Ann Coulter's Insult of Pioneer Journalist

(AAJA sent the following letter after reading in Editor & Publisher that syndicated columnist Ann Coulter made the following statement in her Feb. 23 column: "Press passes can't be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president." It is noted that Universal Press Syndicate deleted the racial reference when posting the column on their Web site. Following a March 8 story in the Detroit Free Press, copies of the following letter were also sent to the Free Press, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and U.S. Rep. John D. Dingell.)

March 3, 2005

Ms. Ann Coulter
Universal Press Syndicate
4520 Main St.
Kansas City, Mo. 64111

Dear Ms. Coulter:

I write on behalf of the Asian American Journalists Association to object to your use of an ethnic slur against journalist Helen Thomas in your Feb. 23 column ("Republicans, bloggers and gays, oh my!")

We have no idea why you saw need to refer to Thomas as "that old Arab" in writing about White House press passes. What has her Lebanese heritage got to do with the point of your column -- that being Arab American makes her more dangerous or less trustworthy to, in your words, "sit within yards of the president?"

The use of that language is even more sinister given the post Sept. 11 setting, when Arabs, Arab Americans and people of Middle Eastern origins are routinely targeted by some for retaliation, intimidation and harassment simply because of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds. That mean-spirited line in your column only serves to feed that bigotry and backlash.

Fortunately, Universal Press Syndicate exercised common sense by removing the Arab reference from the version of the column that it distributed.

We ask that you retract the use of the slur and apologize publicly.

Sincerely,

Abe Kwok
AAJA Media Watch Committee Co-Chair and AAJA National Vice President for Print

cc Robert Duffy, President, Universal Press Syndicate
Greg Mitchell, Editor, Editor & Publisher
Karen Narasaki, Executive Director, National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium

   The Asian American    Journalists Association    (AAJA) was founded in    1981 by a few Asian    American and Pacific    Islander (AAPI) journalists.    Within the next few years,    AAJA began hosting panel    discussions for members.

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