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Thought it couldn't happen again???
Sent by 80-20
After the 1998 Winter Olympics figure skating finals, MSNBC
headlined:
"American beats out Michelle Kwan."
Offended? Right. The reporter must apologize? Right. It
was an isolated incident that would never occur again? WRONG.
After the figure skating finals of this year's Olympics, an
almost IDENTICAL headline appeared. The Seattle Times headlined on
February 22, 2002:
"Hughes good as gold
American outshines Kwan, Slutskaya in skating surprise"
To be sure, it was likely a subconscious mistake. The editor
apologized publicly the next day.
Don't take such Freudian slips lightly,
however. The perpetual foreigner image of APA's is
a major cause for the glass ceiling above YOU.
That is the stuff that places hidden obstacles before YOU and your family and
friends in your daily lives.
80-20 is writing to the president of the American Journalist
Association to respectfully suggest that it organizes a work shop in its next
annual convention to address the "perpetual foreigner" image of APAs among its
members. A copy will be mailed to president of the Asian American Journalist
Assoc., the Publisher of the Seattle Times, and the CEO of MSNBC.
Join 80-20
and help to make America the land of equality for all of its citizens - so that
what happened to American born Michelle Kwan really never does happen again.
From SBU AA E-Zine, here's a few
lines from one of the
apologies from the Seattle Times and links to the full article:
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Local News: Sunday, March
03, 2002
Mike Fancher /
Times executive editor
Times won't forget
readers' reminder on Kwan headline
Some of us at The Seattle Times can remember our disbelief four years ago
when an Internet news site carried a headline implying that Olympic figure
skater Michelle Kwan isn't an American.
Disbelief turned to deep embarrassment when we did the same this year.
...
Readers were quick to respond with comments like:
"Does the fact that Hughes happens to be Caucasian make her any more
'American' than Kwan?"
...
Even before we got those comments we felt an apology was needed, and we
published one on the next day's Sports section front. I would like to add my
personal apology here.
...
Perhaps Betty Lau, education chair of the Chong Wa Benevolent Association
here, expressed the issue best:
"After all the history (much of it agonizing) and contributions to the
building of America by Chinese, particularly here in the Pacific Northwest,
the only thing your headline writer perceives is that Michelle Kwan
is some sort of foreigner or alien? A headline such as this serves only to
reinforce the stereotype that people of color, no matter what we do, or how
long our families have been American, or how much we contribute, will never
really be 'American.' "
...
It's a message we won't forget.
Ironically, one of the most memorable aspects of these Winter Olympics
was the rich diversity of the U.S. athletes, who won more medals than ever.
They have names like Derek Parra, Vonetta Flowers, Jill Bakken, Jim Shea
Jr., Tristan Gale, Casey FitzRandolph, Jennifer Rodriguez, Apolo Anton Ohno,
and, of course Sarah Hughes and Michelle Kwan.
Americans all.
Inside the Times appears in the Sunday Seattle Times. If you have a
comment on news coverage, write to Michael R. Fancher, P.O. Box 70, Seattle,
WA 98111, call 206-464-3310 or send e-mail to
mfancher@seattletimes.com.
More columns at
www.seattletimes.com/columnists.
Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company |
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