Today, the News-Gazette published a little piece on local anti-Chinese crusader Dennis Toeppen, who infamously denigrated Chinese people, then apologized but not really, and then attempted an actual apology (clearly written by someone not named Dennis Toeppen) after his callous bigotry blew up in the national media. We’d link you the piece, but their URL is broken. You can find it on the News-Gazette’s front page.
In the article, Jim Dey spends a moment agreeing that yes, racism is bad, and Dennis screwed up, but then he tells you that what you really need to know is that Dennis is a hard-working, socially awkward, self-made man who just made a mistake while trying to stand up for moral principles like holding people accountable and protecting the integrity of paying customers.
Racist apologetics are all the rage right now; just look at this piece the New York Times did on another overtly racist prick who has dreams just like you and I. Nevermind that this isn’t Dennis’s first rodeo with racism, harassment, and generally inhuman sophistry. He’s really just a misunderstood supergenius like television’s Doc Brown or Sheldon Cooper.
Perceptions vary, but we’re just not into wasting words trying to humanize people who treat others as subhuman. Swing and a miss, Jim.