A “Goofy Face”

What happens when you make a goofy face? You look stupid, right? Well, congratulations, Ms. Miley Cyrus—you’ve made a successful “goofy face.”

People may defend you. You’re just a kid. A kid with a playful, light-hearted personality. A kid who doesn’t mean anything by slanting her eyelids in a photo that you know will inevitably go around the Internet because you’re a famous 16-year old superstar. You’re “just being Miley.”
I do not condemn you for being a naïve teenager. I condemn you because you are a role model to millions of little girls around the country, my nine year-old sister included. I condemn you because all those little girls who buy every item you peddle to be just like you will think that it is okay, or even funny, to mock another race. I condemn you because of those little girls who are of Asian descent who are hurt and confused by their idol making fun of how they look.
We spoke up. The OCA , national organization dedicated to advancing the social, political and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans in the United States (ocanational.org), called you out on it. “Not only has Miley Cyrus and the other individuals in the photograph encouraged and legitimized the taunting and mocking of people of Asian descent, she has also insulted her many Asian Pacific American fans,” said George Wu, executive director of OCA. “The inclusion of an Asian Pacific American individual in the photo does not make it acceptable…OCA hopes that Miley Cyrus will apologize to her fans and the APA community for this lapse in judgment and takes the opportunity to better understand why the gesture is offensive.”
And only then did you apologize. Sort of. You wrote on your official site, “I’ve also been told there are some people upset about some pictures taken of me with friends making goofy faces! Well, I’m sorry if those people looked at those pics and took them wrong and out of context! In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity! I was simply making a goofy face.”

Nice try, Miley. Pinning the blame on the touchiness and uptightness of the Asian American community rather than on yourself. It is exactly this attitude that perpetuates racist behavior. My dear, that simply is not a goofy face.
I have to admit, your second try at an apology was a lot better: “I want to thank all of my fans for their support not only this week, but always! I really wanted to stress how sorry I am if the photo of me with my friends offended anyone. I have learned a valuable lesson from this and know that sometime my actions can be unintentionally hurtful.”
I do hope you learned a valuable lesson. You’re a girl growing up in the public spotlight and still have much to learn in keeping your private life private, so I’ll forgive you this once just to show you that we’re not that uptight and can be understanding of juvenile behavior. And by letting you off the hook just this once does not mean that I condone your behavior. When and if you do make the same mistake—slighting ANY race in any manner whatsoever, I can’t wait to see you again.
P.S.: I just heard someone in LA is suing you for $4 billion on behalf of the APA community. I admit this is a bit outrageous, but I also cannot believe someone is spending so much time and effort on you. I do not wish to spend more time writing about you, but at the very least, I must thank you for bringing up racial sensitivity in the media so that others will learn from this too.