Rep. Bettie Scott has issued an apology via her attorney to Stephanie Chang after making a racist comment about her and Chinese people.
Scott ran against Chang and lost in the Democratic primary for the state Senate in Michigan.
Chang picked up 49 percent of the vote from Michigan’s 1st Senate District, and despite the insensitive remarks, Scott won 11 percent of voters who went to the ballot booth.
According to several witnesses, during the campaign, Scott visited the Bethany Lutheran Church in Detroit where she clashed with one person who supported her opponent. The politician told the person:”You don’t belong here.”
The former public school teacher and police officer was also overheard telling a group of voters standing in a queue outside of a school not to vote for “the ching-chong.”
Scott was not done with her racist comments. She also added: “Chinese immigrants are taking over.”
Scott issued a statement via her lawyer, Bill Noakes, where she expressed remorse for the words she used and alluded to the political and racial tensions that exist in Washington and the rest of the country.
Scott said: “I humbly apologize to Rep. Chang and to her husband, Mr. Gray, and to the broader Asian American community. We all live in a time of increasing divisiveness.”
She went on to say the following: “As a state representative, I should never do anything to contribute to an atmosphere of divisiveness, and for that, I am terribly sorry.”
It has been confirmed that Chang agreed for a sit-down with Scott next week.
Chang took the high road by saying that the conversation will focus on the Asian-American community.
Chang stated: “It’s not about me. It truly is about the comments that she made to Asian-Americans and the community more broadly.”
Brandon Dillon, the chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, was not pleased to hear the disparaging remarks and said they “expect better from anyone who wants to call themselves a Michigan Democrat.”
Chang is the first Asian-American woman to serve in the Michigan Legislature.
