Is Google Apps Offensive and Racist

The maker of a Google app thinks it's fun to
make yourself look Asian by changing the
shape of your eyes and wearing a Fu Manchu
mustache and rice paddy hat. Or you could
be a Native American with brown skin, war
paint and a feather headband.
"This is just a fun app that lets you indulge you
and your friends,"- says the description of the
"Make Me Asian" app created by user
KimberyDeiss and available on Google Play. There
are also photo-altering apps including "Make Me
Old" and "Make Me Fat", "Make Me Russian" and
"Make Me Irish" which play off stereotypes.
"You can for a few seconds to make yourself a
Chinese, Japanese, Korean or any other Asians," –
the description says.
Not amusing or cute, say Asian-American
organizations that launched a petition to get
Google to remove both apps. The apps use dated
and racist stereotypes of Asians and Native
Americans, said the online campaign 18 Million
Rising, named after the number of Asian-
Americans in the United States.
"These racist and offensive portrayals of Asians
and Native Americans perpetuate damaging racial
stereotypes and should not be distributed on the
Google play store," – said the campaign, which has
an online petition to remove the apps.
Google, however, said the apps are not in violation
of the company's policies that protect against hate
speech.
"We don't comment on individual apps. We remove
apps from Google Play that violate our policies," –
Google said in a statement.
But the furor in the Asian-American community,
sparked a few weeks ago, is growing. Blogs,
including Angry Asian Man, have reinforced the call
to remove the apps.
Washington pastor Peter Chin decided to mount an
even larger protest on the website Change.org.
Chin said he understood Google's motto is "Don't
be evil." That makes it hard to fathom why the
company would support these apps, he said. This is
the first time Chin has protested in this way. He
was prompted to act, he said, because Google
refused to do so.
"Google normalizes everything from Google maps,
Gmail," – he said. "If you want to search for
something on the Internet, you even say "to
Google it."
Chin feared Google's power would make people
think the apps were OK. He wants Google users to
know that the stereotypes in the apps have been
used to marginalize and discriminate against
people.
"I wanted to make sure this app isn't given a pass
of approval. It's not cool," – he said.