Related to this idiot, who thought an article about suicide and those crazy furrin Asian Americans would be hilarious for April Fool’s day. He wrote yet another crappy “apology” for some campus publication called “The Bully Pulpit.” Here’s the editor’s note, which is appended to the end:
Editor’s Note: We commend D. Evan Mulvilhill for starting an important dialogue across the Cornell campus. We condemn the commenters who have called Evan a cunt, racist, and a bigot.
We appreciate Evan’s use of humor to highlight the various stereotypes facing Asian and Asian American’s today. After all, if we don’t talk about it, nothing is going to get accomplished.
Without humor and dialogue, the world would be a sad place.
So, thank you Evan. Thanks for being brave by putting yourself out there by starting an important discussion regarding stereotypes concerning the APIA community.
P.S. Everyone calling for Evan’s head, CALM DOWN. Sheesh.
Sorry, there should be no cookies given for “starting an important dialogue” by saying something really racist. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Is it possible to start an important dialogue without racism?
By the way, if you don’t want to be called a racist or a bigot, don’t say racist and bigoted things!
The editor talks about “humor” as if humor and racism are mutually exclusive. Additionally, is it possible to “highlight the various stereotypes facing Asian and Asian American’s [sic]” without the use of racist spew?
I could do without racist humor. I don’t think that would make the world a sad place. It would make the world a safer place for some of us.
And just like the other white college student linked above, I don’t think this was a particularly brave action.
Complete posting of bullshit after the cut. Translations from racismese appended in brackets. No link.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is a piece I wrote for the 4/16 edition of Bully Pulpit, a political publication on-campus that solicited an explanation of the controversial April Fools’ Day post and its aftermath. It contains an editor’s note (written by Everet Yi) [Yah! Make sure to get an Asian guy!] at the bottom, which is reproduced below.
On April 1, I decided to post a Onion-style fake news piece titled “Asian Community Center to be Built Adjacent to Uris Library” on CornellWatch (redacted), a blog about current events on campus. I figured it was April Fools’ Day, and that making light of stereotypes might somehow be more acceptable. The center was big news yesterday, and seemed like something that could stand up to some misguided lampooning. In any case, it was “satire,” right?
Wrong. Exactly a week later, some members of the Asian community, specifically those invested in the planning of the community center, found out about the post. Understandably, they didn’t think jokes about their status as the so-called “model minority” were very funny, and my initial response to them was basically: okay, I’m sorry that you’re offended and all, but you’re really reading way too much into this. After all, it was just a joke—a very crass, fell-flat-on-its-face type of joke—and as such, the viewpoints were not ones that I personally hold. [Because it is so much fun to make jokes that feature derogatory representations of other people. Calling it a “joke” is my way of attempting to escape responsibility for my racist words. Also, I am too stupid to realize that joking about suicide isn’t really funny.]
I hastily drew up a new post entitled “An Open Apology for a Bad Joke” and removed the offending April Fools’ post. I explained that I felt their pain and understood that the model minority stereotype is “the reason for the unrealistic academic pressure that Asian and Asian-American students face and likely the reason that they commit a disproportionate amount of Cornell’s suicides.” [Additionally, I posted this in the comments: “Clearly, this is a very emotional subject for a lot of Asian-Americans, and I didn’t realize that. I’m sorry that I played around with stereotypes, and made fun of an ethnic group. Apparently this isn’t enough for you guys–what more do you want? You are reading a lot more into this than is necessary. Please let it go.”]
Those shards of glass threatening to rip my journalistic credibility to threads [it’s all about me! Me! Me!] were magically swept on the carpet—I was saved, right?
Wrong again. Riding the blogosphere train, commenters swarmed in on and tore apart my poorly constructed and ill-conceived apology. I was described as “a racist, pure and simple,” “some idiot college columnist [trying] to increase his… street cred,” and ultimately “a part of the problem.” Some intrepid internet vigilante even created a blog for me, reposting my initial entry and my “bullshit apology” below an image of two Ku Klux Klan members. [Oh, they are so cruel and I am the victim here.]
I have to admit that this was a scary situation for me [because I never realized before that I would be held accountable for racism], but that ultimately it is one that I am glad to have experienced. I met with concerned members of the Asian and Asian-American Center (A3C) and was educated as to the specifics of what angered and worried them about my post [because I obviously didn’t get it from the many specific and educational comments on my original “apology”]. I learned that in writing that post, I really was part of the problem—a problem that a 2004 task force reported as the “perceived lack of recognition and awareness of the reality, experience, and impact of racism and stereotyping as they relate to Asians and Asian Americans.”
I also have learned that I should not be one to speak or make assumptions about sensitive issues such as suicide or the model minority stereotype before I had done an appreciable amount of research; that the situation needs to be amended instead of defended; and that a more robust “meta-apology” of sorts should be issued. Hopefully before next Friday, I will be publishing this more comprehensive apology in the Daily Sun.
Once again—this time in light of more knowledge and less ignorance—I apologize for using racist stereotypes in a way that ridiculed the entire Asian and Asian-American community. I am hopeful that I am on the road to opening a dialogue on-campus about this issue, because, unfortunately, the belief and misuse of these stereotypes is altogether common—and fairly socially acceptable—on the Cornell campus. Please send suggestions and questions about the situation to (redacted).
Editor’s Note: We commend D. Evan Mulvilhill for starting an important dialogue across the Cornell campus. We condemn the commenters who have called Evan a cunt, racist, and a bigot.
We appreciate Evan’s use of humor to highlight the various stereotypes facing Asian and Asian American’s today. After all, if we don’t talk about it, nothing is going to get accomplished.
Without humor and dialogue, the world would be a sad place.
So, thank you Evan. Thanks for being brave by putting yourself out there by starting an important discussion regarding stereotypes concerning the APIA community.
P.S. Everyone calling for Evan’s head, CALM DOWN. Sheesh.
By the way, dude, talk is cheap.
Resist racism 