Another aspect of the first line of the article occurred to me. The judges for American Idol are a Chicano woman, a black man and a white man. The first line also solftly accusses them of being prejudiced based on race. So…black women and white men will always chose against an asian man because of his race? That’s ludicrous.

When Colen Powell was at the Olympics there was a very notable conversation in which he pointed out that the competitors from the other countries have very definite ethnic com position whereas the American competitors could not be distinguished based on their racial characteristics alone.

If Paul succeeds, it will be because he has merit, skill and sufficient good fortune in a combination of events which are designed to judge skill at singig, performance and the populatiry contest which is part of the show.

If Paul does not succeed, it will be because someone else exceeds him sufficiently in those categories.

It will not be because of racial discrimination. If you people really “support” Paul, it should be because of talent. If you “support” him because of his race, you demean his talent. Period.

fred you are not asian. f*** off. you will never understand.

i support paul.

you are a closet racist. go get some therapy.

I said MERIT is what is important, not RACE.

The first line of the article is, “Can an Asian-American ever hold the American Idol title?” That line is a direct insult to Paul and is overwhelmingly racist. What if it said “black” instead of “Asian”? What if is said “woman” instead of “Asian”?

Last night a woman won this year’s “So You Think You Can Dance” competition. The first 2 years the winners were men. Would the question, “Can a woman ever hold the So You Think You Can Dance title?” be sexist? Yes, it would. Did they ever intimate the Asian girl could not compete in ballroom dance? No. Why? Because her RACE was irrelevant. MERIT in the form of SKILL was the basis of the competition.

Look at David Zao’s post. What difference does someone’s race make WRT them being a role model? Imagine how self-defeating it would be to limit your role models to only people of your own race. David lists males and females as possible role models. How can Lucy be a role model to a man? If “we” have Lucy as a role model, that means David considers women possible inspirations. If a woman can be a role model, why not someone who has different racial characteristics?

The phrase, “the soft bigotry of low expectation” was used properly. It refers to the concept and practice of lowering expectations or giving an artificial starting point to someone because they are a “minority”, most often non-Caucasian. I used it properly, in relation to the tone of the article. I never stated that Paul is asking for special status because he is Asian.

The article becomes a soft-sell attempt to generate interest and activity for Paul. That most certainly is “soft bigotry” by virtue of attempting to give him a different starting position because he is Asian and sings country music. It is portraying him at a disadvantage because he is Asian. THAT is mocking him.

Here’s a name Paul probably knows: Charley Pride. Was it skill or race?

how does the article “mock” paul? he wants to be the first asian country singer on American Idol. that’s his dream.

are you saying it’s wrong to want to be the first person to achieve something of your race, religion or sex? first black US president? first woman on the moon? first asian American Idol?

by the way, you arent using the phrase “the soft bigotry of low expectations” properly. paul ethan hahn is NOT asking people give him extraordinary consideration just bec he is asian. being asain does NOT make him less capable than the norm and unable to perform without special assistance. paul does NOT want people to just vote for him because he’s asain.

paul gave MethodShop.com several quotes for the article and approved it before it was posted. paul hahn is a nice guy. he loves country music. he’s asian. he wants to be the first asian American Idol. let him have his dreams.

i voted for him.

as far as the article mocking paul, you are just wrong. it doesnt mock paul. in fact, if you read all the comments you will see a comment FROM PAUL you STUPID RACIST!!!!

You are 100% wrong. My comment has nothing to do with Paul and everything to do with the condescending nature of the ARTICLE. The full term is, “the soft bigotry of low expectations”, exactly what this article did. If Paul succeeds, it should be because of his MERIT as an EQUAL competitor. The article mocks Paul. That should be overwhelmingly apparent to you.

Additionally, Michael – Your comment is ludicrous. Apply that line of thought to anything else. If somebody is male, they can’t comment on anything having to do with childbirth. If a person is alive, they can’t comment on death. If someone isn’t a drug addict, they can’t comment on drugs. Both of you should be ashamed for not thinking about what was posted and spouting such hateful ignorance.

good luck paul!!! i voted for Sanjaya.