Dear Editor,
The March 1 issue of the Guardian at first appears to be a very progressive issue. It commends the efforts of the Black Student Union in their counter teach-in, generally taking a strong stance against institutionalized and indirect racism.
However, my feeling of pride and solidarity was instantly shaken and disturbed when I moved on to read the Classified section.
In this segment, an ad was printed that states: “ISO Asian Sugar Girl. Ruggedly Cute SWM looking to take you shopping. Lets spoil each other a few times a month. I am flexible.”
This posting is clearly subliminally racist and offensive toward Asian-Americans, especially women. It promotes the geisha stereotype of the sexualized, submissive, non-intellectual and gold-digging Asian woman, who is searching for a white male to spoil her and fulfill her vapid, materialistic and shallow desires. It degrades interracial relationships that are actually healthy.
This is all very inappropriate to have in an issue that is about ending racism and change.
I do not want UCSD to be known as a place where people go to find stereotyped Asian women who are in institutions of higher learning not to fulfill their needs for education and learning, but rather to find a sugar daddy who will dominate them.
As an Asian-American of mixed race, I am enraged by how this portrays Asians. Just because we are technically the “majority” on this campus does not mean that we are safe from institutionalized and covert forms of racism.
—Anonymous