Who is Usha Vance? JD Vance accuses Plain Dealer of 'racism' after cartoon mocked his wife's heritage
CLEVELAND, OHIO: Ohio newspaper Plain Dealer has been accused of racism after it published a political cartoon referencing JD Vance's wife, Usha Vance after the Ohio Republican Senate candidate voiced his opposition to the change in the name of the Cleveland Guardians baseball team from the Indians.
The political cartoon by Jeff Darcy shows Vance on a podium beside his Democratic opponent, Rep Tim Ryan. In it, Vance is dressed in the San Francisco Giants jersey, with a speech bubble illustrating him saying, "Only Indians name change I support is my wife’s to ‘Senator J.D. Vance’s Spouse.'" It references Vance's wife, Usha Chilukuri, a second-generation Indian American. The blatant racism was condemned by Vance's campaign.
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The Cleveland Plain Dealer, which endorsed Tim Ryan over the weekend, just published a pretty outrageous cartoon mocking JD Vance's wife, a second generation Indian-American pic.twitter.com/Gut07aYRli
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) October 18, 2022
The Republican candidate's chief strategist, Jai Chabria, called on The Plain Dealer to "condemn their actions immediately, or perhaps this racism is OK because it’s against a Republican," reports New York Post. In his statement, Chabria added, "I’m a first-generation Indian American and my immigrant parents taught me to love this country as much as they do, which is why I’ve never been one to bring race into the conversation. However, the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s woke editors published a cartoon that explicitly encourages bigotry against Indian women by perpetuating a stereotype."
Usha was Vance's classmate at Yale Law School. The couple has been married since 2014. She is currently an attorney, working as an associate at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. Targeting her Indian origins, the cartoon sought to mock her husband's views on the name change of the Cleveland Guardians baseball team which was known as the Indians for over a century until last year. Meanwhile, Vance had voiced his criticism over the name issue as he sought to attack state Sen Matt Dolan, one of his Republican primary rivals, whose family happens to own the team. "When the woke mob came after the Cleveland Indians, he bent the knee and changed their name," Vance had said in an earlier interview with Fox News.
Jeff Darcy, the cartoonist behind the controversial spoof, included a short story with his cartoon. In it, he spoke of the choice to put Vance in the Giants jersey, "Don’t expect to see J.D. Vance sporting any Cleveland Guardians garb. He’s more likely to be in San Francisco Giants gear." Darcy also referenced Usha in his explanation. "Vance had transplanted to the bay city where he made his $millions as a venture capitalist, wrote his bestselling memoir, ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ met and married his wife, Usha, an attorney who works for a San Francisco-Washington DC law firm."
Plain Dealer is yet to issue a statement over the backlash they faced owing to the cartoon. Notably, the newspaper endorsed Ryan for Senate merely four days after the publication of the cartoon.