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March 1, 2007

AsianWeek fires 'Why I Hate Blacks' author (but not editors who okayed it)

AP/Jeff Chiu
AsianWeek's editor-at-large Ted Fang, foreground, and Rev. Amos Brown, president of the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP, listen to a speaker at a joint news conference in San Francisco yesterday.

Hate Blacks' writer dismissed by AsianWeek:

The 22-year-old author of a column titled "Why I Hate Blacks" in the regional newspaper AsianWeek has been dismissed, and the paper's editors said Wednesday that they suffered "a serious lapse in editorial judgment" when they published his column. Editor at large Ted Fang said Wednesday at a news conference organized by the San Francisco branch of the NAACP that Kenneth Eng (pictured at right, bio), who lives in New York, will not write again for the free weekly.

"The failing of our editorial process in allowing this piece to go forward was an insensitive and callous mistake that should never have been made by our publication," Fang said."As a publication whose motto is (to be) the voice of the Asian American community, we are humbled and overwhelmed at reader response not only chastising our editorial process but strongly urging our paper to sever all ties to this contributor."

Eng, a regular contributor who wrote roughly every two weeks from November until this week's edition, offered in the column "a list of reasons why we should discriminate against blacks." ...

It's not the first failing of Asian Week's editorial process when Eng showed up. In November, AsianWeek published Proof That Whites Inherently Hate Us by Eng. The "proof" is a paranoid rant. His "evidence" begins, "How many American films feature Asian heroes who are not stereotyped?"

Why I hate race-baiting columns Debra J. Saunders

WHAT PEOPLE in the news business want to know is: How did the "Why I hate blacks" column by Kenneth Eng that ran in AsianWeek Feb. 23 ever make it by the paper's editors?

AsianWeek announced yesterday that Eng had been dismissed and editor-at-large Ted Fang acknowledged a "failing of our editorial process" at a press conference with the NAACP.

I still want to know: Did editors think that running a racist column would be cutting edge? That an Asian Ann Coulter wannabe would create buzz? That they could get away with running racist copy because it is a publication serving an Asian-American audience?

Presumably AsianWeek management will provide an explanation at a Friday town meeting billed as an open discussion on "the media's role and responsibility in fostering dialogue that leads to a greater understanding between Asian and African American communities." ...

Both stories are from the San Francisco Chronicle. The report of Eng's firing includes a quote by Keith Kamisugi, who came by this blog to comment after I ran news of his group's petition decrying the column, which they reproduced in pdf form after it was pulled from the AsianWeek site:

Some of the paper's critics have said the editors who approved this week's column should be held accountable for its contents, but Fang has so far refused to address the subject.

"We think the editor responsible for green-lighting the column should be removed," said Keith Kamisugi (at right) of the Equal Justice Society, one of the sponsors of a petition demanding that AsianWeek terminate Eng, counter the column in print and review its processes.

"Removing Eng was a small part of the problem. We are looking for journalistic responsibility at AsianWeek," he said.

If Eng wants to hate, I'm not telling him what to feel. He can blog it, rant on ihate.org.uk, shout it from every street corner. But when AsianWeek -- repeatedly -- adopts his work as their own, the publication becomes complicit. Kudos to Kamisugi for the diligent follow-up, for taking the fight to AsianWeek, and for keeping the offensive column out there.

More:
AsianWeek's Statement and Apology

The Narrative Stylings of "Kenneth Eng, God," a post at Wired's Table of Malcontents blog, offers background with attitude on Eng and (strong) reaction from readers.

Posted by Sheila Lennon  at 11:39 AM | Permalink