2008 Woodie Awards
Why attack Asians?
Asian Student Alliance Exec. Board
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Letters to the Editor
Dear Clarion,
Satire can be interpreted in several ways as humor or sarcasm. However, when one utilizes this technique within their writing composition to generalize a certain demographic through stereotypes, the reaction by readers may result in a misinterpretation and may not be what the writer intended. Furthermore, as the satire begins to threaten the lives of those who identify with a specific group, the intentional satire then becomes a serious matter.
The article "If it's war the Asians want..." written by a student at CU Boulder, which was published last Monday by The Campus Press, claims to be "satirical." The article alludes to the harsh historical sufferings of the Japanese-Americans during World War II and attempts to make light of several stereotypes placed on Asian-Americans. The tone of voice of the writer later becomes bitter and full of anger, as he maps out a three phase plan to declare a war upon Asian-American students and attack our souls.
As the article continues, the writer's satirical intentions begin to fade. By the end of the article, he has offended countless groups and not only the Asian-American demographic.
As a result, the Asian-American community reacted with an outcry, stating that they feel threatened by this student's not so humorous intentions, and the general supporting community feels the article is unacceptable. For years, the Asian-American community as well as other vast amounts of groups has worked to diverge from such stereotypes, but it is unfortunate that these generalizations are continuously fed to the public. By allowing this paper to have been published, it has virtually brought us 10 steps back to where we initially started-back to the drawing board of enlightening people and creating a safe environment for our diverse community. Although the freedom of speech is respected in this situation, the abuse of this power by publicly making threats and targeting specific groups is intolerable. Some feel this article lies closer to hate speech than free speech after the writer states that he'll be catching Asians with butterfly nets and hog tying them at Ferrand Field.
Satire can be interpreted in several ways as humor or sarcasm. However, when one utilizes this technique within their writing composition to generalize a certain demographic through stereotypes, the reaction by readers may result in a misinterpretation and may not be what the writer intended. Furthermore, as the satire begins to threaten the lives of those who identify with a specific group, the intentional satire then becomes a serious matter.
The article "If it's war the Asians want..." written by a student at CU Boulder, which was published last Monday by The Campus Press, claims to be "satirical." The article alludes to the harsh historical sufferings of the Japanese-Americans during World War II and attempts to make light of several stereotypes placed on Asian-Americans. The tone of voice of the writer later becomes bitter and full of anger, as he maps out a three phase plan to declare a war upon Asian-American students and attack our souls.
As the article continues, the writer's satirical intentions begin to fade. By the end of the article, he has offended countless groups and not only the Asian-American demographic.
As a result, the Asian-American community reacted with an outcry, stating that they feel threatened by this student's not so humorous intentions, and the general supporting community feels the article is unacceptable. For years, the Asian-American community as well as other vast amounts of groups has worked to diverge from such stereotypes, but it is unfortunate that these generalizations are continuously fed to the public. By allowing this paper to have been published, it has virtually brought us 10 steps back to where we initially started-back to the drawing board of enlightening people and creating a safe environment for our diverse community. Although the freedom of speech is respected in this situation, the abuse of this power by publicly making threats and targeting specific groups is intolerable. Some feel this article lies closer to hate speech than free speech after the writer states that he'll be catching Asians with butterfly nets and hog tying them at Ferrand Field.
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Fasting
posted 2/28/08 @ 12:25 AM MST
While there is freedom of speech, hate is the worst quality of humans. I am sure that you would not allow an article about making fun of what happened on 9-11. (Continued…)
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