MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont newspaper is defending a poster it published in support of a local team that read "fry Rice" in type associated with Chinese calligraphy.
In an editorial Saturday (http://bit.ly/Yj75aB ), the Caledonian Record says the back-page poster meant no offense to any individual or group. The editorial says it sought a play on words, and simply invoking ethnic customs does not constitute racism.
The poster was printed in support of St. Johnsbury Academy's basketball team in its championship game against Rice Memorial.
The Asian American Journalists Association criticized the poster published Thursday. The group's president, who's an Associated Press editor, wrote to the newspaper's publisher that the slogan might be considered clever but was offensive when written in that typeface.
St. Johnsbury Academy ended up losing the game.
