No foul words in public discourse

ESPN, a sports channel in the United States, blundered last week by using a derogatory word in a headline to describe New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin after the team lost to the New Orleans Hornets last Friday.

The action drew strong protests from Chinese and Asian Americans. ESPN removed the headline from its website less than 40 minutes after it was posted. It also issued an apology, fired the headline writer and suspended the anchor for 30 days.

I applaud ESPN's swift and appropriate response, though like Lin, I like to believe that the headline was unintentional.