Flint population drops almost 21%, hits lowest mark in 100 years freep.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from freep.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Several Michigan Democrats and advocacy organization blasted Shirkey for his comments.
“Referring to COVID-19 as ‘Chinese flu’ or ‘China virus’ is xenophobic and completely inappropriate. There have been more than 2,500 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents since last March, when the coronavirus pandemic was first reported in Michigan, and this language perpetuates it, state Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, said in a portion of a statement issued last week. Honestly, we are so tired of having to repeatedly inform people of how harmful this kind of language especially from elected officials is to the community. It needs to stop.
Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, responded to Shirkey s statement on Twitter.