NYC Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang battles "perpetual foreigner" stereotype

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Andrew Yang could become mayor of New York City, the financial hub of the U.S.

Andrew Yang, New York City mayoral candidate, has slipped in the polls after being the frontrunner for weeks.

Yang, who gained national attention while running an underdog campaign seeking the Democrats' nomination for President in 2020, is now third in a field of eight, according to a new poll conducted by Emerson College and PIX11 News.

During his campaign, Yang has had to contend with the "perpetual foreigner" trope even though he's lived in New York City for 25 years. The question arises: "How long does one have to live in the city to be called a New Yorker?"

An editorial cartoon in the Daily News showed Yang emerging from a subway station while a nearby storeowner says, " The tourists are back."

Yang responded to the cartoon Tuesday in a social media post, writing, “Every time you say that I’m not a real New Yorker, you’re telling another Asian American that they don’t belong.”

The cartoon, being a cartoon, did not portray Yang in a good light. Critics and Yang supporters called it racist, depicting Yang with small, slanted eyes. The cartoon drew sharp criticism from the AAPI community, already reeling for a surge of racist attacks for the past year.

"I will be the first to tell you that I’m open to different opinions and will always welcome conversations on policy. And I am a proud son of immigrants," Yang continued in his post. "But to paint me in the media as a perpetual foreigner to this city is wrong and subtly approves racism at a time when people are being beaten on the street on the basis of who they are."

The Asian American Journalists Association wrote a letter to the Daily News criticizing the cartoon.

"We want to be clear that we don't take sides in political races," said AAJA executive director Naomi Tacuyan Underwood. "We want to hold media organizations accountable in terms of the candidate coverage without feeding into or perpetuating stereotypes and historical tropes."

Evelyn Yang, the candidate's wife, was driven to tears in a press conference Tuesday denoucning the cartoon. “It’s not funny. It’s racist. It’s toxic,” she said. 

Underwood said exaggerated, mangled depictions of Asian Americans were used to fuel arguments for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

In response to the critical salvos, The Daily News had the artist redrew the cartoon by adding pupils to the eyes. but retained the message.

The change in the redrawn editorial cartoon was subtle.

Following is Andrew Yang's social media post: