‘SYMBOLS’

Omaha Mayor Apologizes for Racist Remark by Saying She Didn’t Recognize Korean

Jean Stothert said of a woman who identified herself using Korean letters: “A Facebook troll who hides behind symbols and doesn’t list their name, is a coward.”

The mayor of Omaha has apologized to a Korean American constituent for a racist Facebook remark made earlier this week. Mayor Jean Stothert, a Republican, announced curfews in the city on Facebook after tense and violent protests over the death of George Floyd that saw a bar owner fatally shoot a black protester, and Soyeon Sohn posted a comment in response. Stothert, displeased, wrote to Sohn, “A Facebook troll who hides behind symbols and doesn’t list their name, is a coward.” The “symbols” in question were Korean letters spelling Sohn’s name. “I was caught off guard more than anything,” Sohn told local news. “A public official making that statement publicly on her own Facebook page degrading a citizen—that’s just uncalled for and unprofessional.” Sothert explained that she didn’t know what Korean looked like: “I referred to her not using her name because I saw these symbols or letters, but they were Korean.” She apologized in a letter: “It was not my intent to question her background or heritage.”