Sarika Bansal has been active in local government in recent years
New York:
According to a media report, the campaign sign of a woman of Indian descent who was running for a city council in the US state of North Carolina was vandalized. Above her face was a photograph of a Black person’s face.
Sarika Bansal, the only person of color running for Cary City Council this year, found a defaced campaign sign of hers on Thursday, The News & Observer reported.
Ms Bansal was attending the regular City Council meeting when she was told that her campaign sign had been found destroyed in the Highcroft Village neighborhood of West Cary, where she is running for the seat.
Ms Bansal’s head appeared to have been scraped off and the sign had a photograph of a black person’s face superimposed over her face, the newspaper reported on Friday.
She called the incident “shocking” and said she was “really saddened by the act of vandalism and racism” against her campaign.
“We must embrace diversity as a means of building strength and unity in our city. There is no place in the city of Cary for bigotry and racism against people of color, whether brown or black,” she was quoted as saying.
In North Carolina, it is a Class 3 misdemeanor for an individual to steal, deface, destroy, or remove a lawfully affixed political sign.
In a statement, Mayor Harold Weinbrecht said the city will “do everything we can to get to the bottom of the matter.” “This racist, despicable act is in stark contradiction to the values we hold dear at Cary and will only serve to bring our community closer together,” said Mr. Weinbrecht.
According to the report, Asian Americans make up 20 percent of Cary’s 180,000 residents.
“West Cary needs sustained leadership,” said Ms. Bansal.
“Diversity on the City Council will help bring about the change we need today,” she added.
A small business owner and resident of Cary, Ms. Bansal founded her business, Raj Jewels, in Morrisville five years ago. In recent years she has been active in local government.
In a statement on Friday, Sarika Bansal urged other candidates to “commit to working for a cary that accepts people of all backgrounds and colors.” Bansal is in a three-way battle with current councilman Ryan Eades and newcomer Rachel Jordan for the seat in the city’s District D.
If elected, Sarika Bansal would become the second black woman and first Indian-American to serve on the city council.
The Cary municipal election will be held on October 10, weeks before the November 7 county election day.
(Except for the headline, this article was not edited by NDTV staff and is published via a syndicated feed.)
Source : www.ndtv.com