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2.27.2007

asianweek apologizes

The controvery over Kenneth Eng's "Why I Hate Blacks" AsianWeek column continues to grow, gaining attention in the mainstream with stories like this one: Asian paper's 'I Hate Blacks' column assailed. And this one: Asian weekly's "Why I Hate Blacks" column blasted. SFGate's got a scan of the original column here.

Forget Eng. He's a punkass hack with a pathetically limited worldview, no better than a neo-nazi or a member of the KKK. His racist barking will be his own undoing. The people who really need to answer for this are the editors of AsianWeek, who chose to run the piece in the first place. Here's the apology AsianWeek issued regarding the matter:
"AsianWeek sincerely regrets any offense caused by the one opinion piece which reflected that author's personal views. We apologize for any harm or hurt this has caused the African American community. AsianWeek has great respect for all that the African American community has done for Asian Pacific Americans

AsianWeek's operation and editorial policy are based on a philosophy of diversity. This includes fighting to promote diversity of opinion in our own community and even to expose its disturbing warts. It also includes a proven record on promoting cross-cultural diversity and inter-racial interaction. AsianWeek as an organization is proud of its deep and unparalleled history of working with, interacting with, and building connections among all the diverse groups that make up America."
Not much of an apology. This statement does nothing to denounce Eng's views. There's a big difference between promoting "a diversity of opinion" and a publishing an all-out racist hate rant. And don't give us fakespeak about "cross-cultural diversity" and "building connections" if you're going to give a guy like Eng a platform to spit on diversity. It's ridiculous. Continue to contact AsianWeek and tell them how you feel about this at asianweek@asianweek.com.