An allegedly satirical column targeting Asian students published by a student news outlet has drawn sharp rebukes and sparked a debate about the merits of free speech.
Max Karson, a staff editor at the University of Colorado’s The Campus Press, wrote a column called “If it’s war the Asians want…”, in which he advocated hunting, kidnapping and reforming Asians by “attacking their souls.”
“They hate us all. And I say it’s time we started hating them back,” Karson wrote in his Monday column. “That’s right-no more “tolerance.” No more “cultural sensitivity.” No more “Mr. Pretend-I’m-Not-Racist. It’s time for war.”
He described a three-step “reformation” process including forcing them to eat bad sushi with forks, rigging Dance Dance Revolution games, replacing rice cookers with George Foreman grills and yelling at them “Why didn’t you make enough Wiis?!”
The column wasn’t labeled as satire, though The Campus Press student leaders clarified in an apology posted on their Web site Wednesday that the piece was meant as a commentary on university race relations.
“We owe it to those who were offended by the article to maintain the highest level of journalistic integrity and sincerely apologize to anyone who was hurt by this article,” Campus Press Editor-In-Chief Cassie Hewlings, Managing Editor Vanna Livaditis and Assistant Managing Editor Ashleigh Oldand wrote. “We apologize for any ambiguity of the satire that may have been misconstrued.”
University of Colorado Chancellor G.P. “Bud” Peterson blasted the column as “a poor attempt at social satire laden with offensive references, stereotypes and hateful language.”
“While his column is unquestionably protected under the First Amendment, the sentiments he has expressed are wounding and damaging to a community we hold dear and come at a time when we are trying to celebrate diversity at CU-Boulder,” Peterson wrote in a statement, adding that the views in no way represent that of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, which manages the student-run news Web site.