Rob McKenna Campaign In Trouble After Staffer's Tweet

Opinion Piece by WDAC Co-Founder Luis Ortega

The recent controversy surrounding the Rob McKenna campaign for governor is revealingly discouraging as well as disappointing.

Just yesterday, The Stranger broke a story about Kathlyn Ehl, a policy staffer for Rob McKenna’s gubernatorial campaign, and the tweets she had sent out containing inappropriate remarks about Asians and the elderly.

A tweet she sent on Jan 25, read like this:

This incident is a sad reminder of an existent lack of understanding and tolerance towards immigrants and other marginalized communities. Unfortunately, there are many other instances where similar acrimonious speech will go unchallenged.

Not all the offensive, racist and insensitive comments, tweets or Facebook posts make the news. However, this doesn’t mean they don’t have an impact in our communities – they do.

It is our responsibility, as individuals as well as collectively, to educate and raise awareness to avoid and challenge this form of offensive rhetoric.

We can do better as a community and we have an opportunity, through reflection and dialogue, to learn and grow from this incident. Above all, this is an opportunity for each of us to lead by example – let’s work together to speak up and shut ignorance!