SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin released the following statement condemning the use of racially-charged imagery in an invitation to a campaign event for U.S. Senate Candidate Jason Lewis and Congressional Candidate Tyler Kistner (event invitation pictured below and attached):
“As Minnesota continues to grapple with the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and confront the system racism that plagues our society, many Minnesotans are taking extra caution to listen and learn – to come to grips with the longstanding legacies of inequality in this country. Unfortunately, not all members of our community appear to grasp the seriousness of this chapter in our state’s history.
“Earlier this week, in an invitation for an event referred to as ‘The Unlocked Dinner,’ the Minnesota Republican Party misappropriated racial imagery to equate their own experiences with the struggle of African Americans fighting for freedom, while making light of COVID-19 and public health restrictions designed to protect the health and wellbeing of Minnesotans.
“The Republican Party’s use of this imagery could be charitably described as racially insensitive – but it is especially offensive at a time when our state is undergoing such a difficult transformation and more than 70,000 Americans per day are being infected with a deadly virus that has already claimed countless lives around the globe.”