The Washington Post won’t apologize for that “C-man” headline about Yao Ming it used the other day.

Instead of showing some sensitivity, the Post  preferred to show off the slur in its full glory.

Because, of course, there’s nothing like getting in a second helping of hate rhetoric when you can under the guise of reporting.

Ultimately, editors did change the word.  They just didn’t really  apologize.

But say if the story were about a top black player. Would an editor have used a black ethnic slur now commonly referred to as the “N” word?  Or would they have truncated it or avoided the word choice completely  to accommodate DC’s black readers?

So one must ask,  why don’t Wash Post’s editors respect  its  Asian American readers more than they do?

Putting the word  out there in all its glory legitimizes the slur in a way.  It says,  “It’s OK, we saw it in the Post. ”

Even the original culprit, Shaquille O’Neal offered an apology. If you want to read about the incident check out this link to my 2011 post which includes a link to my original 2003 article that talks about how Shaq’s Yao FU began.

Incidentally, even Steve Kerr, the Golden State  Warriors coach, was involved in a slur incident involving Yao.

Kerr was a TV commentator at the time,  and has since apologized.

But that’s how little respect Asian Americans had in 2003.

And even now,  apparently.

And  as much as I am a Golden State Warrior fan, and hope they break the record, I must confess I don’t forget the incident whenever I see Kerr,  or even Shaq for that matter,  on TV.

That’s how deep transgressions go.

Apology or no apology, media slurs cut deep

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