AsianWeek fires racist column author

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - The writer who penned a controversial column for AsianWeek that has been called racist will no longer be associated with the free publication.

AsianWeek Editor-at-Large Ted Fang announced Wednesday that the paper is cutting its ties with 22-year-old Kenneth Eng, whose recent piece “Why I Hate Black People” caused an uproar throughout The City and impelled the Board of Supervisors to adopt a resolution denouncing the column.

“We fell down on the job this time,” Fang said at a Wednesday morning news conference in the Western Addition called by the president of the San Francisco National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Many leaders of The City’s black community were in attendance.

“AsianWeek takes full responsibility for what was done wrong,” Fang added.

Eng’s controversial column appeared in the Feb. 23 edition of the 27-year-old AsianWeek, which considers itself the “voice of the Asian American community.” The paper is owned by The City’s Fang family, which owned The Examiner from 2000 to 2004.

On Wednesday, Fang refused to comment on how Eng’s column made it past AsianWeek’s editors and into the paper, repeatedly saying the editorial process will be reviewed. He would not comment on Eng’s previous two columns, “Why I Hate Asians” and “Why I Hate White People” either.

AsianWeek has removed the controversial column from its Web site.

Fang said the paper will “take any actions that are necessary” to clean up its mistake, including firing any editors who played a part in publishing the column.

The Rev. Amos Brown, who organized the conference and is president of The City’s NAACP chapter, said he accepted Fang’s apology and called Eng’s column an “embarrassing fluke.”

Brown said Eng should “not be dealt with in a cavalier manner.”

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who represents the Western Addition area, said members of the Board of Supervisors were all “very shocked” by Eng’s statements and acted swiftly to condemn and denounce them.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also weighed in on the matter Wednesday: “The hateful views expressed in Kenneth Eng’s column must not be tolerated, and AsianWeek’s decision to print them was irresponsible.”

arocha@examiner.com

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