Chicago Sun Times

Chicago Reporter, The, June, 2001 by Stephanie Williams

William Yashino, Midwest director of the Japanese American Citizens League, chastises the Chicago Sun-Times for using the term "Chinaman" in reference to Chinese people in two recent columns. In a May 16 letter to the editor, he cautions that casual use of the term disparages Asian Americans. "The term has a history that is derogatory and demeaning to Chinese Americans and Asian Americans....These terms marginalize our communities and inflame public sentiment," writes Yoshino, who is based in Chicago.

Events such as the Democratic National Committee fundraising scandal and the spy allegations against Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee invite "those who choose to exploit these situations" to besiege the Asian American community with ridicule, he notes. "The public does not readily discern between the actions of foreign nations and the Asian American community.... Use of these terms is the first step down a path where Asian Americans can be targeted and victimized solely because of what we are."