The Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO) publicly demanded an apology from Foreign Policy Deputy Editor James Palmer after he posted a Twitter thread on June 30 comparing the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) to “Karens,” or “women demanding to speak to the manager.”
“We do not find the comments funny, especially in the current context where 70,000+ Karen people are fleeing attacks by the Burma Army. KWO & Women’s League of Burma are committed to a future where such ignorant, patriarchal thinking doesn’t exist,” the Karen civil society group wrote on Twitter.
KWO demands an apology from @BeijingPalmer. We do not find the comments funny, especially in the current context where 70,000+ Karen people are fleeing attacks by the Burma Army. KWO & @womenofburma are committed to a future where such ignorant, patriarchal thinking doesn't exist
— Karen Women Organization (@karenwomenorg) July 1, 2021
Palmer went on to make another pun about another ethnic armed organization in the Philippines called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and quipped that these two groups could create “a unified front of MILF and Karen.”
At the time of writing, Palmer has yet to respond to calls for apologies from the KWO.
Karen, a derogatory term referring to primarily entitled white women, has taken on a life of its in online meme culture. The term exists uneasily between the lines between anti-racism and sexism and serves as “a cloak for casual sexism as well as a method of criticizing the perceived faux vulnerability of white women,” according to a Atlantic article that examines the mythology of the term.
The tweets were met with immediate backlash from Myanmar Twitter users who called it racist, inappropriate, and sexist.
“I dismissed it at first thinking this was just another outside observer trying to be funny but was alarmed when I found out who they were and where they work,” Nyein, a Myanmar Twitter user and self-described “Anti-coup shitposter,” told Coconuts Yangon.
Ok your first joke was was lame and insensitive. This… is the kind of low-key sexist and juvenile humor that you ought to know doesn’t fly in 2021. If this is the kind of humor @ForeignPolicy thinks is acceptable I am very concerned for the women at your workplace. https://t.co/cplpBvVGML
— (@howisthatspelt) June 30, 2021
Thet, an ethnic Karen organizer of fundraisers and digital campaigns, told Coconuts Yangon that the tweets “show a complete lack of understanding and empathy” towards the Karen ethnic group.
“It’s a gross misrepresentation and mischaracterization of the KNLA and by extension the struggle of the Karen people for self determination,” Thet said.
Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya activist, pointed to decades of systematic oppression the Karen ethnic minority have faced under the Myanmar military and Burmanization policies, an informal system that discourages the learning of ethnic minority histories, cultures, and languages.
Just because you don't know the struggles, or how the ethnic names are pronounced, doesn't give you permission to make fun of the ethnic group. Karen people have been through 70 years of systemic oppression and all you could think of is making fun of their romanized name?
— Yasmin Ullah (@YasminJUllah) June 30, 2021
Winnie Thaw, a Myanmar Twitter user with Karen heritage, pointed out the insensitivity of joking about communities during a time when tens of thousands are fleeing from airstrikes and brutal crackdowns by the Myanmar military following the Feb. 1 coup.
Thinking of KNU and KNLA’s own family members who are hunted down because they made a choice to protect their people and join the organisation. These are the risks they make to fight against a monster oppressor that wishes to destroy their people, not to be turned into a joke.
— Winnie Thaw (@ThawWinnie) July 1, 2021
Human Right Watch Deputy Asian Director Phil Robertson responded in a tweet, calling the tweets, “juvenile, insensitive and ignorant.”
Juvenile, insensitive & ignorant is just the start of what I would say about this. Making fun of an ethnic group’s name is so far below what I would expect from someone associated with @ForeignPolicy, esp. when #Myanmar military sexual abuse vs ethnic Karen women continues.
— Phil Robertson (@Reaproy) July 1, 2021
In an email, Robertson told Coconuts Yangon that if Palmer was more educated about the plight of the Karen people, in particular Karen women, he “would understand just how unacceptable this poor excuse for a joke actually was.”
“The kind of crude and ignorant joke in that tweet is so far below what one would expect from the Deputy Editor of Foreign Policy, overseeing a publication focused on diplomacy and foreign policy where trying to understand other peoples and other countries is a core part of the subject matter,” Robertson said.
Me Me Khant, a Burmese poet and activist, told Coconuts Yangon that she was “baffled” by how many didn’t find offense with the tweet.
“[Why do] they think we are overreacting by calling him out? We don’t need more insults, jokes and pain thrown at us. Nothing is funny right now. I am guilty to laugh or be happy these days,” she confessed.
“It’s not funny to see anyone make jokes about our struggles.”
One user called for a boycott of the magazine while an independent analyst and legal advisor on Myanmar called for Palmer to be fired.
This is truly disgusting. @ForeignPolicy should not allow bigotry against an oppressed group – and one currently facing a severe humanitarian and political crisis – to be promoted by a senior staff member. https://t.co/JtpNut7sIG
— Gabrielle Aron (@arongabrielle) July 1, 2021
“Lack of sensitivity, good judgement & accountability shown in this & the follow-up tweets are unacceptable for an editorial position at a global affairs magazine where these qualities are indispensable,” Twitter user Htuu Lou Rae tweeted in response to Palmer.
I'm boycotting @ForeignPolicy until the magazine takes action on this tweet. Lack of sensitivity, good judgement & accountability shown in this & the follow-up tweets are unacceptable for an editorial position at a global affairs magazine where these qualities are indispensable. https://t.co/mCPxQv1P5S
— Htuu Lou Rae / D. W. Rae🌹#WhatsHappeninginMyanmar (@HtuuLRae) July 1, 2021
Late last May, journalist Emily Wilder was fired from her junior-level position at the Associated Press for her past activism for Palestinian human rights while she was an undergraduate at Stanford University.
Her offense? Violating the AP’s social media policy for past tweets that the outlet denied to specify.
My statement on my termination from The Associated Press. pic.twitter.com/kf4NCkDJXx
— emily wilder (@vv1lder) May 22, 2021
James Palmer did not respond to a request for comment on the criticism about the tweet. Foreign Policy also declined to comment when asked to by outlet Myanmar Now.
You can learn more about the Karen Women’s Organisation and their work on their website here and support their work by donating here.
You can also learn more about the most recent wave of displacement of Karen villagers fleeing from airstrikes by the Myanmar military in the documentary “Nowhere to Run” by the Karen Peace Social Network.
Read more: Teen Karen musician in South Korea sings about hope in new track ‘The Spring of Myanmar’
