Activism

COMMENTARY: Will the First Asian American President of Purdue University Northwest Fire Its Racist Chancellor in 2023?

This situation could have been a teaching moment for the entire nation about Asian Americans and social justice, had it been handled properly. We are, after all, coming out of a three-year period where the organization #StopAAPIHate has recorded more than 11,000 hate instances against AAPIs. From minor to major transgressions, from verbal slights to aggressive assaults — sometimes resulting in death. This is the hate that’s emerged in American society since Donald Trump began scapegoating Asian Americans for what he called the “Kung Flu” and “China Virus.” And Keon’s slur shows us that both he and the nation still don’t get it. Keon should have stepped down immediately from his leadership role of an institution of higher learning.

Published

3 years ago

January 3, 2023

Oakland Post

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. His talk show is on www.amok.com

By Emil Guillermo

Oakland, with its new Asian American mayor, is one of the most diverse cities in America.

How many times do you think Mayor Sheng Thao, an Asian American of Hmong descent, has heard someone make fun of her and all Asian Americans with some accented joke?

That’s why the racist comment by Thomas Keon, the chancellor and CEO of Purdue University Northwest really matters.

And the one person who can give us a sense of justice, ironically, is Dr. Mung Chiang, an Asian American immigrant from Hong Kong, set to become the next president of Purdue University on Jan. 1.

This is an important moment in Asian American history.

This all started on Dec. 10 at the commencement of Purdue Northwest, just south of Chicago in Hammond, Ind. Keon, a white educated man in accounting, acted the dumb white insensitive male and used an accent that sounded like doggerel but in fact was Asian. We know because he admitted it while in the act. The astonishing self-awareness of a racist.

See the video for full context if you missed it: (A keynote speaker ends, then Keon walks up and delivers an anti-Asian slur) https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxmOYq9oO5PqPLA470oR2D1d2Umwib5VC-.

This situation could have been a teaching moment for the entire nation about Asian Americans and social justice, had it been handled properly.

We are, after all, coming out of a three-year period where the organization #StopAAPIHate has recorded more than 11,000 hate instances against AAPIs. From minor to major transgressions, from verbal slights to aggressive assaults — sometimes resulting in death. This is the hate that’s emerged in American society since Donald Trump began scapegoating Asian Americans for what he called the “Kung Flu” and “China Virus.”

And Keon’s slur shows us that both he and the nation still don’t get it. Keon should have stepped down immediately from his leadership role of an institution of higher learning.

It’s an example all America needs to see.

No Resignation

Instead, Keon, the accounting guy, wasn’t held fully accountable for the harm his public speech caused. Four days after the slur, Keon finally issued a kind of bureaucratic apology on Dec. 14, indicating the slur didn’t express his values or the university’s. The Board of Trustees, not wanting controversy, hastily accepted.

That’s when the faculty senate became enraged and voted to demand Keon’s resignation. And when that didn’t happen, a majority of Purdue Northwest’s tenure-track and clinical faculty, including department heads and deans, gave Keon a “no confidence” vote, 135 to 20.

It was his second no confidence vote this year. And Keon still didn’t resign.

And yet the attempts by the board to save Keon’s job have been extraordinary.

Most amusing is how everyone knows it’s racist, and yet, there is such a willingness to discount it as if there is no real infraction.

African American scholar John McWhorter in the New York Times defended Keon, acknowledging racism but saying that Keon shouldn’t lose his job or be forced into retirement.

It’s a kind of gaslighting 2.0.

It happened; we’re not going to pretend it didn’t happen.

But we’re going to treat the perpetrator like it didn’t happen.

Everyone thinks about poor Chancellor Keon.

No one thinks about people like Vichar Ratanapakdee, the 84-year-old Thai man who was killed in San Francisco on Jan. 28, 2021, after he was shoved to the ground in a hate attack.

And he’s just one victim among thousands. The hate starts with an accent that “others” us and makes AAPIs vulnerable.

But the Purdue Board of Trustees, though recognizing the racism, wants to see a pattern in Keon’s behavior before they go beyond a reprimand. The faculty disagrees.

“There should be consequences for his behavior, and a reprimand is not the answer,” a tenured AAPI faculty member of PNW said in an email to me on Tuesday. “His behavior is a trigger for many and is still disturbing. He should resign or be fired. I am still livid.”

If the board doesn’t act, then justice is up to the next president of Purdue, Dr. Mung Chiang.

He’s a young hot shot academic, a Hong Kong immigrant who went to Stanford, starred in engineering at Princeton, and was lured to head the engineering school at Purdue for the last five years. More revealing is his stint as science advisor to the xenophobic and racist Trump administration.

That would signal a real change in America. The first Asian American president fires the racist chancellor who told a bad joke with an Asian American slur.

That’s almost too good to be true.

Just think. Would Keon still be on the job if he said the “N” word?

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. His talk show is on www.amok.com

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Activism

OP-ED: AB 1349 Puts Corporate Power Over Community

Since Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged in 2010, ticket prices have jumped more than 150 percent. Activities that once fit a family’s budget now take significant disposable income that most working families simply don’t have. The problem is compounded by a system that has tilted access toward the wealthy and white-collar workers. If you have a fancy credit card, you get “presale access,” and if you work in an office instead of a warehouse, you might be able to wait in an online queue to buy a ticket. Access now means privilege.

Published

4 days ago

January 9, 2026

Oakland Post

Bishop Joseph Simmons, Senior Pastor, Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, Oakland

By Bishop Joseph Simmons, Senior Pastor, Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, Oakland

As a pastor, I believe in the power that a sense of community can have on improving people’s lives. Live events are one of the few places where people from different backgrounds and ages can share the same space and experience – where construction workers sit next to lawyers at a concert, and teenagers enjoy a basketball game with their grandparents. Yet, over the past decade, I’ve witnessed these experiences – the concerts, games, and cultural events where we gather – become increasingly unaffordable, and it is a shame.

These moments of connection matter as they form part of the fabric that holds communities together. But that fabric is fraying because of Ticketmaster/Live Nation’s unchecked control over access to live events. Unfortunately, AB 1349 would only further entrench their corporate power over our spaces.

Power over live events is concentrated in a single corporate entity, and this regime operates without transparency or accountability – much like a dictator. Ticketmaster controls 80 percent of first-sale tickets and nearly a third of resale tickets, but they still want more. More power, more control for Ticketmaster means higher prices and less access for consumers. It’s the agenda they are pushing nationally, with the help of former Trump political operatives, who are quietly trying to undo the antitrust lawsuit launched against Ticketmaster/Live Nation under President Biden’s DOJ.

That’s why I’m deeply concerned about AB 1349 in its current form. Rather than reining in Ticketmaster’s power, the bill risks strengthening it, aligning with Trump. AB 1349 gives Ticketmaster the ability to control a consumer’s ticket forever by granting Ticketmaster’s regime new powers in state law to prevent consumers from reselling or giving away their tickets. It also creates new pathways for Ticketmaster to discriminate and retaliate against consumers who choose to shop around for the best service and fees on resale platforms that aren’t yet controlled by Ticketmaster. These provisions are anti-consumer and anti-democratic.

California has an opportunity to stand with consumers, to demand transparency, and to restore genuine competition in this industry. But that requires legislation developed with input from the community and faith leaders, not proposals backed by the very company causing the harm.

Will our laws reflect fairness, inclusion, and accountability? Or will we let corporate interests tighten their grip on spaces that should belong to everyone? I, for one, support the former and encourage the California Legislature to reject AB 1349 outright or amend it to remove any provisions that expand Ticketmaster’s control. I also urge community members to contact their representatives and advocate for accessible, inclusive live events for all Californians. Let’s work together to ensure these gathering spaces remain open and welcoming to everyone, regardless of income or background.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 31, 2025 – January 6, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 31, 2025 – January 6, 2026

Published

2 weeks ago

January 2, 2026

Oakland Post

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Activism

Big God Ministry Gives Away Toys in Marin City

Pastor Hall also gave a message of encouragement to the crowd, thanking Jesus for the “best year of their lives.” He asked each of the children what they wanted to be when they grow up.

Published

2 weeks ago

December 29, 2025

Oakland Post

From top left: Pastor David Hall asking the children what they want to be when they grow up. Worship team Jake Monaghan, Ruby Friedman, and Keri Carpenter. Children lining up to receive their presents. Photos by Godfrey Lee.

By Godfrey Lee

Big God Ministries, pastored by David Hall, gave toys to the children in Marin City on Monday, Dec. 15, on the lawn near the corner of Drake Avenue and Donahue Street.

Pastor Hall also gave a message of encouragement to the crowd, thanking Jesus for the “best year of their lives.” He asked each of the children what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Around 75 parents and children were there to receive the presents, which consisted mainly of Gideon Bibles, Cat in the Hat pillows, Barbie dolls, Tonka trucks, and Lego building sets.

A half dozen volunteers from the Big God Ministry, including Donnie Roary, helped to set up the tables for the toy giveaway. The worship music was sung by Ruby Friedman, Keri Carpenter, and Jake Monaghan, who also played the accordion.

Big God Ministries meets on Sundays at 10 a.m. at the Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley, CA Their phone number is (415) 797-2567.