To the Editor:
Amidst all the debate, name-calling, and accusations surrounding the “kimchi” controversy, it becomes apparent that we have quite clearly lost the point.
Ahn was offended, and rightly so. It is true that Frantz’s comment was not a slap in the face or a racial slur. But the fact of the matter is, the vast majority of Koreans do not eat dog.
Besides, simply because Westerners see dogs as man’s best friend gives us no right to criticize the act of eating dog. Joey on the television show “Friends” had a goose and a rooster as pets for one season. Later the same season I saw him eat fried chicken. Barbaric? Crude? Not at all.
So now we reach the question: was the statement the dining hall manager made towards David Ahn wrong? Yes. It is culturally ignorant and insensitive to speak of the cultures of others in a demeaning and condescending way, as Frantz did.
Why isn’t Ahn allowed to file a complaint or answer back to criticisms of his culture? What makes him any different from any other Yalie?
Adrian Hong ’05
February 11, 2002