Princeton Student Paper Stirs Racial Controversy

破英文罵普大 引發種族爭議

【聯合報／編譯組／美聯社新澤西州普林斯頓二十日電】 2007.01.22 04:29 am

華裔學生李簡控普林斯頓大學招生歧視亞裔，該校學生報卻就此撰文開玩笑，引發種族偏見指控。 現就讀耶魯大學的李簡（Jian Li）曾申請普林斯頓被拒，去年夏天向美國教育部民權辦公室指控普大歧視亞裔學生。普大學生報「普林斯頓人日報」十七日刊出由紀連（Lian Ji，顯然是把李簡的姓名字首對調）署名的文章，用破英文和刻板的偏激論調痛罵普大有眼無珠。 文章故意用錯誤百出的英文說：「嗨，普林斯頓！記得我嗎？我很好在數學和科學。學業測驗滿分兩千四。想到了嗎？如果想不起來，讓我幫你的記憶想起來。我是那超級聰明亞洲人。普林斯頓超級笨蛋大學，不接受我。」這篇文章特別聲明這是一年一度的玩笑專刊，可是學生和校友仍指責作者有種族偏見。 一九九一年從普林斯頓大學畢業的安德魯‧劉寫信給學生報主編說：「這篇文章正像野火一樣在許多憤怒的亞裔校友之間流傳。這篇文章甚至沒有嘗試用幽默掩飾潛在的仇恨。」 「普林斯頓人日報」十九日發表小啟，表示「很抱歉讓一些讀者感到不快」，可是仍為他們的用意辯護。 啟事中說：「我們希望利用誇大和荒唐的連串刻板印象，顯示種族主義最荒謬的層面，藉此消遣種族偏見。我們利用種族字眼對付種族主義。從最壞的角度看，這篇專欄開了不該開的玩笑；從最好的角度看，這會讓人思考種族、公平和多元問題。」 【2007/01/22 聯合報】

Posted: Sunday, 21 January 2007 3:30PM Princeton Student Paper Stirs Racial Controversy

PRINCETON BOROUGH, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- The annual joke issue of Princeton University's student newspaper has left some people accusing its staff of racism. The Daily Princetonian issue published Wednesday included a column with a byline that closely resembles the name of Jian Li, an 18-year-old Livingston man who filed a civil rights complaint against the university last summer after he was denied admission, accusing it of bias against Asian students. Li, who now attends Yale University, said his complaint against Princeton remains under investigation. "I think the article was extremely distasteful," Li told The Associated Press on Saturday night. "Whoever decided to publish it showed an extreme lapse of judgment." Under a byline of Lian Ji, the article used broken English and spouted racial stereotypes to bash the school for his rejection. "Hi Princeton! Remember me? I so good at math and science. Perfect 2400 SAT score. Ring Bells?" the article begins. "Just in case, let me refresh your memories. I the super smart Asian. Princeton the super dumb college, not accept me." The article ran with a disclaimer informing readers that it was part of the joke issue, but that did not stop students and alumni of the Ivy League school from accusing those who wrote it of racism. "Many angry Asian-American alums are circulating this article like wildfire. I consider myself an easygoing person, but guys — this article doesn't even try to use humor to hide the underlying hate," Andre Liu, who identified himself as a 1991 graduate, wrote in a letter to the editor. "Real bad call." An article on the controversy was published in Friday's editions, as was a note from The Daily Princetonian's managing board that stated its members "sincerely regret having upset some of our readers," but defended their intentions. "Using hyperbole and an unbelievable string of stereotypes, we hoped to lampoon racism by showing it at its most outrageous," the note said. "We embraced racist language in order to strangle it. At its worst, the column was a bad joke; at its best, it provoked serious thought about issues of race, fairness and diversity." Members of the newspaper's managing board did not immediately return a call seeking comment Saturday night. Li said he quickly recognized that the article was satire, but said it wasn't an excuse. "It's so outlandish that it can't be anything but satire," he said. "But I think in any case, this shouldn't have been published." In a letter to the editor that appeared in The Daily Princetonian, Princeton's Asian American Studies Association said the column was "offensive to Asian American students" and "reflects poorly on Princeton's reputation as a diverse and informed university." Meanwhile, Janet S. Dickerson, vice president for Campus Life at Princeton, told The Times of Trenton that the controversy had become an "opportunity for an educable moment on campus." "The Prince exercised poor judgment in including offensive material in this year's joke issue," she added. "Its student board has apologized and in doing so, recognized its responsibility to the campus." At least one student, though, said he was not offended by the article. "I thought it was sad that people were so offended by it, because it shows that racism still exists," Felix Huang, a senior from Texas whose parents are from Taiwan, told The Times. "But I think the column was a joke and I took it for the satire that it was meant to be." Source: http://1010wins.com/pages/187530.php?contentType=4&contentId=293048