Cowboys' Parcells crossed the line with offensive comments

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Cowboys' Parcells crossed the line with offensive comments

10:36 PM CDT on Wednesday, June 9, 2004

By ESTHER WU / The Dallas Morning News



Esther Wu is a local news columnist for The Dallas Morning News.

The National Football League has decided not to fine Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells for the racially insensitive remarks he made Monday.

No penalties, no fine, but it's still a foul.

For those of you who don't follow sports, during a discussion about assistant coach Sean Payton's use of surprise plays, Mr. Parcells said Monday: "Sean's going to have a few – no disrespect to the Orientals – but what we call 'Jap' plays. OK? Surprise things."

Mr. Parcells apologized the same day. "I made a very inappropriate reference, and although I prefaced the remark, 'No disrespect to anyone intended,' it was still uncalled for and inconsiderate," he said in a prepared statement. "For that, I apologize to anyone who may have been offended."

Well, coach, I am one of those you have offended.

And at the risk of angering even more of the Cowboys fans who are defending you, here's why.

Racial slurs are wrong – period. Using terms that are demeaning to a specific race of people perpetuates stereotypes and misconceptions.

As an Asian-American who has been subjected to racial slurs and to some degree of discrimination most of her life, I know firsthand that these words are not only hateful; they are hurtful.

Each time I am called "chink" or "chinaman," it chips away at my self-esteem. It is a reminder that I am different. And though my family has lived in this country since the 1800s and I'm a native Texan, I am still made to feel like a foreigner, as if I don't belong.

In this case, coach, you offended not only the Japanese but also all Asians when you used the term "Oriental."

It is an outdated term that reflects negative European and American colonialist attitudes toward Asia. More to the point, it is a word associated with foreign or exotic objects. It is an adjective that describes rugs or a vase from Asia, but when used as a noun, the word objectifies and demeans people from Asia. We're Asian or Asian-Americans.

Many readers point out that "Jap" is short for Japanese – like Brit is short for British or Jew is short for Jewish. But during World War II, when Japan was at war with the United States, the word was used in the most derogatory way to describe the enemy. It is a pejorative, used to put down or demean people of Japanese descent. The same does not apply to the Brits or the Jews in this country.

Some readers say we should make allowances for the World War II generation. Others justify your association of "Jap" with sneak attacks because of Pearl Harbor.

By the way, one reader, who identified himself as a white man, asks why the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is often described as a sneak attack and the D-Day invasion is often called the greatest military invasion of all time, since both involved the element of surprise.

During war, lives are lost on both sides – at Pearl Harbor as well as in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But we're not at war now. And, coach, according to your bio, you were just a toddler in 1941. So someone must have passed on his or her wartime sentiments to you. So now, is this your turn? And if so, when does it stop?

And, coach, if you let little things about the Japanese "slip" like you did at that news conference, I wonder what you say – intentionally or unintentionally – about Vietnamese people, like Dat Nguyen?

Mr. Parcells, your followers say that I am taking you to task simply because you are white and that this is an example of political correctness gone amuck.

Actually, it doesn't matter whether you are white, brown or polka-dotted. I'm taking you to task because you are in a powerful and influential position. You are someone who should know better. And I don't think of this as political correctness as much as I consider it plain old respect for one another.

Your fans tell me to "get over it." I wish I could.

But until we're all playing on the same team and putting a stop to racial slurs, I can't. And neither should you.

E-mail ewu@***BANNED-URL***
 
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