attorney General William Tong and Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo also weighed in on the matter, decrying Winkler’s comments in a prepared statement and an op-ed, respectively.

“I’d like to say I cannot believe that Representative Winkler would say that Asian Americans do not count and have not been discriminated against,” said Tong, a Democrat. “Except, I can believe it because I was asked myself as a member of the House of Representatives during a debate whether Asian Americans count as people of color.”

“… 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.”