<p>I agree with those who felt supervision was lacking in this case. In college papers, is it general policy for a faculty member to read every piece that’s going to be published? Don’t know.</p>
<p>As for reader’s reactions, though, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.</p>
<p>Someone please explain to me why is it that when there is some particular ethnic offense that causes complaints, if the aggrieved persons don’t get the immediate satisfaction or redress that they demand, they nearly always offer the knee-jerk reaction “Well, if it were blacks whom were being criticized…” Sorry, statements like that always strike me as resentful and revealing of repressed animosity toward African-Americans.</p>
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<p>Because its an effective argument. Because there IS a double standard for the way discrimination and racism is treated in this country depending on your ethnicity. The reaction towards anti-black racism is always much stronger and much more public than the reaction towards anti-Asian racism. </p>
<p>Just look at MomofWildChild’s post, for goodness sakes. She clearly states she found the article quite funny, and was careful to mention how even her “paralegal/lawyer” (professional) friends and her sensitive, mild-mannered daughter found it hilarious. </p>
<p>However, when I asked her how she would feel about an article retreading black stereotypes or Jewish stereotypes for cheap laughs, she admits she doesn’t know how she would react.</p>
<p>Why is it unquestionable to laugh at Asian stereotypes but suddenly, when it comes to blacks and Jews, it’s automatically controversial and causes unease and uncertainty? THAT’s a double standard if I ever saw one.</p>
<p>I can’t count the times in real life where I’ve heard anti-Asian slurs and jokes being made and no one says a thing. The second someone says something that might be construed as anti-black, the uncertainty and unease sets in. Fine. It’s a good thing to be uncomfortable with racism towards blacks. But why is it comfortable to be racist against Asians?</p>
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<p>Uh, no. What for? That’s stretching it, sorry to say. It’s not animosty towards blacks themselves but animosity towards the double standards and unfair treatment that’s shown to Asians. People are extra sensitive to be politically correct about African-Americans. I think that its an undeniably good thing to be respectful of the black community and African-Ameican heritage.</p>
<p>But why can’t Asians be treated the same? Why can’t they feel offended over racism the same way African-Americans can and not be labeled as humorless complainers making something out of nothing? What justifies black outrage at racism but negates Asian outrage at racism?</p>
<p>Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not at all. I truly don’t get how anyone could find it so. I passed it on to the newspaper staff at my kids’ school to get a sense of how the kids and faculty reacted to it. After all, there’s lots of adolescent humor out there that I just don’t get. Not only was it universally seen as unfunny but it was also widely regarded as highly offensive.</p>
<p>I haven’t found anyone yet in my world that didn’t think it was funny. It’s strange that this forum is such the opposite.</p>
<p>I have heard many comedians make fun of Jewish people and blacks. Sometimes it is funny, sometimes it is not.</p>
<p>In a world where Tucker Max makes the best seller list, this is pretty minor stuff, in my opinion.</p>
<p>I find Tucker Max’s humor offensive. He puts down everyone, especially women.
Maybe if I were Asian this would strike me as not funny.
I find lots of lawyer jokes to be funny. Some are offensive. I’m a lawyer.
What’s the big difference?</p>
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<p>Occupation is not comparable to race. Jokes about being a lawyer are not the same as jokes about being a racial minority. </p>
<p>It’s not “if you were Asian you wouldn’t find this funny.” Maybe if you simply weren’t so blatantly oblivious about race relations it wouldn’t be so funny.</p>
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<p>It’s a big world out there and people who are offended extend far beyond “this forum.” Maybe “your” world is a little “quaint.”</p>
<p>While I think the article was extremely risky for Princeton, I understand the parody. Yes, it WAS racist, but Jian Li’s entire argument is that PRINCETON is racist, and that is why he was denied admission. So that is why the parody is INTENTIONALLY racist back at Jian Li.</p>
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<p>What a smart way to make a point! If someone accuses you of being racist, you should choose to actually respond in a racist manner… ultimately proving them right though your whole point was to show you’re not racist. That’s all very logical, well thought-out and goodness, how could it NOT be effective?</p>
<p>Because its like saying “Oh you think I’m racist?? Well, I’ll show you racist!!!..”</p>
<p>Really, it was not intended to be logical, well thought-out or effective. And it bombed, so don’t waste too much energy over it.</p>
<p>kate- Seems like you are a little sensitive. Perhaps if you were a little more secure yourself you wouldn’t be making such a big deal out of this. Get over yourself. My world is far from quaint, by the way. I suspect it is YOURS that is rather limited. Go find another cause.</p>
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<p>LOL. I suggest you find another thread if you can’t understand this one. Would you tell blacks and Jews that they’re just being insecure when it comes to what they perceive as racism, too? I feel you’d be more at home finding some more paralegal friends to giggle over Asian jokes with instead of spending time clogging my thread with your inanities (“Lawyer jokes are like race jokes, what’s the difference?”). You sure are a proud “Mom.” I’ve never told you that you were just an insecure, overly sensitive woman because you find Tucker Max offensive, by the way.</p>
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<p>The controversy extends well beyond this forum. People far and wide were offended. If not, the New York Times wouldn’t have written about it, there wouldn’t be a Facebook group devoted to protesting it; and the editors of the Princeton newspaper sure wouldn’t have felt compelled to apologize for it.</p>
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<p>The big difference is that you <em>chose</em> to become a lawyer, and if you get tired of being one you have the option to quit the bar tomorrow. Asians, by contrast, had no choice. Like everyone else they were born into their race and do not have the option to change it.</p>
<p>Yes, people were offended by this. Tucker Max offends a lot of people, too, as do comedians who poke fun at Jews and blacks. Some people will be offended by almost anything (like Kate here).
As I said, Kate, I tested the reaction to this article with lawyers, engineers, occupational therapists, other parents, my son and my daughter. They all thought it was funny and WE all could see how an Asian could find it offensive.
I find you funny, Kate, AND offensive. It’s my opinion, which I am entitled to. Just don’t act like I’m the only one on earth with that opinion. Now, go stew for awhile. I’m off to have some fun.</p>
<p>Good points, Coureur.</p>
<p>For a lawyer, MomofWC seems to be having an awful lot of difficulty in DISTINGUISHING btwn jokes based on a profession (which people can change and isn’t really inherent to their being) and jokes based on race (which people cannot).</p>
<p>Plus - comedians who tell jokes about blacks or Jews tend to be comedians who are either black or Jewish, respectively.</p>
<p>Now - are jokes poking fun of stereotypes about blacks and Jews (or any other group) inherently wrong? Of course not.</p>
<p>But a joke, for example, of a BM drug addict or a BM thug would cause damage if not done in the proper context (or well) or if there were NO alternative or positive portrayals in the media.</p>
<p>And speaking of the law - it’s exactly these types of incidents which have made it acceptable for a “whiteshoe” law firm like Dewey Ballantine to have mocked Asians TWICE within a short period of time.</p>
<p>In the 1st incident - a skit was performed at a dinner where lawyers mocked stereotypical Asian accents to the tune of “Hello, Dolly,” singing “The Dirge Of Long Duck Dong” which went “You were the firm’s folly /And we so solly” to “celebrate” the closing of the firm’s HK office.</p>
<p>And yeah, the perfomers were “surprised” that anyone was offended (btw, the head of the HK office stormed out after the performance) - stating that it was supposed to be a satirical parody.</p>
<p>In the 2nd incident - responding to a note seeking someone to adopt a puppy, a partner in the London office wrote, “Don’t let them go to a Chinese restaurant.”</p>
<p>Would the highly educated and supposedly cultured people at Dewey have done a skit using ebonics to do a parody or sent an email about fried chicken and watermelon? I don’t think so.</p>
<p>And it’s not like this has been an isolated incident. There have been others - such as when the Yale publication Rumpus published a “satirical” article entitled “Me Love You Long Time: Yale’s Case of Yellow Fever.” </p>
<p>The piece was filled with choice remarks such as “Asian girls are like SARS—they take my breath away,” and “So just remember, in the words of one yeller feller, ‘Asian girls are like New Orleans levees; they only stay tight for so long.’ Ooh…too soon?”</p>
<p>So you either have the studious, dorky Asian male who speaks in broken English or the over-sexualized Asian “doll” - pretty much the same as what is pervasive in the general media today, and frankly, doesn’t do anything but REINFORCE these very stereotypes.</p>
<p>mt4stv -
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<p>Gee - your experience must be an accurate reflection of Asian-Americans. And btw, bullying among classmates is also problem in Asia (I guess some Asians over there have grown a “spine”).</p>
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<p>Probably. Once a frat boy, always a frat boy.</p>
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<p>OK. I did not write very eloquently and didn’t think very sensitively when I wrote that. Sorry if I offended anyone. Its just what I saw in my high school that Asians were the easiest to make fun of because they didn’t fight back. But obviously, even just on this thread, I can see a few Asians are willing to defend themselves. I never saw this back in high school. To be frank I’m surprised.</p>
<p>Also, I have a question for MomofWC. I personally didn’t find the article offensive. It wasn’t really all that funny, but to me it’s not such a big deal controversy-wise. But you seem to be making a big deal over how many people you’ve “tested” the article on and how they think its really funny. Here’s the question: Is that like part of your job? Do you just go up to random people and ask, “Hey, I want to see if you think this is racist or not, I thought it was pretty funny!” That’s really weird.</p>
<p>mt- I was curious about my own reaction compared to the reaction of the majority of posters on this thread. I truly wondered if I was unusually insensitive or un-PC. That is why I sent the article to co-workers and friends, who in turn thought it was funny and sent it on to their friends. It led to some good discussions about humor and what is in bad taste and the changes in humor over the years. In some ways it DOES connect with my job since I am an Ethics officer for a large company, but mainly I just questioned my own reaction and wanted to see how other people viewed the article.</p>