02.20.2012 10:56 AM

When news organizations call Chinese people “chinks”

As everyone knows by now, ESPN did the right thing:

The headline — “Chink in the Armor: Jeremy Lin’s 9 Turnovers Cost Knicks in Streak-stopping Loss to Hornets” — appeared on ESPN’s mobile website at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday and was removed by 3:05 a.m. Battling to contain a furor, the sports network fired Federico and suspended anchor Max Bretos for 30 days.

So, have Maclean’s and the National Post done likewise with Mark Steyn, who wrote for both media outlets for years, and who has also called Chinese “chinks”? Um, no.

Mark Steyn has a penchant for using ethnic slurs, including “chinks” and “japs” (Spectator, 3/24/01), but he is at his most prolific and poisonous on the subject of Muslimsthis is the man who calls Chinese people “Chinks” and Japanese people “Japs.” He calls Indians “wogs.”

How will Maclean’s and the National Post cover the ESPN/Lin story? I can’t wait to see the oleaginous Selley on this dilemma: it’ll be interesting, but likely not inspiring.

11 Comments

  1. Marc L says:

    Steyn also called Francophones “frogs”. I complained to the National Post at the time. I never got a response.

  2. Michael says:

    I am still blown away by George W. Bush calling the people of Pakistan, Pakis.

  3. Doug says:

    You made my day with “oleaginous.”

  4. Bob Wood says:

    Warren:
    You directly accuse Mark Steyn of calling Japanese people “Japs” and Chinese people “Chinks” . Serious stuff! You fail to show this in your links, which if that were true, should justify your accusations. It is a good thing for you Mark Steyn is unlikely to visit your website. Why on earth would he read your thoughless nonsense?

  5. I’d like to see a link to that Spectator article referenced here. I see many mentions (via Google) of it, but nothing that points directly to the piece itself…

  6. You’re right. I am an asshole.

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