No surprises here. The anti-Asian racism and hate in Australia continues to happen, and as usual if you are a political candidate of Asian background you are automatically assumed to be disloyal and connected to the Chinese Communist Party. This othering and treatment as a perpetual foreigner happens time and time again, and Asian Australian political candidates continue to receive racism out in the public and over social media.
Labor candidate for Reid Sally Sitou has come out strongly against racist messages she has been receiving over Twitter.
What happened?
- Sitou has received messages saying: “I should not be the Labor candidate because of my Chinese heritage”;
- It has been assumed all because of her Chinese heritage that she is connected somehow to the Chinese Communist Party;
- She wrote a lengthy post on Twitter calling out the racism she has received saying it is wrong. She has also been accused of having divided loyalties, and stated that her loyalty is to Australia as she is first and foremost an Aussie;
- She also spoke about her family background being Lao Chinese and that she is proud have have this background.
Who Is Sally Sitou?
- Sitou was born and raised in Australia, her parents fled Laos after the Vietnam war and made Australia home;
- She is the Labor candidate for Reid in Sydney’s Inner West which has a large Chinese population, 18.2% of the electorate according to The Australian Bureau of Statistics;
- Sally Sitou is a doctoral researcher at the University of Sydney Business School.
- Sitou has big dreams for herself, her family, for her son and most importantly for the people of Reid and Australia;
The Federal Electorate of Reid
- The Federal Electorate of Reid in Sydney’s Inner West is one of the most marginal seats in Australia, ranking 7th most marginal;
- Liberal Member Fiona Martin won the seat in a by-election in 2019 against Labor candidate Sam Crosby with 53% of the vote;
- Former member Craig Laundy ( also Liberal) won the seat in the 2013 Federal Election with a 4.7% margin;
In addition to Sitou, there are other Asian Australians running, and we will be doing interviews with a few of them ( coming soon). All in all, the racism Sitou is receiving is wrong and this anti-Asian hate really needs to stop.