We need to train young journalists (and people in general) about older racial epithets

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Pekin Chinks -- the high school school mascot name of Pekin, Ohio until 1980 In the midst of the media hullabaloo over ESPN’s “Chink in the armor” headline about Jeremy Lin, I had a conversation with a journalism professor at the University of Colorado, where I work as staff adviser to the CU Independent, the student-run news website for the Boulder campus. What the media need, we decided, is remedial lessons in racist imagery and epithets.

Both the editor and anchor who were disciplined by “the Worldwide leader in sports” claimed they didn’t mean anything racial by the use of the phrase with the “c-word.” OK, granted, the phrase is an old one used to describe a weakness in armor, but who would use the word today and NOT feel a twinge of conscience, a mental red flag, about its century of use as a racist slur? Why wouldn’t you use any number of other words?

Apparently, some people — especially young people — today don’t know or don’t remember that the “c-word” is the equivalent of the “n-word” to Asian Americans. That’s a good thing, because it means the word is seldom used as a slur these days. But that doesn’t mean we can start using it willy-nilly again.

I grew up having the word hurled in my direction as kids yelled at me to “go home.” I’ve been called every one of those words: “Jap,” “Nip,” “Gook,” “Slope,” “Chinaman,” “Ching-Chong,” Slant-Eye”… an entire dictionary of racist words. Some of them as you can see, have non-racial meanings, like slope or nip.

But call me over-sensitive, when I see the words “chink in the armor” or “nip in the air” in print my stomach clenches. And the same goes for an awful lot of other Asian Americans, although yes, not every Asian American agrees (you can call Michelle Malkin anything you want, I guess and it won’t bother her).

The Asian American Journalists Association released a Media Advsiory on covering Jeremy Lin last week, and hopefully that will help curb some of the national media’s dumber inclinations and make writers and editors think at least a moment before they blurt out something they’ll regret later.

But what can you do if some journalists (and people in general) don’t know that certain words or phrases have a racial connotation, perhaps a forgotten one from the past? I’ve met a few people who honestly didn’t know that “chink” is an offensive reference to Asians.

The fact is, words and their meanings evolve. The Pekin, Illinois high school team for many decades was called the “Chinks” even though their mascot was a dragon (see the graphic above). In 1980, after years of controversy and over the objection of the students, the team was changed to the Dragons. I’m sure they didn’t think the word was so bad because they didn’t mean it as a racial epithet.

Even the seemingly benign word “Oriental” has evolved. It originally referred to the Orient, or the Far East. Some Asians today still use the term to describe their grocery stores, and it’s still commonly used to describe rugs (from the Middle East). But it was used so often as a word to refer to negative stereotypes that today, the acceptable word in common usage is “Asian.” “Oriental” is for rugs, “Asian” is for people. The Asian American civil rights organization JACL has a series of pamphlets including this one, “Word can kill the spirit… ‘Jap’ is a derogatory term!” that lists some of the slurs that target Asians.

The JACL’s various pamphlets are available digitally on their website but they’re hard to find. The AAJA also is revising its APA Handbook for covering Asian Americans, with this addendum currently available (they’ll be combined in the new revised edition being published this summer).

Other than these, there aren’t a resource that I know of besides a few websites including this Wikipedia entry on ethnic slurs where people can go and learn about or check whether certain words are slurs or not. Maybe I should write a quick ebook.

But here’s one more example just this week of an innocent use of a word that made me feel uncomfortable, and I’m glad I acted on my instincts to reach out and educate a friend:
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Jeremy Lin’s rise sparks national discussion on race and racial issues, not just over Asian Americans

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Jeremy Lin I’m about Lin-ed out — hopefully when the Knicks get back on the court after the All-Star break they’ll win some, they’ll lose some and Lin will settle into being a team leader without all the crazy hype swirling around him.

But one of the coolest side-effects of his sudden rise to fame — let’s call it the Jeremy Lin effect — has been a very public discussion of complex racial issues, the type of conversations in the media and in bars and livingrooms and offices and classrooms across the country that haven’t been uttered since… Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Only this time, there’s the added element of racial issues involving Asians and Asian Americans.

It’s been fantastic, although at times it’s been frustrating too, because when seemingly benign slights are pointed out, the anti-P.C. police strike out and tell us to stop being so sensitive and get a sense of humor. Yes, it’s true that one reason these stupid missteps are made is because of the novelty of having an Asian American in the NBA spotlight. But seriously, would Ben & Jerry’s come out with a custom-flavored ice cream based on an ethnic stereotype for a sudden star who’s African American, or Latino? Watermelon? Taco-flavor?

I hope one message that has been made clear in the past few weeks is that it’s not OK to treat Asians with different standards.

Racism is racism. And there’s no such thing as a “good” stereotype, either — stereotypes limit people, even if they’re what would be considered commendable values such as hard-working, or smart. One sports anchor on an Asian American media email list pointed out that unconsciously or not, a majority of reports he tracked just happened to point out Lin’s “smart” basketball skills.

And Lin himself asked in an interview what it means when the media describe him as “deceptively quick” or “deceptively athletic.” He knows the unspoken part of the comments is “…for an Asian.”

So when I was asked at the last minute to give a tribute to Gordon Hirabayashi, a pioneering Japanese American civil rights leader who passed away recently, I used it as an opportunity to extend the dialogue about race and opened my tribute with Lin.

The occasion was Day of Remembrance, when Japanese Americans commemorate the Feb. 19, 1942 signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which led to the incarceration of over 110,000 people of Japanese descent in American concentration camps during World War II.

The Mile Hi chapter of the JACL holds an annual event to mark the date, with speakers and a presentation about the history of Japanese American internment. This year’s like the last several, was held at the University of Denver’s law school.

Hirabayashi was one of four Japanese Americans who fought the order to the Supreme Court (and lost, although they were cleared decades later). He died on Jan. 2 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s.

I knew about Gordon but not his full biography. So when I learned I had to pull together a speech in a few minutes, I pulled out my smartphone and did some quick research online and jotted down notes. While I was at it, I checked the NBA scores to see how the Knicks were doing against the Dallas Mavericks.
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Project Renew: Hip hop meets Asian traditional performances to benefit Lao Buddhist Temple rebuilding

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Project Renew was a night of cross-cultural splendor, with hip-hop dance groups alternating with traditional Asian cultural groups, including adorable little girls from the Lao Buddhist Temple; Denver Taiko’s thundering Japanese drums; a troupe that showed the Spirit of Cambodia; and Mudra Dance Studio, the energetic and dynamic group that mixes classical Indian dance with the flash and pop instincts of Bollywood choreography.

The event, organized by a pair of young Asian Americans, Joie Ha and Leo Tsuo, was a fundraiser for the Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado, which burned to the ground in December.

The concert was a success, filling the Davis Auditorium on the University of Denver campus and raising over $4,300 for the Laotian community.

The fundraiser was a testament to the sense of community unity between young people who identity as Asian Americans as well as by their ethnic heritage. The two event organizers are Chinese American, not Laotian. The amiable and effective emcee, Ellis Min, is a b-boy who is Korean American. And the presence of Japanese, Indian and Cambodian traditional performers in addition to the Laotian community’s traditional dance group, plus the mix of ethnicity among the hip-hop groups, is a reflection of the diversity of Asian America today.

Project Renew was a powerful statement. I expect more powerful statements will come from the area’s next generation of AAPI leaders.

You can still donate to the Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado’s rebuilding fund on their website.

Here’s the full performance by Hype 303, who I think are ready to audition for “America’s Best Dance Crew.” They closed out Project Renew with their rousing choreography:

Japanese American entrepreneur launches MEGUMI-O sunglasses made for Asian faces

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OK, so you might think writing about sunglasses is not nearly as important as writing about racism or Asian American role models or earthquakes in Japan. But I submit that the search for glasses that fit on Asian faces without sliding down our noses and smearing on our cheeks, or smashing our eyelashes (those of us who have long lashes, real or fake) can be pretty darned important, and for one Japanese American entrepreneur, downright critical.

I’ve worn glasses since third grade, except for a few years after 2000 when I got lasiked and experienced the miracle of not having to wear glasses. Today, my eyes have gotten worse so I need to wear glasses again but I take them off when I’m sitting at the computer and don’t need them for watching TV. And the glasses I do wear have much — much — thinner lenses than I’ve worn in the past.

But one frustrating part of being Asian and wearing glasses is that I couldn’t wear plastic frame or horn-rimmed style glasses or sunglasses without having them slip down my nose and stick against my cheeks. My low bridge and high cheekbones never quite fit with the small protruding attached nose pieces those kinds of frames had. Instead, I had to order wire-framed glasses because they had the adjustable nose-pieces that I could pull out (I broke them off a couple of times) to make the glasses sit better on my nose.

There have been times when wireframes have been hip, so I accepted my fate. But I wasn’t able to wear timeless cool sunglasses like the original Ray-Ban Wayfarer, without pushing them up very few minutes.

But one entrepreneurial Japanese American, Megumi Hosogai, is bringing fashion flash to Asian faces with her MEGUMI-O sunglasses, Jackie Onassis-style big round sunglasses that scream retro-chic on any face. Hosogai created a frame that Jackie-O might have worn, but with an extended bridge designed specially for Asian faces (or for people who have extra-long eyelashes). So far she has them available in a handful of LA boutiques, but she’s started a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to raise money to mass-produce her glasses.
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Really? ESPN uses “chink” about Jeremy Lin in headline after loss against Hornets. Really.

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Racist headline used by ESPN after Jeremy Lin and Knicks' 2/17 loss to Hornets

Sigh. I knew it couldn’t last. Not only did the Knicks finally lose one, but ESPN managed to end its love affair with Lin with a helluva Dear Jeremy kissoff. ESPN last night posted a game story on some mobile editions with the headline “Chink In The Armor” (really) at 2:30 am ET, which was changed after 3 am to “All Good Things…”

ESPN posted an apology this morning, by Kevin Ota, Director of Communications, Digital Media ESPN Communications, who ironically is Asian American and having a crappy weekend:

Last night, ESPN.com’s mobile web site posted an offensive headline referencing Jeremy Lin at 2:30 am ET. The headline was removed at 3:05 am ET. We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize for this mistake.

The network’s Rob King also tweeted a response that linked to the apology:

There’s no defense for the indefensible. All we can offer are our apologies, sincere though incalculably inadequate.

I don’t think this is over yet. There’s no way any producer — even the most inexperienced, underpaid, ignorant, young overnight employee — could not know about the racist meaning of the word “chink.” The headline, placed beneath an image of Lin, was a deliberate use of a racial — and racist — epithet. I hope some serious actions are taken by the network to both punish the person who used the word in this context, and to prevent it from happening again.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time the word “chink” was used on ESPN … to describe Jeremy Lin. Here’s an ESPN anchor (no, it’s not Walt Frazier; ignore the title beneath him) saying “chink in the armor” in a reference to how Lin can improve his game:

(ESPN posted this 11-second video apology today, three days after the incident and only after the use of the word in the headline provoked outrage across the Internet.)
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