An Asian friend of mine, born and raised in Australia, wanted to know what I, and Americans in general, thought of Max Karson’s piece, “If it’s war the Asians want . . . it’s war they’ll get,” recently published in the University of Colorado’s student newspaper, The Campus Press. As I read the piece, I had to double-check that it was published in 2008, because for a moment I thought I was back in the 1800s. In the piece, Karson detailed his plans for lynching the whole Asian student body at the university. I was completely shocked.

Karson has a long history of saying crazy and stupid things, but it didn’t seem he could be written off as another isolated whackjob — enough people agreed with his sentiments that they allowed the piece to be published. Some of his editors even defended the piece by claiming the work was satire, although I think to any reasonable reader it was about as satirical as a KKK manifesto.

“The New White Flight,” an article published in the Wall Street Journal two years ago, stated that white families were actively moving out of Cupertino in order to avoid the high influx of Asian people. The article focused on the effects Asians have had on the school system — parents claimed Asians brought an unhealthy and overly competitive focus on academics. It seemed, however, that the article adopted the parents’ views, advocating that Asian values of hard-work and education were actually poisoning the educational system.

All top-notch academic institutions will be comprised of the same highly motivated, high-achieving students, regardless of ethnic make-up. Monta Vista, a top-ranked high school that starred in the article, and which I attended, is no different.

Why the Wall Street Journal chose to write an article implicitly casting Asians in a negative light, and why Max Karson’s piece wasn’t immediately discarded, leaves the impression that it’s acceptable to malign someone based on their race or ethnicity.

How do we fight against these creeping prejudices? Like dealing with a bully, people need to be proactive in defending themselves against prejudice. Fighting prejudice can manifest itself in many different ways, some highly unique. For example, Darrell Hamamoto, a professor of Asian-American Studies at UC-Davis. Professor Hamamoto created a pornography film starring an Asian-American male and female in an effort to combat negative stereotypes about Asian-American sexuality.

Everything said so far applies to every other institutionalized and accepted case of prejudice. True acceptance means harmony among all races. So to all people of the world: fight for your rights, and respect one another.

Email your thoughts to dirtycalstudent@gmail.com.

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