Princetonian ‘Joke’ Issue Shows Knack for Subtle Social Commentary
We knew there was a reason we hadn’t yet written about Jian Li, the high school senior who sued filed a civil rights complaint against Princeton for discrimination after they rejected his early application. (He claims they held his Asian ethnicity against him.) And boy are we glad we waited, since now he can probably add the Daily Princetonian as a defendant.
In yesterday’s annual “joke” issue, the Prince ran, among other laugh-laugh-sigh satires, an op-ed by one “Lian Ji” titled, “Princeton University is racist against me, I mean, non-whites.” “Hi Princeton! Remember me?” it starts off. “I so good at math and science. Perfect 2400 SAT score. Ring bell?” Having upturned that modest divet, they keep digging for another 550 or so words:
“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.”
WOW. I mean, wow. After the year that brought us the Dartmouth Review Native American flap and Yale Rumpus’ “Me Love You Long Time” ado, it’s as if someone just pushed reset. Let’s see that again! There should really be an award for the student(s) who, every year, think they will be the ones to transcend racism by displaying it in its crudest form. And who, every year, make utter fools of themselves (and learn that irony isn’t a defense). So kind of them not to spell it “Orympics.”
If this doesn’t blow up in their faces, it’s by the grace of God. Princetonian Editor-in-Chief Chanakya Sethi ’07 told us he was “aware there were concerns” about the piece, but hasn’t heard any direct complaints yet. Then again, students are in reading week. “If there are people who are concerned, I’m concerned,” he said.
The best part is, the people responsible for running it — the outgoing board, Sethi included — won’t even have to deal with the (still hypothetical) fallout. The hate mail, the meetings with deans, the sensitivity training seminars — all will fall squarely on the shoulders of their successors. Thanks, fellas. It’s been fun. Don’t let the picketers hit you in the ass on the way out.
P.S. — The Globe‘s must-read Brainiac had this first.
