>>> Many Asian Americans growing
up in America will tell you that
they were often singled out and
ridiculed for the way they
looked, made fun of by children
turning up their eyes at them or
just ridiculing Asian cultures
by mocking their languages.
Well, last week the chancellor
of a university did the latter.
During a commencement ceremony
speech.
Listen.
>> Well, all I can say is --
[ speaking non-english ]
>> That's sort of my Asian
version of his --
>> That's the Purdue university
northwest chancellor, Thomas
Keon.
He is now facing calls to resign
after making those comments,
drawing outrage from so many
people.
And for context here, chancellor
Keon was following the keynote
speaker who referenced using
made-up languages in a speech to
his grandchildren several times.
His anecdote, important to note,
made no mention or reference to
Asians.
So this seemingly just came out
of nowhere.
The chancellor ultimately
apologized four days later
writing in part, I made a
comment that was offensive and
insensitive.
I am truly sorry for my
unplanned off-the-cuff response
to another speaker as my words
have caused confusion, pain and
anger.
We are all human.
I made a mistake.
And I assure you I did not
intend to be hurtful and my
comments do not reflect my
personal or our institutional
values.
Let's talk about this, about the
fallout and the damage that has
been done.
Attorney shan Wu, who has been
very outspoken on hate towards
the Asian American community and
Lisa ling is the host of the CNN
original series "This is life."
Welcome you to both.
I have to say it took me hours
after seeing the headline to
even click on the embedded video
because I knew what was coming,
right?
And even just listening to that
clip, I cringe hearing that.
And I think it's because it
thrusts me back to the days when
I was in fifth grade and grade
school and having boys or girls
just come after me and tease me
so cruelly in that similar way.
Mocking the way the Asian
language sounds to them.
Lisa, I want to start with you
and just to get your reaction to
see this was happening at the
top, a chancellor.
University at a commencement
ceremony.
What did you think?
>> Amara, I had a similar
experience as a young person.
Pretty relentlessly mocked and
made fun of for being Asian.
But that was by other kids.
So to have seen this behavior
exhibited by the head of a
university not only made me feel
incensed, but I felt so sad for
all of those students of Asian
dissent who were going through
the commencement exercises that
day thinking how hard they
worked to get to where they were
and to see the head of their
university not only mocking the
Asian language or the idea of
Asian language, but to see other
faculty and staff laughing
uproariously.
It was a painful experience,
frankly.
>> Yeah.
And we can play that video over
again, you know, with the volume
low just to show the reaction
when he mocks the Asian
language.
You see the people around him
laughing with him.
As you say, Lisa, just another
layer of shock there.
And I'm glad you mentioned the
students who were there
celebrating a momentous
occasion.
Parents are there.
I am sure some are immigrants.
To be diminished in that way and
be robbed of that celebratory
moment.
Your reaction as well.
If you could explain, because I
am getting tweets and messages
with people gaslighting what
happened.
You know, trying to downplay and
say, look, you guys are
overreacting, it's not nearby as
bad.
It was a harmless comment.
Talk us to, shan, about how
damaging that this chancellor
did is.
>> I would say to people that
think it's harmless, this is an
era where, unfortunately,
anti-asian sentiments have been
stoked and there has been
violence, deaths have come from
it.
And taking it the other extreme,
my own grade school experience,
being bullied and beat up by
racist other school children,
it's very, very hurtful to a
child.
You can't be dismissive saying,
oh, I was just making a joke.
It's very telling here that it
came in the form of a joke.
This wasn't somebody who had an
outburst of anger, a moment of
indiscretion.
This seemed very normal to him
and he expected it to be funny
and, as Lisa pointed out, there
is humorous reaction to that.
That's the normal flags of
racism and that's and what needs
to be called out here.
It can't be simply dismissed as,
oh, I made a mistake, because
why this mistake?
He is apologizing for being
caught.
This kind of idea he thinks this
is funny indicates a deeper
problem within him.
And I would say a deeper problem
within the institution that this
is at the leader of the
institution.
>> And the fact that the
comments were unplanned, as you
said, and off-the-cuff.
That's disturbing in itself,
right?
What is his mindset.
Lisa, I want to get your
reaction to the chancellor's
apology.
Grace Ming, the congresswoman
from New York, tweeted this.
This is, this manufactured and
fake apology for what he
characterized as a mistake is a
farce.
Further action should be taken.
That's part of the tweet I'm
reading.
Do you agree with congresswoman
meng?
And the Purdue board of
trustees, according to the
school paper, has accepted
chancellor Keon's apologies.
Should he keep his job?
>> Do I believe he thinks that
he made a mistake and that he is
sorry?
Certainly I do because he has
been getting a lot of heat.
Again, this isn't just a random
person.
These aren't kids on the
schoolyard mocking one another.
This is the head of an academic
institution.
And there I would imagine are
probably hundreds of, if not
thousands, of students of Asian
descent who feel probably pretty
degraded by that experience.
And as shan just said, you know,
in this climate where attacks on
Asian people have increased
astronomically, I would just
expect that the head of an
academic institution would just
behave with some more
sensitivity than he did.
And even that apology, we'reual
human.
Yes, we are human.
We make mistakes.
Again, in your role, those
mistakes are unacceptable.
>> Yeah.
And, look, it seems like when
someone says something
insensitive or racist or hateful
they go on this rehabilitation
tour where they are meeting with
interdisciplinary teams, meeting
with the specific groups that
they offended.
This is what chancellor Keon is
doing.
He said in that statement that
he had formed a diversity equity
inclusion team in the fall and
that he is heading an
interdisciplinary team to
address issues important to the
aaip community.
Is this lip service or is it
meaningful?
Shan, and then Lisa, I want you
to have the last word after
that.
>> It seems like necessary lip
service for the institution.
The real joke here is that
Purdue thinks he would be the
right person to lead such a task
force.
I mean, that's just silly.
He should not be leading that
task force.
This type of sensitivity, great,
let's promote it.
But for a leader of an
institution, as Lisa was saying,
this is a problem.
He should not have even had the
mindset to normalize this type
of behavior.
>> Lisa?
>> Look, whether he decides to
resign or not or the institution
makes him resign or asks him to
leave, as a parent of Asian
students, I would really
consider or reconsider my
decision to send my kids to this
school that had a head, that was
so insensitive to the incredible
diversity that should exist at
these institutions of higher
learning.
>> Yeah.
Really appreciate this very
important conversation and
driving home the point that for
many Asian Americans it's a
universal experience being