I was really disappointed when I learned that AsianWeek had published an article by Kenneth Eng entitled “Why I Hate Blacks.” I often looked to AsianWeek to see what was happening in the Asian community. It’s proof that racism is not limited to majority races.

I found the following article on the New American Media website and I found it more interesting than the other articles because it included audio.

Link: New American Media

The basics of the article are that ethnic media groups got together to discuss what the media’s responsibility is when it comes to racism.

“We know that racial and ethnic hatred exist, but the role of the ethnic media is to not to promote them as the AsianWeek story did, but to analyze them, contextualize them, and to find ways to help audiences to go beyond them,” said Sandy Close, executive director of New America Media, which organized the event with the Chinese American Citizen’s Alliance and the Chinese American Voter Education Committee.

I think that there are some lessons learned from this event. Often, groups like to the point the finger at everyone else. Racism is a problem that crosses all groups (ethnic, religious, etc…) and it serves as a reminder that we have to be constantly aware of this fact. Groups that like to point fingers also need to look inside their own group and see if they are perpetuating the problem in their own way.

“This is a terrible affront to Asians who don’t hold these views,” said Jon Funabiki, professor of journalism at the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State University.

But isn’t that the same for all of us? Aren’t there people who talk for all different kinds of groups who forget the rest of the people that they represent?