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Letter: Are Asians not people of color?

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) University of Utah students make their way to class, Thursday, March 28, 2019.

In reading your March 26 story about the new University of Utah law school dean, I was pleased to also learn that Erika George has been named as the new director of the Tanner Humanities Center, succeeding outgoing director Robert Goldberg, who has led the center for 13 years.

However, I was surprised to read further that George “is the first person of color to hold the post, a university spokeswoman said.”

I wonder where the spokeswoman got that information, as I was the director of the center for several years immediately before Goldberg. If Asians and Asian Americans are not considered persons of color now, it’s news to me. And would be news to lots of people, from Maxine Hong Kingston and Jackie Chan to Kal Penn and Kamala Harris.

Vincent J. Cheng, Salt Lake City

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