'Chomicle' article crosses the line

Tuesday's satirical "Chomicle" article "China invades Duke; SAT scores rise" went beyond what would've been tasteful as an April Fool's article.

As a Chinese-American student, I take great offense to the article that makes light of my grandparent's sacrifice during China's communist revolution and exploits false racial stereotypes for the purpose of humor. The systematic racial targeting of Asians is a continual problem in the United States and The Chronicle's "joke" article only serves to perpetuate that behavior.

In addition to the racist statements in the article, its insinuation that all Chinese students are communists makes light of the struggles of many Chinese students' parents and grandparents during the Chinese revolution. Jokes made at the expense of Asians have long been a stalwart of The Chronicle's humor columns, and although calls to change have occurred after every incident, they continue to emerge year after year. Just a few short weeks ago campus organizations came together in support of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It is disappointing to see that the school paper, "The Tower of Campus Thought and Action," has so blatantly disregarded the lessons of that day under the pretense of comedy.

The Chronicle should look carefully at and consider the consequences of the articles that it prints, especially articles written as jokes with little journalistic merit.

Cristian Liu

President, Asian Students Association

Pratt '08