Racist joke article in Daily Princetonian

<p>This isn't very nice. Or smart. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2007/01/17/opinion/17109.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2007/01/17/opinion/17109.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Hmm. </p>

<p>Well...I don't know what to think about that. If Jian Li had actually written it himself, it could be semi-funny, because it's so satirical. It comes off a little rascist, though. Maybe it's something that we don't really "get" because we're not actually Princeton students? That's probably a long shot.</p>

<p>At the same time, you have to consider Jian Li's premise. He tried to SUE Princeton because he didn't get in. Are any of us going to sue Princeton if we don't get in? Are any of us going to sue ANYWHERE if we don't get in? I understand that his case had a basis in the problems of Affirmative Action (and can we pleaseeee not start another AA debate in this thread), but I don't know, I think the whole premise of his lawsuit was a bit ludicrous.</p>

<p>I'm fairly certain, as per the footnote, that this was not written by Jian Li. And I'm fairly certain that the Daily Princetonian could have made better attempts to jest in a more humorous, less racist-by-first-impression fashion.</p>

<p>Ok, after reading the article, I really don't understand why they have faked him in this strange way. All the grammar mistakes are simply not legitimate. I've never heard Asian ppl talk like this. In fact, this is the first satire which makes fun of Asian who can't articulate themselves. Am I missing something? If they want to use clich?s, then they should talk more about sciences and maybe playing the piano or something like that, but grammar issues? <em>confused</em> This weird slang is simply too much and makes the whole thing ridiculous instead of making Lian Ji ridiculous.</p>

<p>It reminds me of the Asian kid in The Girl Next Door, actually. Which was funny for about a second but kind of quickly got old.</p>

<p>"Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Jian Li, a freshman at Yale, had filed a complaint against Princeton with the Office of Civil Rights at the US Department of Education, charging that the university had rejected him because he was Asian-American. Despite perfect SAT scores, near-perfect achievement test scores, nine AP classes, and a class rank in the top 1 percent at Livingston High School in New Jersey, Li says he was rejected by Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT, while getting into Yale, Cooper Union, Rutgers, and Cal Tech."</p>

<p>......</p>

<p><a href="http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/11/26/victim_of_success/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/11/26/victim_of_success/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Hey, this might not be just a joke.</p>

<p>haha well I'm Asian and I thought the fake Jian Li article was funny.
Then again, I'm always making fun of Asians myself.</p>

<p>"Lots of bulldogs here for me to eat." lollllllllllllll that was the only really funny line. If I hadn't known that Jian Li actually got a perfect 1600 on his SAT, the article would have been a lot more funny. What bothers me here, though, is not the racist content but double standard. If someone were to write an article like that about a black person, all hell would break loose. And please nobody be to deny this facts lol:)</p>

<p>lol OMZ....how COULD you...;) lol</p>

<p>I was indifferent about it. ofcourse with a little smile here and there. but it wasnt that good of a joke in my opinion</p>

<p>yeah... it remided me of borat's english lol:)</p>

<p>actually Ernie, personally, i think it would have been funnier if the person was black (im black ...or african depending on how u look at it..lol).</p>

<p>None of these should cause any uproar. its just a joke/satire on a real life situation. We watch this on <em>mad-tv</em> everytime...lol</p>

<p>Trangham - the actual premise behind the joke story is true. Jian Li really did sue because he didn't get in...so, was he asking to be made fun of? Probably.</p>

<p>Has anybody read all the other joke articles (besides OMZ)? Most of them are realllly offensive too, but they're hilarious.</p>

<p>very true, maddy.
are you an american citizen? or are you applying as an international?</p>

<p>^^as an international. Im not an american citizen.</p>

<p>Not funny at all. I don't know what the hell they were thinking.</p>

<p>I don't think it's particularly funny and its stereotyping is offensive, but in fairness, it appeared in the joke issue of the Princetonian, which is cover-to-cover satire. Lots of groups and individuals, most notably Princeton and many of its pretenses, were lampooned. Reading it in context is different from reading it, as here, in isolation.</p>

<p>Not funny at all. I can't believe they even printed that. Would they dare to write an article like that about black people's stereotypical activities in ebonics? That's not "satire." Satire has depth--this isn't using stereotypes to make any sort of message. Other than, Jian Li's just another Asian prick. How original!!!</p>

<p>Probably not.
But still, I think what MarathonMan says is true. If you read the whole issue, the number of groups that are ridiculed and insulted are many. I think it needs to be taken with an open mind and the realization that it is JUST supposed to be humor.</p>

<p>Yeah most of the piece is guilty of nothing more than being unfunny--whatever. The actual offensive stuff is the fake accent, and these passages:</p>

<p>" What is wrong with you no color people? Yellow people make the world go round. We cook greasy food, wash your clothes and let you copy our homework. Brown people are catching up, too but not before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Plus, two Princeton professors showed that racial preferences for black people and Hispanics hurt admission opportunities for me. I mean, Asians in general. The Great Wall Street Journal support my case. What more you want?"
and
"I make record for number of science fairs entered. I stay after school with Mu Alpha Theta eight hours everyday after school to memorize the 2,309,482,039,482,309 digits of pi. I play yo-yo. I memorize William Hung dance for college application video (See <a href="http://www.youtube.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.youtube.com&lt;/a> for my peformance. Aleksey Vayner's dance scene almost as good as mine. Almost.). I play in New Jersey Youth Orchestra five years in row. Violin, piano, viola, clarinet and cello. All at same time. Not oustanding? Ai yah."
and
"I would have taken one engrish class and be liberal arts. Writing seminar count, right? Multiply, I make DDR varsity sport."</p>

<p>And the fact that it's a "joke" doesn't make it OK. Last time I checked universities didn't support derogatory statements in any form. And I read the rest of the issue--I failed to find any other ethnic group maligned in this pathetic way. At least be creative.</p>

<p>Yeah, this is unacceptable on the writer and editors' parts. I think everyone is aware that the article is intended as a joke, but that's not the point. Racially offensive jokes have no more place in a newspaper's "joke issue" than racist material in general does in any other issue. You have the right to the opinion that people shouldn't get offended by this sort of thing, but the fact is that many people do, and society expects that you will behave accordingly.</p>