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Saturday, Mar 9, 2013 2:15 PM UTC

Vt. paper defends ‘fry Rice’ sign supporting team

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Topics: From the Wires,

Vt. paper defends 'fry Rice' sign supporting teamA copy of the Caledonian Record lies on display, Friday, March 8, 2013 in Montpelier, Vt. The Vermont newspaper is being criticized for a poster designed to boost the local high school basketball team before it played in the state championship. On Thursday, the Caledonian Record of St. Johnsbury ran a full-page poster on the back of its main section that included the term “Fry Rice” using a typeface that mimicked Chinese calligraphy. In a letter to the Caledonian Record publisher, the Asian American Journalists Association said it was appalled by the page’s racist undertones. The letter asked the paper to acknowledge its lapse in judgment. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)(Credit: AP)

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.

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