“We acknowledge the need to formulate these categories with greater sensitivity and will take immediate steps to rectify this,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told Reuters, adding that the survey would be taken offline and revised to reflect “legitimate concerns” that were brought up.
The “U.N. Survey on Racism” was sent to thousands of the organization’s staffers Wednesday as part of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ “campaign to eradicate racism and promote dignity,” according to an email accompanying the survey.
But the very first question, asking respondents how they chose to identify themselves, listed “yellow” as an option — a derogatory term used to describe people of Asian descent that echoes the historically racist stereotype “Yellow Peril.” Other options listed for the question included black, brown, white, mixed/multi-racial and any other.
Erica Foldy, an associate professor at the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, said the term is unacceptable.
“The term ‘yellow’ to refer to people of Asian descent is a slur. It should not be used, period,” she told Reuters. “At the same time, it is useful to remember that language related to race is complex and always in flux.”
A UN staffer, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, called the question “deeply offensive.”
“The first question is insane, deeply offensive and hard to fathom how in an organization as diverse as the United Nations this question was approved for release in a system-wide survey,” the staffer said.
Newsweek contacted the U.N. for further comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.
The survey comes amid a worldwide reckoning with racial injustice, particularly in the U.S. following the May 25 police-involved death of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis.
Guterres delivered the 18th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture virtually on July 18, speaking about how the coronavirus pandemic has shed light on such injustices.
“It has laid bare risks we have ignored for decades: inadequate health systems; gaps in social protection; structural inequalities; environmental degradation; the climate crisis,” he said, adding that a person’s chance in life depends on their “gender, family and ethnic background, race, whether or not they have a disability, and other factors.”
Guterres touted the U.N.’s mission during his speech, which he said is to ensure that food, healthcare, water, sanitation, education, decent work and social security are basic human rights afforded to everyone.
“Enough of inequality and discrimination that treats people as criminals on the basis of their skin color,” he said. “Enough of the structural racism and systematic injustice that deny people their fundamental human rights.”
Inequality begins inside global institutions, and addressing it must start by reforming these institutions, Guterres added.
