I really wish this was a joke.
Via WaPo:
The Army has deleted a tweet posted Thursday afternoon referring to “chinks” in the armor of its Special Operations capabilities after receiving numerous accusations of racism.
The tweet read: “Chinks in special ops’ digital and physical armor poses challenges, experts say.” It included a link to an Army news release with a similar headline that has since been changed.
The Army, whose main Twitter account has 589,000 followers, used the definition of the word that means a weakness or vulnerability — a common expression when discussing security issues. The Washington Post, New York Times and other major publications all use it on occasion, including recently.
But the word “chink” also can be used as a racist term referring to individuals of Chinese descent, as numerous people pointed out to the Army on Thursday night.
[email protected] uses racist term for Asians in headline! #inexcusable I’m waiting for an apology. @bjones @ArmyTimesTony pic.twitter.com/ArqsHUbrwJ
— Chanin Nuntavong (@authoriTHAI) January 29, 2015
“@USArmy: Chinks in special ops’ digital and physical armor pose challenges, experts say http://t.co/h3QIeyO0Sz” Not the best word to use. — Zachary Kuhlman (@iLikeZacDaily) January 29, 2015
Chinks in spec ops armor pose challenges. @USArmy Um, excuse me, experts. We no longer refer to foreign people in such derogatory terms.
— Mark’s informal page (@RealMarkNewman) January 29, 2015