On January 17, 2007, the Princeton's daily newspaper wrote a satirical article by a supposed "Lian Ji", (a reference to a Yale student who has filed a civil rights complaint against Princeton over potential discriminatory practices), that extended beyond Jian Li's civil rights complaint and parodied the asian (more specifically Chinese) race in general.
I won't bother you with details or a long post relating to this issue (there are others more involved in representing those disaffected by the article, and most importantly there are representatives at Princeton leading the charge) save to say that I am a supporter of those that feel that the article, even though it was meant as humorous, was insensitive and I am shocked that editors at The Prince didn't realize this when they were organizing their newspaper. Even though they probably did not mean to be racist, and it was meant to be a little offensive and shocking, I felt like it crossed the line and marginalized our struggles and our accomplishments and may have promoted stereotypes that can further relegate and/or do harm to our standing in society.
Some of the most offensive stereotypes included, among others: "Lots of bulldogs here for me to eat. I can wear my knockoff polo shirts, and no one notice." and "We cook greasy food, wash your clothes and let you copy our homework. " The first quote is self-explanatory, and with regards to the latter quote, some of our ancestors and even current family members may still work in laundromats and/or work in restauraunts, so you can still see why such references is historically and can still be personal to many of us.
To me, the article reminded me of the cartoons/spoofs of African Americans that I saw in an English course from the 1950s that typified big lipped, horny, and incompetent characters that marginalized the struggles of African Americans at that time. It wasn't okay then, and it sure isn't okay now. The point is that:
Ultimately, insensitivity does not improve tolerance in any community.
Note: I don't believe that The Prince's article and the editors responsible for the publication of this article can be said to represent the Princeton community. I think that this is an issue between the publishers and the disaffected communities.
Interested in this issue? Further Reading:
Facebook Group: Dear Daily Prince, This Isn't Funny, It's Racist
Trenton Times: Many See Student Column as No Joke January 20, 2007
Daily Princeton: Editor's Note January 18, 2007
Huffington Post: The Princetonian Just Isn't Funny, It's Racist January 18, 2007
Associated Press: Princeton Newspaper Column Stirs Controversy January 21, 2007
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Why It Is NOT Okay
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I'm glad that other ridiculous offensive, racist, and sexist school newspapers exist out there besides my own. I could make a laundry list off the top of my head of all the offensive things I have read in mine. In fact our student gov't just voted to withdraw funding from the paper and there may be a lawsuit...interesting.
I got quite a laugh out of the article when I read it, but "Lian Ji" put an end to that with the third paragraph. I suppose the author wanted to be edgy, but forgot where the line was- he managed to sneak in a quip that was presumably about people from India. Perhaps the author suffers from some self-loathing for being Asian?
Post a Comment