New York Times journalist Maureen Dowd has been accused of “ethnic empathy” for writing about a fellow Irish American, Rory Staunton, the 12-year-old boy of Irish parents who died at NYU Medical Center in New York on April 1st after a misdiagnosis.
Dowd wrote about Rory Staunton in her Sunday column as did another Irish American NY Times columnist Jim Dwyer in his column a few days earlier.
Writing in the Los Angeles Times, senior editorial writer Michael McGough asks the question, ”Is ethnic empathy the same as bigotry?” and concludes that “ethnic empathy isn’t the same as bigotry, after all. But it’s still politically incorrect. “
McGough stated that he had previously written that, “almost uniquely, the alleged charm of the Irish was a stylistic crutch for writers of human interest stories (and editorials)...”
McGough stated that “this journalistic convention is also still with us.”
McGough stated that he had focused in his previous article on the “popularity with reporters of a supposed Irish psychological trait.”
Dowd, he said, was guilty of this when she “eulogized Rory Staunton, the son of Irish immigrants who own two New York bars. McGough wrote, “Dowd wrote movingly about Rory’s ambition to be a pilot, the way he protected other kids from schoolyard bullies, his admiration for Rosa Parks and the fact that when he went online, it was in search of CNN, not porn.”
But, he said, “Dowd also went physical in her tribute. Rory was not just a good-looking boy; he was a “freckle-faced redhead.” “How,” she asked rhetorically, “could you resist that sweet Irish face?”
McGough stated that, “My first thought was that this ethnic overkill was a variant of the lazy journalist’s recourse to Gaeolophiliac cliches that I criticized in my essay about Irish wit.”
However, on reflection he states that, “I think that’s unfair to Dowd. Maybe, for her, as for a lot of her Irish American readers, Rory’s appearance and ethnicity made his unnecessary death just a bit more more painful."
McGough says, “I’m not accusing Dowd of racism, any more than I would level that libel against my Irish mother, who if she were alive would have reacted the same way to the untimely passing of a kid who just happened to be “one of our own.”
He stated, "If Mom and Maureen are racists for feeling a special pang at the closed eyes on a “sweet Irish face,” then Barack Obama was a racist for observing that “if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon,” a reference to the African American child killed in Florida.
However, he said it was still “politically incorrect” to write about a fellow Irish American in such a way.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Saoirse9 | Jul 19, 2012, 07:30 PM EDT
Having an appreciation for someone from your own culture is now un PC? Are you serious? I do not see the connection at all!
ellenred | Jul 19, 2012, 07:19 PM EDT
ethnic empathy is a bad thing? I'm so sick of hearing about PC crap I could vomit. Rory looks like a lot of my family. So sue me for caring that this bright young boy lost his future. And an editor in LALA land thinks he is right. Give me a break.
seanomelb | Jul 18, 2012, 07:58 PM EDT
Nice article Tom. Some posters just have to be mean spirited and downright rude.
seanomelb | Jul 18, 2012, 10:27 AM EDT
Maureen Dowd wrote a beautiful piece about the tragic death of a young boy, all the more heart-breaking because it did not have to happen. The writer and the subject, both Irish American and both deeply attached to the land of their parents - a little ethnic empathy here? Yes, and why the hell not! It was appropriate and infinitely understandable. Her words reached out and touched all who read them - but especially we Irish to whom tragedy has so often visited down through the centuries. Politically incorrect? I am sick of hearing what is politically correct and incorrect. McGough showed himself to be small and mean - and remarkably stupid and out of touch with that which makes us human. What a sorry world it would be if all we wanted was, in the immortal words of Sgt. Friday, "Just the facts Ma'am."
johnshiel | Jul 18, 2012, 10:03 AM EDT
Mr. Michael McGough: puhLEEZE...!!! Your narcissistic fixation on your own brilliant PC truthteller instinct is just foul drivel and puke. (Thought you needed a bit of a reality check, mate...)
therealguyfaux | Jul 18, 2012, 06:44 AM EDT
How far does a writer have to go into "Ah, top o'the marnin', be jesus" before (s)he will be found to be offensive? One would hope a story about a young man of, say, Italian descent would not say something to the effect of, "Rodrico Stantoni, who, despite the name, was no 'guido'..." One wonders what the young Mr Staunton's ethnicity had to do with the tragedy that struck his family; in vain do I struggle, as it was a waste of a young life, regardless of who his parents were and where from. Of course, for a journal that records the comings and goings of Irish immigrants, it would be natural to do such a story, and I do not for a momemt object to a sidebar story about the Stauntons as a successful Irish couple and how misfortune happens to all of us, however blest we have otherwise been in our lives. I do not understand why a columnist in the MSM needs to invoke the shamrock-and-shillelagh even though, just as with Blacks and the n-word, "I'm a member of the group so I can get away with it."
Mousemess | Jul 17, 2012, 07:35 PM EDT
Scrivner, Same old stale, boring liberal VS conservative, conservative VS liberal crap all over again? Give me a break! He's just a kid after all regardless of his ethnic background and I have a lot more sympathy for a young kid dying than I do for healthy adults squabbling over politics.
occassio | Jul 17, 2012, 07:21 PM EDT
The term "political correctness" needs to be stricken from the lexicon because it has been used so broadly as to be almost meaningless. I think Mr. McGough's retort is bromidic, trivial, i.e., of little worth or importance, thus should be given the consideration it deserves -- none.
seanomelb | Jul 17, 2012, 07:18 PM EDT
McGough who!! I suppose he got his name in print.
Scrivner | Jul 17, 2012, 05:09 PM EDT
Folks don't you get it? McGough was turning the tables on uber lib Dowd! Maureen regularly rants on political incorrectness of others, now he skewed her with the made-up charge of "ethnic empathy." Very clever McGough.
stonethrower | Jul 17, 2012, 05:03 PM EDT
I found the Maureen Dowd story empathetic & touching about a young man taken way before his time,full stop.Where does the political correctness brigade gone mad draw the line or take a day off.If it was a young girl that died tragically would that be too much female empathy on Dowd's part?I dont live in L.A but i can only imagine what type of rag prints such garbage,with that McWhatever clown running the circus.For example should Italian-Americans not write about Italians for fear we Irish take offense,i hope that statement comes across as stupid as it sounds,just like the nonsensical editorial.
Greendays | Jul 17, 2012, 04:37 PM EDT
"Ethnic Empathy". Oh, brother. Maybe it's Valentine"s Day.
Curitiba | Jul 17, 2012, 04:25 PM EDT
I'm sorry, but ethnic empathy is something that is extremely positive. It is something that is sorely lacking in Irish culture and that we need more of. Good on Ms Dowd.
merefalow | Jul 17, 2012, 04:13 PM EDT
mc dick,what an idiot,this lady was moved by the death of a nice young kid,i wouldn't mind betting she would have written just as movingly and eloquently if it had been a little Chinese or black boy of her acquaintance,this PC crap kills common sense.unbelievable carping by an idiot.
Reilleyfam | Jul 17, 2012, 03:35 PM EDT
YAWN!
snakehips | Jul 17, 2012, 03:10 PM EDT
Listen McGough or are you as blind as your uncle, Mr. McGoo. A sad story is a sad story, they happen everyday. Maybe your sensitivity about your own Irishness or maybe you are a self hating Irish- American has caused you to waste so much breath. FInd something significant to write about!
mayoman | Jul 17, 2012, 01:41 PM EDT
It must have been a very slow news day in Los Angeles. McGough's editorial in much ado about nothing.
borefield | Jul 17, 2012, 12:45 PM EDT
McGough states Maureen O'Dowd is at best politically incorrect! Is he for REAL! I am No supporter of O'Dowd however, this article about Rory was from the heart. I guess this McGough person wouldn't know anything about heart . Sounds like he has ice water running through his veins.
slainte9 | Jul 17, 2012, 12:21 PM EDT
McGough may be "Irish," but his education is British and Cromwellian: University of Kent, England, and Yale. He's really a Brit.
PatriciaMarya | Jul 17, 2012, 12:16 PM EDT
McGough seems to be piggy-backing off of the talent of Maureen Dowd's writing in the New York Times so that he can get some free press for himself and the LA Times! What is the point?
chaplainmiles | Jul 17, 2012, 11:48 AM EDT
This is the first I have ever heard of the charge, "Ethnic Empathy." It has become difficult to keep up with these new laws to preserve civilized society.
slainte9 | Jul 17, 2012, 11:45 AM EDT
And this is different from -- writing about the Holocaust -- writing about Trayvon Martin, but ignoring the shooting of Daniel Adkins in Phoenix -- characterizing almost non-existent policing in Arizona as racial profiling of Hispanics, while ingnoring police run amok in New York City, Because?
Tooreenagrena | Jul 17, 2012, 11:24 AM EDT
Anyway whats wrong with so called 'ethnic empathy' is it not what every human being does, consciously or unconsciously?
Tooreenagrena | Jul 17, 2012, 11:21 AM EDT
This McGough character clearly has too much time on his hands
YoungPike | Jul 17, 2012, 10:34 AM EDT
There exists a kind of Irish exclusivity. I'm reminded of a scene from Spike Lee's film 25th Hour in which Ed Norton's character admonishes every ethnic group you can think of, before concluding with, "Kiss my Irish ass!"
TisEyerish | Jul 17, 2012, 10:14 AM EDT
How about this? She was just one human being, writing a story about tragic events in the lives of other human beings, who just happened to be of the same nationality? Mr. McGough has a screw or two loose, in my opinion. Does he think a writer of any other nationality would not describe Rory's face in the same way? Suppose, even, that Ms. Dowd was expressing "ethnic empathy"...how on earth is that politically incorrect? I agree with other people who commented here...Mr. McGough is the racist and bigot here. BTW...has he ever taken on Al Sharpton, the ultimate bigot and racist? I'd bet not. May Rory's family find peace eventually. What a tragedy this was.
dev4 | Jul 17, 2012, 10:05 AM EDT
who cares: she writes for a left wing paper that is going bankrupt
tharkin | Jul 17, 2012, 10:04 AM EDT
Idiotic is an understatement that this McDowd fella even thinks in this direction - It seems to me that in his mind EVERYONE is racist & he looks so deep for it that he has found what he seems to believe is racism behind unity . .I imagine this chap to be very lost & lonely in this world. He may say he does not see the Lady as Racist but that is what he is alluding to without having to explain to deeply.
JimmyJK | Jul 17, 2012, 10:00 AM EDT
How lazy is McGough that this is the only angle he can come up with. The Irish and Irish Americans can be very self hating.... What happened to poor Rory highlights many of the failures of the medical industry.... God Bless him
jerryoneill | Jul 17, 2012, 09:47 AM EDT
I think that NcGough's remarks reflect a certain insanity that infects the politically correct thinking. That is you cannot say or write anything that THEY can somehow bend into something that is misguided or offenive to some miniscule mind somewhere. Maureen's comments reflected my thinking exactly. My heart broke for the parents and family to lose such a beautiful boy. And his red hair and freckles probably struck a cord with me also because I am IRISH and the loss is felt deeper because my children look like that. As for the alleged mystique of Irish writers I suggest Mr.McGough go to any Barnes and Noble or other book store and just walk up and down the aisles and check the surnames on the book jackets. Guess what Mr. McGough, the preponderance of the names are Irish. As for the beautiful red headed Maureen Dowd.God bless you Mo, keep writing your wonderful heart felt columns and Mr. Mc Gough shut the hell up.
StRoibard | Jul 17, 2012, 09:34 AM EDT
Well, it's very clear that senior editorial writer Michael McGough is a poor journalist, a poor editor, and a bigot! He also falls comfortably into the liberalist knee-jerk reaction of calling everything that doesn't agree with his delicate sensibilities "racist." It's so convenient for them they wish to attack us if we utter any mention of a person's appearance, ethnic background, or leanings, yet they are the ones who most frequently tear down others! Shame on you, Michael - your dear mother would probably have slapped your face!
TheOldPerfessor | Jul 17, 2012, 09:26 AM EDT
Dowd's column might save a life. McGough should get a life.
bogsidebunny | Jul 17, 2012, 08:41 AM EDT
A typical Liberal spin turning a good human interest story into a racist hate column. Michael has written for Slate.com the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Republic, Commonweal and others. Interestingly all Socialist propaganda machines. I guess maureen is getting a dose of her own medicine and it tastes bitter!
weeknocky | Jul 17, 2012, 08:04 AM EDT
Politically incorrect - what the hell does that mean? Stupidity has taken over the press. McGough is another example of what is wrong in our society. Don't say what you mean because you might hurt someone's feelings. Idiot.
KSERRAHN | Jul 17, 2012, 07:36 AM EDT
Well that just sucks. Would they say the same thing if it had been an African/American writing about an African/American child. I think they owe her an apology. And I say Shame on them.