Last semester, the Alligator ran a comic strip that alluded to a scene from an Indiana Jones movie. In the comic, the character, Short Round, who is Asian, inquired about the keyboard clacking noises coming from the study-in led by the Computer and Information Science and Engineering students.
His line in the comic is, “What that sound? Maybe I step on Chinese fortune cookie?”
The cartoonist chose to make his lines grammatically incorrect and ultimately portrayed Short Round to be speaking Engrish, not English. This idea perpetuates the stereotype that Asian-Pacific Islander American members are not able to communicate with correct grammar and converse in a style called “broken English.”
If the editors of the Alligator knew that Short Round was so blatantly stereotyped in the movie, why would they allow this comic to be published in its newspaper?
Michael Satyapor, president of the Asian American Student Union, voiced his concern by saying, “There are many stereotyped characters in existence and encouraging these ideas is not good. There are so many ways to utilize humor and social commentary without resorting to such nonsense.”
Although I can’t speak for the entire Asian-Pacific Islander American community at UF and beyond, the Alligator should be informed that the comic was offensive, and messages of disrespect to one’s community will not be tolerated.
Society has been told that Asian Americans are the model minority group that will choose to stay quiet and behave appropriately, unlike other minority groups that would be more inclined to fight back.
I’m writing this to speak up against that notion. I want the Alligator staff and the overall UF community to be educated on how media can be used to oppress or stereotype an entire community and how to effectively communicate without doing such things.
There should also be more education around ethical decision-making on whether an article or comic should be published.
We all have a responsibility to confront and challenge stereotypes and to empower our community by doing so.
Nga Vuong is the former vice president of external affairs of the Asian American Student Union at UF.
