AAI Press Release: Regarding Naming of Senn's Field

For Immediate Release: PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, January 4, 2007 Contact: Myron Quon
myron@aaichicago.org


ASIAN AMERICAN INSTITUTE TO CALL UPON SENN HIGH SCHOOL’S LOCAL SCHOOL COUNCIL TO VOTE AGAINST SCHOOL FIELD DEDICATION – MIKE NORTH AN INAPPROPRIATE ROLE MODEL (RACIST COMMENTS ON CBS RADIO’S “THE SCORE”)

Chicago, IL — The Asian American Institute (AAI), the region’s pan-Asian advocacy organization, will present testimony on January 10, 2007 to Nicholas Senn High School’s Local School Council concerning racist comments by sports radio host Mike North. This past summer North used the term “Chinaman” to describe a Cubs pitcher of Korean descent. Unfortunately, the Senn High LSC voted late last year to approve the dedication of a school field in his honor.

“Mr. North’s comments show how much ignorance continues to exist about Chinese and Asians in general.” said AAI Legal Director Myron Dean Quon. “The fact that he did not understand how that phrase has been used to denigrate Asians and Asian Americans – to the extent that it has become a racial slur – is appalling.” That term and others like it such as “chink” and “jap” are racial slurs that have been used to demean and humiliate Asian Americans. These terms were used to justify passage of the Chinese Exclusion Acts during the 1880s and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. “The use of these terms causes the same reaction among Asian Americans as the use of the N-word to refer to African Americans” noted AAI Executive Director Tuyet Le. “North’s usage of ‘Chinaman’ illustrates another issue faced by Asian Americans – although we are a diverse community, we are often treated as a monolithic group. Using that derogatory term to refer to a Korean American athlete increases insensitive attitudes toward Asian Americans.” At the Senn High LSC hearing, AAI, other Asian American advocates, and community members will call upon the LSC to reverse its proposal for a school dedication.

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The Asian American Institute (www.aaichicago.org) is the region’s pan-Asian nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the Asian American and Pacific Islander community through advocacy, by utilizing coalition-building, education, and research.