Cowardly Nebraska Doesn’t Get it
Photo by Taylor Siebert
In the America where I grew up, people are supposed to be judged, not by some accident of birth, but by the merits of their work and the content of their character…”
Matt Wynn
Editor, Flatwater Free Press
In a radio interview, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen was asked to respond to a story written by Flatwater Free Press reporter Yanqi Xu. In the article it was shown that there were high levels of the pollutant nitrate found in the groundwater near his family’s massive hog operation.
Pillen said he had not read the story but then, instead of answering the question as a human being, he chose to attack as an ignorant racist would. His response was, “All you got to do is look at the author. The author is from communist China. What more do you need to know?” How about that from a Governor of a state in the USA? From now on in the article I will refer to him as Pillen, as he does not deserve the honorific of “Governor” anymore.
Yanqi Xu is from Guangzhou, China and earned her master’s degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia and joined the Flatwater Free Press in Omaha two years ago. Yes, as an immigrant who is working in this country legally. And if you check almost every family tree in America, you will find a similar person sooner or later. Almost every one of us are descendant from immigrants. Yes, myself and even Pillen included. But Pillen seems to forget this as he foments hate to deflect the eyes of the public from being on him.
This from Yanqi Xu’s editor, Matt Wynn – “Pillen’s words are taken from the dictator handbook. Trying to discredit a story by attacking the writer’s character. We need to ask ourselves why tactics that are common in nondemocratic countries are now being deployed right here in the home of the free, the brave and the First amendment.” Was this tactic made even more popular in this country since Trump came to power? It seems to be his MO ever since as long as I can remember. Weak statured and insignificant men, like Trump, are unable to stand tall in the face of the truth. Pillen is definitely one of them.
More from Xu’s editor, “Wake up and smell the rot America. There’s a formula that fits each of these cases: People with money and power are trying to mobilize populist resentment – resentment that by all rights should be aimed at them – towards journalists. In other words, the elites label the very people who are calling out their privilege…stoking hate is a lot easier than answering legitimate questions.” This has occurred recently in Russia, Niger, Guatemala and the Philippines. And now we have a situation where the ignorant would rather turn to fake news for what they believe is real and shun the actual truth.
One recent report says hate crimes against Asian communities in the US in 2021 went up 339%. According to the latest national survey commissioned by AAPI Hate half of all respondents said they have experienced discrimination. Add to that, the former President of the United States and the Governor of Nebraska, and you have an even sadder state of affairs.
And where is the outrage from the people? Do Nebraskans not care about their state or their neighbors? If Yanqi Xu had been White, would we be reading a different article? We are so far down this road that I wonder how will we ever turn it around. But we will because we have to. And we have the power and strength to do so. We cannot afford to have even one more Vincent Chin. If you do not know who he is, look up the story. Another sad case of ignorance and racism that dots our history.
