Fliers seeking deportation of Chinese-American and Indian-American aspirants to the school board were discovered by residents of Edison, New Jersey, in their mailboxes earlier this week.
The flier says “Make Edison Great Again” on one side, and displays the photos of Jerry Shi and Falguni Patel, both Asian candidates for the school board. Nobody has come forward to take credit for the racist poster.
“Stop Jerry Shi and Falguni Patel from taking over our school board,” the flier says. “The Chinese and Indians are taking over our town!” it continues. “Chinese school! Indian school! Cricket fields! Enough is enough!” On the reverse side, it says, “Stop the overcrowding!” “Stop taking over our sports fields! Stop the McMansions! Stop multiple families living in the same house! Stop wasting school holidays! Stop the outsiders!” “Let’s take back Edison and our schools.”
Edison is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the country, with 42.7 per cent Asians, according to data on Neighborhoodscout.com. More than 53 per cent people are college graduates and the median household income is almost $40,000 more than the national median.
Patel, who was born in New Jersey and is an immigration lawyer, said she was disgusted by the pamphlets, Associated Press reported.
“I was born and raised in New Jersey,” she said. “To see the word `deport’ on my picture — really it’s just outrageous.”
Republican mayoral candidate Keith Hahn vowed to find the “anonymous cowards” while Democratic Mayor Tom Lankey said it is a “sad reality” that certain people feel empowered to express “these vile ideas.” The flier is in violation to state election law as it doesn’t mention who paid for them.
A resident of Edison reacted to the pamphlets on Facebook, saying: “Make Edison Great Again,” my foot. This is how you debase it, and this is how it spreads and festers… we’re only 150 years from Slavery, 70 from the Holocaust, never mind all the other ongoing worldwide atrocities. Think the trajectory of this crap doesn’t lead to war and genocide? Sorry, I don’t trust that much; we’re basically still barbarians and these cockroaches are crawling out of the cracks now that our beautiful country is being “led” by this reprehensible “president”.”