I'm glad someone said it! No point in beating around the bush. Racism is racism. Let's just be honest.
Representative Judy Chu, Democrat from California and the first Chinese American woman elected to the United States Congress, addressed a racial slur used recently on the ESPN website regarding Jeremy Lin.
ESPN fired the editor who described the New York Knicks basketball sensation as a "Chink in the Armor" last week.
After being fired on Sunday, Anthony Federico, claimed that he was not trying to be "cute or punny." He also said that he had used the phrase hundreds of times in ESPN headlines while he worked there.
Representative Chu called the situation "appalling" and "extremely sad." She said, as most people with common sense would find, that Federico used the racial slur on purpose and denied claims that his use of the C-word was an innocent mistake.
Since his firing, Federico has apologized to Jeremy Lin and any others who may have been offended. He said that he did not intend the headline as a reference to the racial slur.
For some reason, I feel like no editor could defend his use of the N-word as a mere accident and have people agree with him.
Chu also called boxer Floyd Mayweather the "heavyweight champion of insensitive remarks" due to his tweet that said “Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the
hype is because he’s Asian. Black players do what he does every night
and don’t get the same praise.”
Somehow this strikes me as a bit hypocritical. [See article titled Boxer Floyd Mayweather in Obama's Corner.] This type of praise is similar to the way millions of people find it of note and are swept into the hype when Black politicians rise to prominence - such as a certain Black Senator from Illinois who appeared on the national scene beginning in 2004.
Chu properly highlighted that the C-word has been used since the 1880s to demean Chinese immigrants and is still used on playgrounds to demean Asian and Asian American children today. Thus, neither Federico nor ESPN may claim ignorance.
“The ‘C’ word is for Asian Americans like
the ‘N’ word is for African Americans,” Chu told MSNBC on Monday.
While I've heard many debates in which people have fervently argued that the N-word holds a special place in American history and is like no other slur, I think it is safe to say that the C-word does as well. Although the history behind the words may be different, both originate in prejudice, hate, and fear.
