Pittsburgh H.S. Students Create 'Anti-Asians Anonymous' Group on Facebook.com
The AA community protests the group, forcing it to be shut down. Unfortunately, similar hateful sentiment still remains on the popular networking site.
When some students at Fox Chapel Area High School in Pittsburgh, Penn. decided to start their own group on the popular Facebook.com networking site, their choice of topic wasn't the Pittsburgh Pirates or the new Harry Potter flick - it was an anti-Asian group they cheekily called "Anti-Asians Anonymous."
"I ate your dog, but I'm not sorry!!!" is the bubble quote beside a generic photo of a young Asian man. And under "Recent News" there are fake news titles like: "Pearl Harbor: Our only mistake was stopping at two. Tom Brokaw reports" and "Another Chinese hideout in a giant bowl of urine. Where'd they go?"
Among the 25 group members, 16 are identified as currently attending Fox Chapel Area High School and the two administrators are listed as Fox Chapel students Billy Hagberg and Winston McCarty.
But Hagberg himself takes credit for the group, claiming to have created it over a year ago, getting little notice from Facebook administrators even though the company's own conduct policy states: "you may not post or share content that ... is derogatory, demeaning, malicious, defamatory, abusive, offensive or hateful."
It wasn't until this past June that the site began to receive some unwanted attention, mainly from Asian Americans in the Pittsburg area and nationally, including Fallout Central, an online space that mobilizes AAs to fight racism.
"By calling, e-mailing, faxing, and writing to the administrators of Fox Chapel Area High School, a clear message was sent out to the high school that this was clearly offensive, racist, and certainly incongruous with the school's touted success in being 'at the forefront of progressive educational initiatives,'" said William Lee of Fallout Central.
By early July "Anti-Asians Anonymous" was no more and creator Hagberg took down his profile from Facebook.com. Unfortunately, a number of similar anti-Asian groups could still be found on the site including: "I hate Asian people" and "All Texans are racist against Asians!!!"
Why Create Such a Group?
Defiant at first, Hagberg eventually acquiesced to his error in creating the anti-Asian site, although in the same breath he took a swipe at the AA community for singling him out.
In an e-mail response to Fallout Central, Hagberg expressed his thoughts on the controversy: "I apologize to anyone who took offense to this group. I am not a racist, and believe one of the major hindrances in our country and world is ignorance based on race. This was simply a joke, based on the ludicracy of existing stereotypes. I never meant to incite any hatred, only to get a laugh."
But later on he says, "There are certainly much bigger threats to Asians than a high-schooler on one website. In my opinion, if you are to make any changes, you need to recognize real threats, their sources, and appropriate courses of action. Why didn't anyone ask me about this, instead of random authority figures in my life? I support your cause, but your methods certainly leave much to be desired."
McCarty was listed alongside Hagberg's name as one of the administrators of "Anti-Asians Anonymous" but in an e-mail to the Pacific Citizen he says he never agreed to be an administrator. McCarty also apologized for the site, explaining that he had foolishly joined the group without looking into what it was all about.
"I deeply regret that I was associated with the group and that in so doing offended many people," he said. "I am not a racist and I have many Asian friends that I have humbly apologized to. I sincerely apologize to anyone that was offended by my joining this group."
On July 10, Facebook announced that it had hit the 30 million mark in active members. The site, originally created for high school and college kids as a way to network with their peers, is now open to anyone with a valid e-mail address.
Although the site has a majority of legitimate groups created by users with similar interests, the openness of today's Internet makes it almost impossible to monitor those who have ulterior motives, especially when it comes to hateful sentiment.
Soon after the Pacific Citizen contacted Facebook about several anti-Asian groups on the site, an administrator disabled them noting that "Whenever such material is reported to our support staff, we remove the abusive content."
Still, those who want to spread hate will continue to do so. In a quick perusal of the site recently, groups like "Nig Nig Niggers" and "Niggers aren't people too" were still active and seeking new members.
High Schools and Facebook
Although the students were already on summer break when Fox Chapel High School administrators were notified of the "Anti-Asians Anonymous" Facebook group, the school immediately contacted the parents, noting the seriousness of the students' actions.
"The district and I personally are disappointed and offended by these wrongful actions. We do not dismiss such actions lightly," said Superintendent Anne Stephens. She also noted, "This incident does not represent how the school population or the community population relates to diversity in Fox Chapel."
The students eventually took responsibility for the anti-Asian group and took it down. But Stephens noted the difficulty the school has had in disciplining students for activity conducted outside of school, especially personal involvement in networking sites like Facebook.
Whether or not Fox Chapel Area H.S. will take any disciplinary action against those students involved in creating "Anti-Asians Anonymous," those in the AA community believe it was because of their vigilance that this hateful group was taken off of Facebook. And it's something they will continue to do.
"If Fallout Central had not put a magnifying glass on what the students of Fox Chapel Area High School were doing, and if the Asian American community ... had not expressed disapproval of it by contacting the school's administrators, that networking group would be freely operating now," said Lee.
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