Dear Clarion, Satire can be interpreted in several ways as humor or sarcasm. However, when one utilizes this technique within their writing composition to generalize a certain demographic through stereotypes, the reaction by readers may result in a misinterpretation and may not be what the writer intended. Furthermore, as the satire begins to threaten the lives of those who identify with a specific group, the intentional satire then becomes a serious matter. The article “If it’s war the Asians want…” written by a student at CU Boulder, which was published last Monday by The Campus Press, claims to be “satirical.” The article alludes to the harsh historical sufferings of the Japanese-Americans during World War II and attempts to make light of several stereotypes placed on Asian-Americans. The tone of voice of the writer later becomes bitter and full of anger, as he maps out a three phase plan to declare a war upon Asian-American students and attack our souls. As the article continues, the writer’s satirical intentions begin to fade. By the end of the article, he has offended countless groups and not only the Asian-American demographic. As a result, the Asian-American community reacted with an outcry, stating that they feel threatened by this student’s not so humorous intentions, and the general supporting community feels the article is unacceptable. For years, the Asian-American community as well as other vast amounts of groups has worked to diverge from such stereotypes, but it is unfortunate that these generalizations are continuously fed to the public. By allowing this paper to have been published, it has virtually brought us 10 steps back to where we initially started-back to the drawing board of enlightening people and creating a safe environment for our diverse community. Although the freedom of speech is respected in this situation, the abuse of this power by publicly making threats and targeting specific groups is intolerable. Some feel this article lies closer to hate speech than free speech after the writer states that he’ll be catching Asians with butterfly nets and hog tying them at Ferrand Field. Several articles have been written to attack certain demographics in the past, and this article in particular crosses that fine border into offensive territory. There is no “war” we seek. There is no hatred we express. We will not return such “war” or hate with which he has attacked us because it is just not worth stooping to his level. What will remain to exist is the loss of respect and the degrading reputation of those affiliated with the exploitation of such an issue. Acts of “war” and hate will not assist us in educating the community. Rather, we will continue to work on issues like this to cultivate a better understanding between different demographics and cultures in hopes to eliminate hate and racism from our surrounding community and society, especially here at DU. On Feb. 22, the Asian Student Alliance held a general meeting that gathered various organizations and supporters of the Asian community to discuss reactions and resolutions for the situation. We begin the cultural teaching process with this first step. With the support of so many, we can educate people and spread awareness about this issue regarding all groups and not just the Asian-American population. We can create a chain reaction heard across the region that will eventually open the eyes of the institution that caused the damages; it will teach them that such offensive activity is completely unacceptable; and it will show them that we are not passive people but people of strength, audacity, and perseverance to achieve social righteousness. Some people, even within the Asian-American community look upon this issue and brush it off their shoulders as if nothing had happened at all, but those of us who want to see change happen will step up to make sure that our right to be safe will not be threatened. We will regain those 10 steps back and work to educate surrounding communities so as to develop a better understanding of not only the Asian-American society but of all minorities in general.

Signed,Asian Student Alliance Exec. Board,Tuyen Bui, Co-PresidentKenneth Phi, Co-Vice PresidentRyan Nguyen, TreasurerChristina Dai, SecretaryFrancesca Becerra, Historian