Jacob Riis: You're a Racist!

A celebrated African Novelist by the name of Chinua Achebe once wrote an entire essay about Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" because he thought that the author was a little bit racist. If Achebe gets to call out Conrad for saying that Africans are savages, then I DEFINITELY get to call out Riis for the following reasons:

1. Italians - Riis writes that Italians are "content to live in a pig sty and submits to robbery at the hands of the rent collector without murmur". This is just one of the insults, he also implies that they are illiterate by nature and lazy.
2. Chinese people - Where do I even begin? Riis states that Chinese people are greedy pagans who are incapable of becoming good, moral Christians. Riis says that they beat their wives, gamble, and he indicts them for using telegraph poles as an organ of information. But worst of all, Riis writes the following, intending to imitate the voice of a Chinese person: "S'ppose your wifee bad, you no lickee her?" I laughed out loud at this! Not only is it totally racist, it also kind of reads like a reference to cunnilingus! What an asshole!
3. Jews - Oh Jacob Riis. If only you knew what the people of Israel were going to go through in 50 years time. Maybe then you wouldn't have written racist stuff like this:
"Thrift is the watchword of Jewtown, as of its people the world over". I mean, this stuff I simply can't believe. Riis writes about people starving themselves just to have a little money. I doubt that very much.

These are but three of many delectable bits of bigotry, and for all of these reasons, I accuse Jacob Riis of racism! And I accuse Dr. Evertson of racism for having us read such a racist book. You're both terrible people...