I would like to quickly address the accusations by Craig Reeson that (1) the Asian Students Association is hypocritical in condemning racial stereotypes used by the Chronicle, (2) ASA is a racist organization, and (3) ASA officers are corrupt and unrepresentative of Asians on campus.
The use of any stereotype to elicit cheap laughter is in poor taste. The challenging of stereotypes through humor is meant to elicit thought. Although both employ humor, one is the end, and one is the means to an end. I apologize for being brief, but anyone who watched the Self-Esteemer skit at Lunar New Year should understand.
Attributing one person's words, however reprehensible they might be, to an organization is irresponsible. Obviously, ASA does not endorse the racist comments as quoted by Reeson and views those comments as unacceptable. However, I believe that because Reeson specifically called out three students by name, contacting each student individually would have been a more appropriate and tactful response. Exposing personal complaints in a public newspaper only serves to create animosity, not understanding.
ASA as an organization is far from perfect, but its officers do make conscious efforts to better represent its constituency. Besides general body meetings, I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that all ASA Executive meetings (every Sunday at 2 p.m. in Meeting Room B) are open to all members of the Duke community. Past meeting minutes are available at www.dukeasa.com.
This coming Monday, April 21, we will be holding a discussion on Asian-American standards of beauty and body image in the Multicultural Center at 7 p.m. Afterwards ASA officers encourage and invite any complaints, concerns or questions. You are also welcome to just stop by and grab a Cookout burger or shake.
I assure you that in the future we will definitely redouble efforts to become more accessible to the student body-at the very least, you won't need to write The Chronicle in order to get a hold of us.
Muyan Jin
Trinity '09
ASA VP Political Affairs 2007-2008
ASA VP Community Affairs 2008-2009
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