By: Cynthia Shaffer
Disregard of Young Kim by a major news outlet such as the New York Times is not surprising. Painfully predictable. It harkens back to the article I wrote regarding Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month and the immense disparity between its celebration and Black History Month. There is no comparison except it is a month set-aside by the United States government to commemorate a race designated by the government. However, the contrast runs deep and wide.
It doesn’t bother me Young Kim wasn’t profiled. What bothers me is the hypocrisy of profiling “others” (with the added claim of diversity!) and not profiling Young Kim. Why is she so blatantly excluded?
This behavior is not new and there is no sign of it improving. In fact, do you know about Ebony magazine’s original article, “Meet the 18 Black Women Running for a Seat in Congress”? Predictably, six other Black women were blatantly excluded. The article should have read, “Meet the 24 Black Women Running for a Seat in Congress.” Care to surmise why the six were originally excluded?
Just to add a little spice to the mix, a search at ebony.com yields no results for John James, nor Tony Campbell. Why?
Often times, in the name of diversity and inclusiveness, separatist tendencies reveal themselves. Oh, gosh, what is that new hip word being used to excoriate all the supposed unenlightened, White people? Unconscious bias! Yes, perhaps that is one explanation why Young Kim and a whole host of others are deemed unworthy to be included in a run-of-the-mill group political profile.
Who is Young Kim? She is the first Korean-American woman to be elected to Congress. Can you tell me why she wasn’t covered?
