A Democratic state lawmaker is apologizing after using a racial slur in an email this week.
State House leaders are not calling for Rep. Gerald Brady (D-Northwest Wilmington) to resign — after an email surfaced showing he used an anti-Asian slur referring to sex workers, and joked about sex workers being trafficked in shipping containers.
Brady’s email to an advocate living outside of Delaware was sent from his government account — and shared with the Delaware News Journal Tuesday.
He was responding to a Princeton University Study showing the presence of sex clubs across New York City Police Precincts led to a decrease in sex crimes.
House majority leader Valerie Longhurst says she talked with him the next day.
“We as a Democratic party do not support that type of language nor do we accept that type of thought," Longhurst. "So to get him on the path of healing and understanding what he did and how it impacts society and how it impacts everybody — he needs to take that first step into recognizing it, which he is.”
In a statement on Brady’s Facebook page, he says he can’t excuse his language, or his making light of human trafficking situations. He says he’ll reflect on his actions and do better down the line.
Longhurst says Brady needs to start by reaching out to the Asian-American community.
“This is not what I expected to come from him," She says. "Knowing him and the bills that he’s done and what he’s done in his district and it was shocking to all of us and we’re just trying to get through that shock moment right now”
His language comes while many Asian-Americans face discrimination and violence.
Anti-Asian hate crimes have been on the rise, more than doubling since the beginning of the pandemic.
Brady is facing calls to resign from commenters on his Facebook page. Longhurst says she won’t put that pressure on him, that’s a decision he needs to make himself.
Brady is up for re-election next year.
Roman Battaglia is a corps member withReport for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
This story was updated to correct an error related to the study, it was originally stated the Princeton study analyzed one NYC police Precinct, but the study actually analyzed 77 different precincts.
