Don't shoot the messenger

It’s rare when the Editorial Board comes to the defense of a “conservative.” But in this instance, we’ll make an exception.

Last week, Stephen Colbert, host of the hour-long satire TV show “The Colbert Report,” found himself on the defensive.

Someone from Comedy Central’s social media staff tweeted from “The Colbert Report” account, “I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever.”

Outraged Twitter users nearly broke the Internet in their rush to vent their swift condemnation of the tweet. Some were also quick to label Colbert a racist, going as far as starting the #CancelColbert hashtag.

Yet the most important bit overlooked in conversations involving both the show and Colbert has been context. Unbeknownst to many seething at Colbert, the dumb tweet in question was actually part of larger point he made on his show. Which, by the way, often caricatures the absurdities of the right.

Colbert’s fictional “Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation” was a satirical take on a very real and very devious situation involving the name of the Washington Redskins.

The punchline of Colbert’s satire isn’t and shouldn’t be read as an cheap attack on Asian-Americans. The punchline is the fact that a real world organization, the Washington Redskins, refuses to acknowledge that the term “Redskins” is a racist epithet.

Instead of addressing the matter and changing the team’s name, the owner of the team has resorted to funding an organization that provides resources to Native Americans, thus completely ignoring the point.

The Editorial Board believes Colbert did nothing wrong but point out and mock the idea that racism can be hidden under the guise of charitable giving.

Instead of targeting our moral outrage at a liberal comedian making fun of racists, we should be redirecting our anger towards those who continue to hold our country back by refusing to acknowledge that certain race-based names and expressions can be derogatory.

And, in this instance, we need not go farther than what the owner of the Washington Redskins is trying to do. Dan Snyder, owner of the Redskins, argues the team’s “charitable” giving will “provide meaningful and measurable resources that provide genuine opportunities for tribal communities.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has chimed in on the Redskins’ name controversy, put it bluntly.

“Dan Snyder, he’s got a great new deal,” Reid sad. “He’s going to throw a few blankets to the Indians and get a tax deduction for it.” “Snyder has to realize, he is on the losing side of history,” he said. “And the sooner he does it, the better off we are.”

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