Condemn "If it's war the Asians want..." Opinion Piece

To:  President, Chancellor, VC for Diversity of University of Colorado, and CU's Campus Press

We condemn Max Karson's opinion piece, "If it's war the Asians want...It's war they'll get," published by the University of Colorado-Boulder's Campus Press on 2/18, as categorically racist and serving no other purpose than to perpetuate racist and harmful stereotypes of Asian Americans. We were further disappointed upon learning of Mr. Karson's lengthy record of flouting similar defamation charges (leveled against him earlier in his college career) by conveniently enshrouding his racist, misogynistic, and homophobic rhetoric under a rather broad interpretation of "satire."

We were shocked, moreover, to discover that Mr. Karson was not alone in deploying this tactic. In a statement issued by several members of the Campus Press editorial staff, the editors "apologize[d] for any ambiguity of the satire that may have been misconstrued." It has become clear to us that, rather than taking responsibility for printing Mr. Karson's article, the Campus Press staff is adopting a "blame-the-victim" mentality, and has instead allocated the blame to its offended readers. They assert that it is the affronted reader who has "misconstrued" the author's attempts at enlightened humor, a ludicrous assertion given that this piece neither intends to advance any kind of informed racial discourse, nor displays any signs of satirical self-awareness.

In addition, we recognize that this is not an isolated incident. Whereas it may be true that one may not need to probe any further than Mr. Karson's past articles to find examples of discriminatory remarks being defended on the grounds of "satire," it is a familiar scenario to us all; an outcry follows the publication or verbal espousal of hate speech against Asian Americans. Those who should be held accountable for the approval and dissemination of such remarks are absolved of blame. Rather than apologizing for such blatantly discriminatory remarks, responsible parties instead engage in apologia to protect themselves while affirming their own positions of power. Offended subjects without equitable avenues of expression are dismissed as "insensitive," "unenlightened," or even "uppity." Those who complain, some contest, are the ones in need of "enlightenment" or "lightening up," and so it stands that the blame is successfully shifted towards those who raised the initial concerns about the attitudes of the author, as well as those in the executive ranks of their medium. The case made for racism, disguised as enlightened humor, effectively disenfranchises voices that do not have comparable access to the resources through which the offending actors communicate their platform.

This scenario is seen time and time again, like the April 2007 JV and Elvis repeat broadcasts of a prank call involving anti-Asian overtones, the January 2007 Daily Princetonian's article mocking student Jian Li, and similar incidents that happen everyday that fly under the radar, under the pretenses of "satire." Those who articulate such discriminatory and racist views, and those who condone these messages, are complicit in the reinforcement of negative stereotypes and profiling of, and in extreme cases, physical violence against Asian American communities. This is unacceptable, and we implore Asian American students and anybody of conscience to condemn Mr. Karson and those who afforded him the platform to spread his words of hate. We must stand up and say, "never again."

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Condemn "If it's war the Asians want..." Opinion Piece Petition to President, Chancellor, VC for Diversity of University of Colorado, and CU's Campus Press was created by and written by Christina Chen (satori.at.sunrise@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.