Progressives Condemn Shocking Racism On Aurora City Council

Dec 21, 2022 | News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
CONTACT: Sara Loflin, Executive Director at [email protected]

DENVER: As the controversy grows over newly-unearthed videos of Aurora City Councilman Steve Sundberg mocking and disparaging a wide array of ethnic minorities in advertisements for the Legends of Aurora Sports Grill, ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest multi-issue progressive advocacy organization, demanded that Mayor Mike Coffman stop defending Sundberg’s overt racism and apologize to the communities Sundberg denigrated.

“Steve Sundberg’s disgusting racist depictions of members of the community he represents on the Aurora City Council raise basic questions about Sundberg’s ability to serve,” said ProgressNow Colorado Executive Director Sara Loflin. “There is no excuse for promulgating crass racist stereotypes as Sundberg repeatedly did in these ill-conceived advertisements for his business. Shaming and stereotyping Latinos, African-Americans, and people of Middle Eastern descent in advertisements sends as clear a message to racists as it does to the victims of discrimination. Even if these ads were not deliberately intended to discourage minorities from patronizing Sundberg’s business, they’ll have that effect.”

“This is just the latest in a series of compounding disasters for Mayor Mike Coffman’s conservative majority on the City Council,” said Loflin. “Sundberg’s colleague Danielle Jurinsky kicked off her term in office by declaring Aurora wasn’t safe to visit, which Mayor Mike had to embarrassingly walk back. It would seem Mayor Mike and Council members like Sundberg are determined to make Aurora unsafe for its BIPOC communities. Aurora has had three police chiefs in the last year, and the latest was recently exposed as a friend and frequent guest of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Now Coffman is defending Sundberg’s blatant racism by claiming that it’s not possible to be racist if you have a diverse family, which Sundberg just proved false with his own actions.”

“This boorish charade of racism and excuses from Mayor Mike Coffman’s conservative City Council majority must end,” said Loflin. “This is not the leadership Colorado’s most diverse city needs, and ProgressNow Colorado stands ready to support BIPOC communities in Aurora.”

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