Signs of Life on Mt. Olympus

I recently sent the following note to the New York Times Editorial Board:

Folks,

Some day, it would be nice to see an Asian face on your Editorial Board and among your regular Op-Ed contributors. Perhaps someone whose family fled China, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos. Or maybe even an Indian-American. Whatever the nationality, it is plainly obvious that Asian-Americans have achieved much in business and in public life, yet they cannot seem to break into the media (except for the parade of pleasant-looking Asian females on television news).

It is about time that you practice what you preach.


Sincerely,
James Chen
Alameda, CA


To my utter amazement this morning, I received this response from Editorial Page Editor Gail Collins:

Dear Mr. Chen,

We have incredible Asian-American journalists at the Times, working both as reporters and editors.

While it's true we don't have any Asian-Americans on the board currently, our former Op-Ed editor, Terry Tang, was Chinese-American. She also served on the editorial board and is now an editor on the business desk, specializing in technology. We also have many contributors to the op-ed page whose roots are in Asia.

Best wishes,
Gail Collins

The current Editorial Board has 14 members, of which--to my untrained eyes--12 are white (6 women) and 2 are black (1 woman). Collins names one token Asian no longer on the board--Terry Tang--and throws out the bone of allowing other Asians to contribute to the Op-Ed page as guests.

In other words, not in your lifetime, bud.

Sigh.