China: Virus joke misses the mark badly
Re: “The Five Spot,” (TNT, 4/26).
Could we please be more careful not to further inflame anti-Asian sentiment among the American newspaper-reading public?
Although I appreciate much-needed humor during these times, the “Chinese Virus Checkers” joke in this column severely missed the mark, and played into the anti-Asian tropes currently being generated by right-wing media and supported by the Trump Administration.
This idea of a Chinese Virus was put to rest by mainstream media weeks ago as inaccurate, unhelpful and largely of political origin. I was surprised and disappointed to see it resurface as a joke in the TNT.
I was very disappointed to see the Editorial Board carelessly let humor lead them astray. I think a written apology would be most appreciated by those who have personally and locally suffered these anti-Asian attacks.
Greg Youtz, Tacoma
(Youtz is a board member of the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation and the Pacific Lutheran University Chinese Studies Committee)
This story was originally published May 2, 2020 at 10:42 AM with the headline "China: Virus joke misses the mark badly."