This past weekend, ESPN finally took action in their “chink in the armor” fiasco by suspending the news anchor, Max Bretos, who used the phrase on-air and firing the editor responsible for posting the awful headline. While Bretos has apologized for what he said (by pulling the whole “My wife is Asian!” card), now the ESPN.com writer is speaking out. And he’s really sorry.
In an exclusive interview with NY Daily News, Anthony Federico claims this was all an honest mistake.
“This had nothing to do with me being cute or punny,” Anthony Federico told the Daily News. “I’m so sorry that I offended people. I’m so sorry if I offended Jeremy.”
His rational behind using the phrase at 2:30 in the morning was that he had used the phrase numerous times in the past. This time, it just happened to be the wrong time for the wrong article underneath the wrong photograph. Federico understands why ESPN had to let him go, stating “I’m devastated that I caused a firestorm.”
As for Jeremy Lin, he’s moved on. According to the article, the basketball star has forgiven Federico: “You have to learn to forgive, and I don’t even think that was intentional.” Unfortunately, the Internet is famous for holding grudges so it’ll probably be a while before the Asian American community forgets this headline ever appeared online for 35 minutes.
I’m ready to move on. Well, everyone knows how I feel about Lin over-saturating social media but I did pay attention to the ESPN scandals, only because it brought to light what our community has been noticing and fearing this whole time. Racial tensions against us do exist and having a strong Asian American take the spotlight would soon bring these to light, whether through punchlines about stereotypes or racist slurs. The APA community had a right to be outraged over what Federico wrote. Even if the headline was an “honest mistake,” it gave everyone to opportunity to understand our role in the dialogue about race in America. And yes, that includes derogatory words that also have different meanings in different contexts. I’m glad that ESPN took serious action with their employees by making it clear that using the word “chink” is unacceptable, even if it wasn’t intentional, and hopefully others will understand why. (I’m also okay with Bretos only being suspending due to their different situations.) So I’m forgiving, not forgetting but moving forward.
So how do you feel about these official apologies? Do you accept them as Lin did or are you still angry? Should Federico never find work in this town again?
