The editorial ends with the author’s college email address and “©2008 Campus Press,” as if nothing extraordinarily inflammatory transpired in the preceding one thousand words. What I wonder about is not how many emails he received in protest to his blatantly abrasive and crude editorial, but how many he received thanking him or agreeing with his sentiments.
The possibility that some individuals will have read the piece and missed the satire, or even worse, wholly agreed with its views, troubles me more than the fact that a college student found a terribly juvenile way to funnel his apparent angst.
Did he write the piece just to get some attention? Or does he really espouse the racist, narrow-minded and alarmingly animalistic ideas in the article? I hesitate even to call it an article, because it is more like the product of pouring one’s vomit into a bag and tying it up with ribbon, in an attempt to cover up the crude contents: it’s vomit-in-bag, in written form.
But more urgent is a question that applies to all forms of communication: to what extent is the author responsible for the aftermath of her or his work? The immediate fallout of the editorial probably only enhanced the author’s notoriety on campus and beyond, and in the twisted dictionary of American culture, notoriety is just as good as fame.
Thus, my main concern is this: is American society — or on a smaller scale, the college campus — an environment that actively breeds such sentiments as expressed in the editorial? That’s a question that will require a thorough analysis of the forces shaping our popular culture, and it is an issue that we must all consider, regardless of race.
The one positive aspect of the means the author chose to communicate is that it left space for dialogue. The fact that everything has transpired in the realm of words, and has not significantly crossed over into the realm of action, allows for response and reaction. What I gained from reflecting on the editorial is a realization that the inequality of the real world can infiltrate everything, even the idealized “University bubble” I currently live in. The CU Editorial proves that, even within college campuses (where admissions offices purposefully recruit diverse classes), entrenched stereotypes can make their way in and slap me in the face.
My reaction will not be to slap back, but to pity those who are nearsighted by the prejudices of the past.
4 comments:
Being half-Japanese, half-white, I've seen a lot of racism from both sides. People fear what they don't know and white people seem more fearful than most. I grew up in a nice family where telling racially-charged jokes was no big deal, making me more of an outsider than just being an adopted member of the family.
In the last 40+ years, racism has diminished. It doesn't live in the open on the streets much anymore but it hides in dark alleys. After being beaten so many times by white people, I'm wary of them, but moreso, they're wary of anyone who isn't white or who doesn't think/speak/drink exactly like them.
I believe that a lot of students are intimidated by Asian students and their accomplishments in the classroom. It's not so much that Asians are smarter (I joke about this when it's inappropriate, of course) but that their parents drive them to study, to excel. Since Asians are of a smaller percentage than other races in the U.S.A., their accomplishments are more prominent.
People can agree with an article but thankfully, they don't assemble into gangs beating people.
I am glad you have a sense that you live in a "University Bubble" which is not representative of the harsh realities of the real world. In a sense, this article is good for college kids to read. It's like a bird dropping snapping you out of a dazed 'sunny day' state of mind.
This is not unique nor isolated, this is what you will face in the real world albeit behind your back, hushed when no Asians are present or even discussed openly in clubs and bars after alcohol has loosened up the mental clamps on their true feelings.
I'm not saying 'they' are all racist or that they feel the exact same way but there are a lot more of them then there are of us, never forget that.
I couldn't agree with you more. I have been fortunate to not have been exposed to such derogatory behavior. I am truly saddened and disturbed that we still have to deal with this in 2008.
I see what you see. I also have my own opinion as to why they see us as being different. Some of it is plain old bigotry. But, in some ways, we give them reasons for seeing us that way. Regardless, I think there is a greater undercurrent here. Repressed sentiments have found a loud voice since the 9/11. See this article by Pat Buchanan. He is mostly too conservative for my taste, but I think he may be onto something here.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25198
If you find some validity to what he is saying, then perhaps we should think less about how to vent our anger or disgust at the "campus bigot" and think more about how we can positively impact the society so as to prevent an ugly and chaotic fracture.
FWIW,
JK
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