NJ Newspaper Apologizes For Slur In Photo Caption

Asbury Park Press Image

The Asbury Park Press used a caption laced with profanity, misogynism and a derogatory ethnic term as part of a gallery of photos showing people of color receiving Covid vaccinations, reports The NJ Globe.

“A fucking hot nurse, a total JAP, loads a syringe with a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a in the Center for Health Education, Medicine and Dentistry vaccination tent in Lakewood, New Jersey, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021,” is the caption used on a photograph taken by Gannett photographer Gustavo Martínez Contreras.

Martínez Contreras included the photo in a story under his byline about efforts by healthcare providers and churches to bridge the vaccination gap among communities of color at the Jersey shore.

“This is beyond the pale and disgusting,” State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch) said on Twitter.   “(The) Asbury Park Press needs to provide an explanation and apology ASAP on why and how this was posted.”

The photo depicted an unnamed health care provider.

Executive Editor Paul D’Ambrosio apologized on Monday, noting that the photo was taken in Lakewood, a large town in central New Jersey with a large haredi Orthodox population.

“As executive editor of the Asbury Park Press, I apologize deeply to women, the Lakewood Jewish community, the Asian American community and all our readers,” D’Ambrosio said. The slang word “Jap,” when not capitalized, can be used as a slur against Japanese people as well.

The “JAP” term originated in the middle part of the 20th century and has been used to slur Jewish women as overly materialistic.