A Vietnamese American councilwoman in Morrow, GA has been censured after proposing that the city provide bilingual ballots for its large Vietnamese American and Hispanic population.
11 Alive reports the council voted 4-1 to censure Van Tran for conduct towards city employees. The censure did not indicate what that conduct was.
The action comes after fellow Councilwoman Dorothy Dean blasted Van’s proposal as un-American and said Tran “should be ashamed.”dishonored the oaths that you took as an American citizen.”
That drew strong criticism of Dean who last week proposed that Van’s idea be put on the ballot.
“The city has received multiple complaints against and grievances from the city of Morrow regarding Councilwoman Tran’s unacceptable behavior and inappropriate actions taken toward city employees in violation (of the) city’s charter and city’s policies,” the censure says, according to Raw Story.
Tran says she is being retaliated against “for trying to do my job for the citizens of the city of Morrow. There was no due process, my colleagues had a conflict of interest in making that decision,” she said.
The Atlantic Journal-Constitution reports that members of the state legislature have come to Tran’s defense in a letter signed by two dozen legislators.
“There is no official national language of the United States, a country founded by immigrants,” the legislators said. “People who do not speak English as their first language are just as American as those who do.”
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
We are supported through donations and such charitable organizations as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. All donations are tax deductible and can be made here.
Last day to get tickets for our fundraiser Up Close with Connie Chung, America’s first Asian American to anchor a nightly network newscast. The in-depth conversation with Connie will be held tonight, November 14 at 7:30 at Columbia University’s Milbank Chapel in the Teacher’s College. All proceeds benefit AsAmNews.