Rep. Jodeh: Auroras Sundberg cannot serve various communities he ridicules with racist tropes

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Aurora City Council member Steve Sundberg impersonates an Arab while announcing a special meal at his bar, Legends. The bars’ Facebook page is filled with a slew of similar videos. Screenshot from a Facebook video.

As a representative of a Muslim and Arab state that has called Aurora one of the most diverse cities in America my entire life, I am proud to represent all cultures and religions in Aurora. It is a real honor that my constituents entrust to me, and I do not take it lightly.

Board member Steve Sundberg’s blatant disregard for this diversity and communities of color in his promotional videos for his bar, portraying outdated stereotypes around Arabs, Muslims, African Americans, Latinos and South Asians, is more than deplorable and insensitive.

Legends Sports Bar is in my State House District, and my constituents, and Aurora, deserve better than to be reduced to racist videos. I will not remain silent while their elected officials make them feel threatened by capitalizing on short-term visions to attract customers.

It is the people in power who use these stereotypical and racist tropes that allow

others to be equally racist and bigoted towards all marginalized communities. And I don’t want these videos to attract people to our neighborhoods who share his unfortunate, racist humor.

In a study, Who is Aurora, released by the City of Aurora in 2016, it finds that many Aurora residents were foreign-born and more than 160 languages ​​are spoken in public schools in Aurora alone. These numbers have only increased since then.

According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the city of Aurora, Colorado’s third-largest city, is made up of 42% people who do not identify as white. And according to the City of Aurora, the percentage of people of color is steadily increasing almost every 10 years.

That means council member Sundberg votes on decisions that affect more than 186,886 people of color. (It is important to note that people from the Middle East and North Africa are asked to check the blank, on some US census and other documents, which means that there is a significant number of residents in Aurora who are not captured as people of color on the Census.)

It is very concerning that he eluded Councilman Sundberg as to what it means to represent Aurora, or at the very least become culturally competent about his own constituents. How can diverse communities believe that our government is working in our best interest when our elected officials mock our heritage, our religious practices and add to our struggles?

It’s not Sundberg’s first mistake that has come to light recently. In October, an investigation confirmed that he made sexual comments around Aurora City staff. The Sentinel reported that under a Colorado law that gives cities broad authority to withhold records related to sexual harassment, a group of three other council members decided not to discipline Sundberg, with Sundberg claiming that the allegations were minor and because Sundberg reportedly apologized. No recording was made, nor minutes of the meetings of the groups.

In 2021, when interviewing to fill a vacancy on the council, Sundberg said he would oppose carrying out a study of city office equity. As a council member, he later opposed funding for the City of Aurora’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office. And when an opportunity arose to defend native heritage, in a town in a county whose namesake honors the Arapahoe Nation, he sided with Republican members of the city council and voted against recognition. land for the start of each council meeting and during special events.

This is why representation is important. Having a city council that reflects all of the people who call Aurora home is essential to undoing years of exclusionary and harmful policies. Sadly, we continue to suffer because people of color are at the center of Sundberg’s nasty jokes and suggestive actions instead of being at the center of his politics.

In an article published by the Atlantic titled Were All Fated of Being Called Racists, attendees of Trump’s rally were asked about their feelings about being called racists. A rally participant, Roseanna, who chose not to give her last name, told the reporter that I was fed up. I have 13 grandchildren 13, she continued. Four of them are bi-racial, black and white; two other of them are black and white; and other two of them are Singaporean and White. You think I’m racist? I go there and I give them kisses to the children like nobody.

And when asked about the infamous chant to send her back in reference to Muslim immigrant and Congressman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, her feelings were very paradoxical to her frustration at being called a racist. . Look, but she’s gonna let you know that I don’t want her fucking Muslim shit in my country, Roseanna said. Sharia law. It’s not America, it’s Muslim through and through, it wants it all here.

When elected officials cannot acknowledge systemic racism in politics because their bigoted views have been normalized outside of City Hall, the result is council member Sundberg, who has clearly proven unable to live up to all people he was elected to represent.

I don’t know which is more offensive, his desperate and pathetic attempt at financial gain at the expense of marginalized people while appealing to basic immature humor, or that he blatantly ignores and offends people when he is elected to be a leader in a community that needs to come together to reduce racial tensions and increase inclusiveness.

It hurts me that Aurora is now traumatized again, and having to deal with things like this only deepens those open wounds. As a Muslim and Arab-American, these heinous stereotypes are reminiscent of decades past. Growing up in the aftermath of two Gulf Wars, 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, seeing racist portrayals of people who share my faith and heritage, became so commonplace that it was overwhelming to counter and to dissipate. But movements like Me Too and Black Lives Matter have opened up the conversation about what underserved and underrepresented communities need from others to acknowledge their identity and cause, and what that should and shouldn’t look like.

Failure by a member of city council to recognize these cultural necessities and needs, as a trusted elected representative to represent a diverse constituency, even when they do not share the same identity, signifies a betrayal of their belief. in the system.

In Dear White Friends: Here’s What to Do When You’re Called Racist, an article published by the Washington Post, the author describes the realities of white fragility and implicit bias, while deconstructing the symbolic defense of the best friend of the minority.

The article draws on the parallels between supporting Trump, who is married to an immigrant, but continues to believe he is in fact not racist. I am the least racist person in the world, he told reporters last month, and he often checks the names of famous black friends to back up his claim. At the same time, it continues to launch racist attacks against individuals and groups.

It seems council member Sundberg really believed going this route of publicity was OK in 2020 when they were published, and up until December 19, 2022, still thought it was OK, which is proof that he isn’t. clearly never intended to serve a diverse population that would feel welcome at the Sundbergs facility.

This makes me wonder what clientele he wants to serve exactly. I have no doubt that statements and apologies to affected communities are well underway. As such, I have received emails, calls and texts from allies, community leaders and constituents in Aurora and elsewhere, not asking for an apology or censure, but calling upon his resignation. And I couldn’t agree more. A real apology would take the form of a resignation.

State Rep. Iman Jodeh is a Democrat and represents District 41 in downtown Aurora

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