Mark this down as technological idiocy. It isn’t just that the “Make Me Asian” app (and it’s lesser-known cousins, “Make Me Indian”, “Make Me Russian”, “Make Me Frankenstein”, and “Make Me Fat”) used stereotypes to encourage racist humor. It isn’t just that the apps themselves were not that good at delivering what they promised. No, the real idiocy comes in the form of effort: why would anyone put in an ounce of effort to create something that they should have known with an absolute certainty would be removed?
You can’t chalk it up to infamy. The username, “KimbereyDeiss”, does not appear to be real. No, this was simple idiocy at its finest.
In an interview with NPR’s Allison Keyes, WSJ columnist Jeff Yang said that the races targeted were selected based upon a lack of clout.
“There is less inherent social and political power associated with these groups,” he said, so the consequences often aren’t as serious “if you parody, satire or mock or offend these communities.”
Tell that to the Asians and American Indians who were offended.
