Videos reportedly showing Aurora City council member Steve Sundberg mocking Mexicans, Arab Muslims, South Asians and other minority groups in ads for his sports bar have surfaced, The Sentinel reports.
Sundberg was elected in 2021 and the advertisements for the bar, Legends of Aurora Sports Grill, are from 2020. An unnamed source gave The Sentinel a confidential tip about the advertisements, which show Sundberg promoting the bar by doing stereotypical imitations of different minority groups.
Local community leaders told The Sentinel they found the videos to be offensive.
“Using brash stereotypes of our communities does not respect the many hard working families that live and contribute to Aurora,” Dilpreet Jammu, a leader in the local Sikh community and executive director of Colorado Sikhs said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national organization, also released a statement condemning the videos.
“The message that these videos send to members of minority communities in Aurora is that they are not respected and cannot expect to be represented by this elected official. We urge him to meet with leaders from the impacted communities and commit to serving all constituents equally. We offer our services to coordinate that meeting,” CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison said in a press release.
Sundberg did not respond to The Sentinel’s questions or multiple requests for comment. It is unclear if the city council plans to take action.
AsAmNews is published 365 days a year by Asian American Media Inc, a recognized 501C3 non-profit. The Board of Directors has pledged to match all donations until the end of the year up to a combined $21,000. Donations can be made via credit card or Paypal at this link. You may also send a check made out to Asian American Media Inc at 440 N. Barranca Avenue #8117, Covina, CA 91723. Our EIN number is 87-4114362.
