You go, boy.

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At first glance, this news article title might not seem racist to you, but that’s why I’m here – to open your eyes. Cicero A. Estrella, staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, chose those words. And I’m guessing he did so meticulously because he is in fact a writer by profession and he can’t just go and write whatever the fuck he wants and not think people will read it (398,246 copies circulated daily) and give him any flak for it, like I can with this blog. Notice the title says “boys”. Not 6 Asian “juveniles”, not 6 asian “youth”, but 6 Asian “boys”. Let me repeat. Not 6 Asian JUVENILES, not 6 Asian YOUTH, but 6 Asian BOYS. Now, how would you feel if an article ran in your paper that read, “6 Black boys arrested in beating of Latino.” You’d be like, “Whoa whoa…” and before you could get out your third “whoa”, you’d be distracted by Rev. Jesse Jackson on tv imploring all Black people to boycott all newspapers, or maybe even reading altogether. But, all jokes aside, reading “Black boys” in the paper would make you squirm in your seat, at least a little. What if the title read, “6 White boys arrested in beating of Latino?” Doesn’t seem right, does it? But, for some reason, “Asian boys” is totally acceptable. Calling them “boys” is not only demeaning, which it really is, it’s like kindergarten English. Cicero might as well have called them “guys” or “dudes”. I want to believe the people writing the news have moved beyond writing book reports on Charlotte’s Web. I know Mr. Estrella goes on to use more advanced vocabulary in the actual text of his article but titles are important. If your title sucks, people probably won’t read your shit and will, as I have in this case, write you off as a dumbass. And this is the point where I earnestly ask all my Asian people to boycott all Cicero A. Estrella articles! And stop reading!

Edit. I have a sneaking suspicion that Cicero is Asian-American. If that’s the case, I take back what I said about boycotting his articles. In fact, read only Cicero A. Estrella articles from now on. But I would also like to politely request that he use more advanced English when writing because people already think Asian boys can’t score better than a 600 on the verbal section of the SAT. Only Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship Words from now on! And in case you are confused as to what is going on here, at this moment, I’m breaking down stereotypes. I am a stereotype breaker downer. Yes, I am.