Jorge Fernandez Responds To Zay’s Racist Remarks

FORT WAYNE, IN, July 31, 2018 – Jorge Fernandez, candidate for Indiana State Representative District 50, issued the following statement regarding State Senator Andy Zay’s comments published on the WMTV Channel 27 Marion Facebook Page:

“Yesterday, the WMTV Channel 27 Marion Facebook Page posted an excerpt of a conversation Andy Zay reportedly had while he was an elected official, stating ‘Racism is not real’. The trial for the murder of Kyle Randall is scheduled to begin early October. Would Zay say that to Jarald Randall whose son was killed in Huntington after standing up to the suspect for using racial slurs, that ‘racism is not real”? Would he say ‘Racism is not real’ to the New Haven, Indiana, teen who in June 2017 was reportedly beaten while being called a racial slur and told ‘Why don’t you go back to Africa where you came from?’. The teenage suspect in that case was found guilty and received 30 days in juvenile detention for the crime. And what would Senator Zay say to the Hamilton County Synagogue Congregation whose synagogue was vandalized with anti-Semitic images? As images of this horrific act are shared in publications across the country, would Zay tell them ‘racism is not real’? I’m calling on all public officials close to Andy Zay including my opponent, Dan Leonard, to make clear that they acknowledge the reality of racism.”