Asian Americans 2 Radio 0 - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Cynthetiq · 05-12-2005, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Radio station loses ads after racial slurs
Asians cheer Hyundai and Cingular for dropping NJ 101.5
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
BY SULEMAN DIN
Star-Ledger Staff
LINK
Hyundai Motor America has suspended advertising on NJ 101.5 in response to complaints that a recent broadcast of "The Jersey Guys" afternoon drive-time show was offensive to Asian-Americans.

Cingular Wireless has also pulled advertising from "The Jersey Guys" show after hosts Craig Carton and Ray Rossi ridiculed Edison mayoral candidate Jun Choi, who is a Korean-American. Carton also mimicked Asian accents, complained about too many Asians at Atlantic City's gaming tables and said Americans should vote for Americans.

Asian-American activists, who have been putting pressure on the station's advertisers, hailed the decisions to pull the advertising, saying it signals a newfound maturity and strength in the community.

"Asian-Americans have always been seen as a passive group that won't speak up too loudly," said Veronica Jung, executive director of the Korean American League for Civic Action. "This flies in the face of that. The message is that we will no longer be the voiceless model minority. We represent significant buying power and a large consumer base, and we'll use that weight."

Earlier this year, Asian groups pressured advertisers to pull ads from New York radio station Hot 97 FM after a show played a song that mocked the Asian victims of the December tsunami. A Philadelphia radio station was also pressured to suspend two hosts for racial slurs made on the air against Asian-Indians.

Jung's group is one of 32 organizations that have formed a coalition to demand radio station WKXW-FM take a number of steps to address the matter, including personal apologies by Carton and Rossi, and to pressure the station's advertisers.

Andrew Santoro, group vice president and general manager of Millennium Radio, the parent company of New Jersey 101.5, said company policy did not allow him to discuss the station's advertising losses.

He said those upset at the station "were taking things out of context."

Santoro said the station has received hundreds of threats and has contacted local and state police and the FBI.

The wave of protests caught the radio station off guard, Santoro said. The station has a meeting with Asian-American activists scheduled for May 19.

"We have no option in this; they started their press releases and Web campaigns before we even sat down," he said. "I was really surprised that happened."

Asian-American activists have also found support from elected officials. U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9th Dist.) fired off a letter yesterday to the Federal Communications Commission calling for the agency to examine the broadcast and "take any and all actions consistent with applicable rules and regulations."

"It is my profound wish that those entrusted with the power to broadcast their speech to thousands of listeners earn that trust by policing themselves and by refraining from engaging in hate speech," Rothman said in the letter.

Lora Fong, an Edison attorney and past president of the Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey, said the response from corporations and politicians shows the Asian-American community is organized and willing to speak out.

"Twenty years ago, this wouldn't have happened," Fong said.

Fong said Asians have also reached out to representatives of other historically persecuted minority groups, such as the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League, both of which have denounced the broadcast.

Considering the Asian-American experience with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the internment of Japanese in World War II, and most recently with racial profiling after Sept. 11, there always has been "a feeling that you're not good enough to be an American," said Deepa Iyer, executive director of South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow.

"Asian-Americans have always been perceived as the perpetual foreigner," Iyer said. "No matter how long you have lived here, people still perceive you as the other, not Americans."

Hyundai spokesman Chris Hosford said that as a result of Carton and Rossi's comments, the Korean automaker has indefinitely suspended advertising on the radio station.

"Hyundai Motor America shares the outrage of many in the Asian and general communities about the racial slurs made on radio station WKXW on 'The Jersey Guys' show on April 25," the company said in a statement.

"Because of those statements, Hyundai Motor America has suspended its advertising on WKXW. The company has communicated its extreme dissatisfaction to the radio station and asked for assurances these offensive comments not be repeated."

Cingular Wireless pulled its advertising from "The Jersey Guys" immediately after the incident, company spokeswoman Ellen Webner said.

The company still is maintaining its advertising on the radio station's other daytime broadcasts, but if there is no appropriate response to the concerns of community organizations, Webner said, Cingular will pull all its advertising.

"Of course, we do not condone any disparaging remarks made about any segment of the population," Webner said.

Neither Hyundai nor Cingular would say how much their decision to pull advertising would cost the station.

Local Hyundai car dealers were trying to figure out what the automaker's decision meant for their businesses.

Brad Benson, owner of Brad Benson Hyundai and Mitsubishi in South Brunswick, said his dealership depends on the radio advertisements to reach buyers, and wanted some clarification from the automaker.

Benson said the motor car company hasn't asked him to stop advertising on the radio station. He said he disagreed with what Carton and Rossi said on the air.

"I cannot condone what they said," Benson said. "If my children made those statements, they'd be severely reprimanded."

It appears that the Asian American Community isn't going to take it anymore. This is the second time in the Northeast that Asian Americans were mocked over the air in 6 months, the first being after the tsunami with the Hot 97 song.

I'm glad that they are stepping up to the plate, but at the same time I'm cringing to think that there could be some Asian American spokesman similar to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton rising into the spotlight.

ARTelevision · 05-12-2005, 06:55 AM

As you know, I am in favor of citizens using their power against media. The oppression in our lives today that interests me is media oppression. I am always heartened when citizens gain a victory over offensive media.

Supple Cow · 05-12-2005, 06:59 AM

This mildly infuriates me, not sure why:

Quote:

"If my children made those statements, they'd be severely reprimanded."

Anyway, I don't think an Asian American (whatever that means) spokesperson would last very long if they were as crazy as Al Sharpton. What I'm worried about is more of that "this world is too PC" garbage. I haven't heard these mockings myself, but this kind of thing is so easy to dismiss as "PC nonsense" because so many people have decided that PC means being overly sensitive, no matter what the reason. The second anybody tries to call this "PC," the Movement loses a lot of momentum and credibility.

Cynthetiq · 05-12-2005, 07:05 AM

Audio of the show.

After listening to the audio, I'm quite appalled that this kind of predjudice is still tolerated and considered "okay" by most people.

Quote:

Asian Media Watch

April 30, 2005

Asian Media Watch denounces the racist propaganda broadcast by the hosts of radio station New Jersey 101.5 FM and for their attempts to undermine the rights of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) to participate in the democratic and political process of this nation. On April 20, 2005, radio hosts Craig Carton and Ray Rossi made racially derogatory statements towards the Asian Pacific American community and towards an Asian Pacific American candidate for public office. Carton and Rossi also have a past history of prejudice and hate speech in which they have directed their bigotry towards the mentally ill and threatened violence towards patients recovering from addictive illness. Asian Media Watch allies itself with all those working to hold the employees and management of New Jersey 101.5 FM, and its parent company Millennium Radio Group ("Millennium"), fully accountable for promoting bigotry and hatred.

During their April 25, 2005 program, Carton and Rossi (a.k.a. "The Jersey Guys") used profanity and racial slurs, and spoke in "ching chong" mock Asian gibberish in order to denigrate Americans of Asian Pacific descent; portrayed Asian Pacific Americans as foreigners who interfere with the democratic and political process of this nation, and portray Asian Pacific Americans as outsiders who are not "American." Carton and Rossi referred to Asian Pacific Americans as "Damn Orientals and Indians," spoke in "ching chong" gibberish, demeaned a candidate for public office Jun Choi, as well make other derogatory statements. In January 2005, Carton outraged mental health advocates by stating that women suffering postpartum depression "they must be crazy in the first place," and other disparaging comments directed towards the wife of acting New Jersey Governor Richard J. Codey. In April, 2004, Carton attempted to incite violence towards people recovering from addictive illnesses by stating that he would burn down the homes of recovery patients, preferable with them in it, and shoot recovering patients in the head.

The on-air displays of hatred and bigotry expressed by Millennium employees are harmful not only to the Asian Pacific American community. Carton and Rossi perpetuate a climate of intolerance and hatred towards people of different backgrounds and towards the disadvantaged. Carton and Rossi disgracefully attempt to represent the State of New Jersey and "White blue-collar workers" as being supportive of their own individual prejudiced views. Their promotion of intolerance and hatred are an affront to the common decency of all who value diversity and mutual understanding that crosses the lines of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, and mental or physical disability. Not withstanding the fact that Asian Pacific Americans have contributed to the social and economic fabric of American society since the 1800s, Carton and Rossi have spread propaganda that devalues the contributions of made by Americans from all different cultural and religious backgrounds.

On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of readers and supporters of Asian Media Watch, we demand the termination of radio hosts Craig Carton and Ray Rossi for their bigoted and racist attack on the Asian Pacific American community and for their history of bigotry towards the mentally ill and other disadvantaged members of society. We call for full accountability by the employees and management of NJ 101.5 FM and parent company Millennium Radio Group ("Millennium") -- That Millennium take full responsibility for condoning the atrocious behavior of Carton and Rossi; and that Millennium take immediate steps to remedy this matter including, but not exclusively, the implementation and enforcement of business policies and practices that prohibit bigotry and hate speech, and to ensure equal opportunity and diversity in employment practices at all Millennium radio stations and offices.

Redlemon · 05-12-2005, 07:10 AM

I hate all shock jocks, no matter what group of people they choose to target. It is not good radio, even if it pulls in the listeners.

warrrreagl · 05-12-2005, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARTelevision

As you know, I am in favor of citizens using their power against media. The oppression in our lives today that interests me is media oppression. I am always heartened when citizens gain a victory over offensive media.

And yet I am disheartened that people still allow themselves to be offended by material in someone's entertainment act.

ARTelevision · 05-12-2005, 07:37 AM

We have become used to being assaulted by media. The audio of this show has one of the commercial-interest-microphone-wielding-human-celebrities saying he is offended by the situation that prompts his offensive remarks - how quaint.

The word "offensive" is a subjective one isn't it? "Subjective" refers to an individual human perception - that's a person. Media is not a person - it is an overwhelming assaultive force.

It's not a complicated thing for me to choose to support individual perception over and against media mouthpieces.

warrrreagl · 05-12-2005, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARTelevision

We have become used to being assaulted by media. The audio of this show has one of the commercial-interest-microphone-wielding-human-celebrities saying he is offended by the situation that prompts his offensive remarks - how quaint.

The word "offensive" is a subjective one isn't it? "Subjective" refers to an individual human perception - that's a person. Media is not a person - it is an overwhelming assaultive force.

It's not a complicated thing for me to choose to support individual perception over and against media mouthpieces.

I'm nowhere near competent enough to tangle with you over "media," as you are clearly our resident expert on that subject. However, I do know a little about entertainment, and that was the thrust of my comment.

Is it possible for me to agree with you on giving a "hooray" to the little people for winning a victory against Big Bad Media while simultaneously hanging my head in despair over those who will never be able to see the forest when it comes to entertainment?

Ever since the "Runaway Bride" story broke open, I've been unable to watch a national talk-show without being assaulted by "Southern cousin-marrying cracker" jokes. Although they're not funny to me, I recognize that a lot of folks find those jokes a hoot. Instead of launching a campaign to have Jay Leno's advertisers pull out of the Tonight Show, I choose to change the channel. I guess my assault on "media" is more low-key, because if the Nielsen folks ever came back to my house, I'd tell them why I watch Court-TV instead of Leno or Letterman.

Dang, ART, it's good to be back.

ARTelevision · 05-12-2005, 08:46 AM

...and good to have you back in the mix, bro.

Sure, the problem as I see it is that - in the main - our media-culture-education system is not in the business of producing people with critical thinking abilities.

streak_56 · 05-12-2005, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redlemon

I hate all shock jocks, no matter what group of people they choose to target. It is not good radio, even if it pulls in the listeners.

Exactly my point. I do not even know why some of them exist, it's just very inappropriate plus very offensive. I would rather have a world where everyone got along than just a few groups making fun of eachother.

warrrreagl · 05-12-2005, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by streak_56

I would rather have a world where everyone got along than just a few groups making fun of eachother.

What a sedate, serene, and boring world that would be. I suppose in "The Invasion of the Body-Snatchers" you were rooting for the pods?

flat5 · 05-12-2005, 02:02 PM

We'll never know. Not getting along is boring too.

joeshoe · 05-12-2005, 03:03 PM

Quote:

What a sedate, serene, and boring world that would be

Yes, what boring world we would live in without war, disease, racism, poverty, slavery, and crime. Thank goodness we'll never save any of those problems.

I liked how they kept saying, "I don't have anything against Asians" even though they were making blatant racist remarks. That's like, "No offense, but you're an ugly moron. But no offense."

And the guy himself is Italian whose grandparents were immigrants. Why does he even think of himself as a "true American"? Just because he's white?

warrrreagl · 05-12-2005, 07:32 PM

The Moonies and Hare Krishnas called. They have brochures for some of you.

Bob Biter · 05-12-2005, 08:40 PM

Man, after reading this, especially the comments about how Asian Americans would never be fully accepted as "actual" Americans, I suddenly had a deep, ardent wish that every "American" would live a few years abroad, specifically in an Asian country. Living in Japan for almost 2 years has taught me this: there's a difference between acceptance and tolerance. The Japanese want to be exposed to the English language and non-Japanese customs/ways of life, but only on their terms.

I'm happy the Asian communities spoke up in the States, but this sort of thing never happens in Japan. Americans seem to be of the opinion that any immigrant wishing to make it in the US should learn English, work hard, then reap the rewards. Over here, most Japanese think of their language and culture as so inscrutable that any foreigner (who is never designated by his country of origin, always as "foreigner"), shouldn't even bother to learn them. I still get complimented on my usage of chopsticks (shit, there're tons of Chinese restaurants in Montreal that I've been going to for years beforehand) and people think it's an act of god that I can string together more than one sentence at a time or read kanji characters.

Again, yay for the Asian community speaking its peace. I only wish such voices were heard in other countries as well...

Sorry to thread jack. It just struck a nerve.

sashime76 · 05-13-2005, 10:25 AM

Has anyone seen A Day without A Mexican? What would the world be if we went one step further? A Day without An Asian? Think about it, if just half of the sweat shops in China took a week off. Japan, Korea cut their electronics, automotive output by 1/2. Wal-Mart would have to close half its stores. Many car dealerships across the nation would have to either close up or change to sell "American" (not necessarily built in US) cars only. How many recalls have Ford, GM, Chevy had in the last 2-3 years? How about Toyota, Honda, Nissan or Hyundai? Can we still call them "foreign" cars? See below:

http://www.hondanews.com/CatID1020?m...01257&mime=asc
http://www.toyota.com/about/operations/na-affiliates/
http://www.conway.com/ssinsider/bbdeal/bd001113.htm
http://www.conway.com/ssinsider/bbdeal/bd021230.htm

Recently I read a report in a local news paper, it mentioned quite a number of students with high academic achievements. All (about 10 of them) but three were "real" Americans, the rest were Chinese, Koreans, Japanese and Indians (India). Yet, when I looked up this website,
http://mustang.doe.state.in.us/SEARC...m?city=Fishers

Asian students only make up 4% of the school population in most cases. Go visit any university in California, from UCSD, UCLA, UC Berkley, to Stanford, you see all these Asian students. Are they all beneficiaries of the Affirmative Action? I don't think so.

I doubt many, if any, of these DJs have any idea just how the "minorities" have contributed to the society? These individuals are as shallow as the comments they make. The same goes to the program managers, producers, and station owners, for failing to educate their employees.

Sure, I will probably never shake my accent although slight. My 2 and 4 year old sons can understand and communicate in 4 languages we regularly use at home. I'd be shocked if they (DJs) can speak grammatically correct English!

clavus · 05-13-2005, 02:01 PM

It's nice to see people directly affecting change in media. I find this much better than government regulation.

Lockjaw · 05-14-2005, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sashime76

Has anyone seen A Day without A Mexican? What would the world be if we went one step further? A Day without An Asian? Think about it, if just half of the sweat shops in China took a week off. Japan, Korea cut their electronics, automotive output by 1/2. Wal-Mart would have to close half its stores. Many car dealerships across the nation would have to either close up or change to sell "American" (not necessarily built in US) cars only. How many recalls have Ford, GM, Chevy had in the last 2-3 years? How about Toyota, Honda, Nissan or Hyundai? Can we still call them "foreign" cars? See below:

http://www.hondanews.com/CatID1020?m...01257&mime=asc
http://www.toyota.com/about/operations/na-affiliates/
http://www.conway.com/ssinsider/bbdeal/bd001113.htm
http://www.conway.com/ssinsider/bbdeal/bd021230.htm

I can understand what you are saying and I agree and all but in regards to the car thing,not to hijack the thread but to prove a point,it's not like American car companies are hunks of junk and the Japanese only put out super reliable automobiles across the board.
http://www.alldata.com/TSB/0459_mo.html
http://www.alldata.com/TSB/0441_mo.html
http://www.alldata.com/TSB/0424_mo.html
http://www.alldata.com/TSB/0425_mo.html

Those are all the recalls and service bulletins that were issued for Toyota,Nissan,Honda,and Hyundai. As you can see nobody is perfect it's just that when an American company has a recall it's really big news as opposed to some Japanese companies and their recalls it's basically ignored.
And as far as long term quality there are two Japanese companies that are above the big two American companies(BTW GM and Chevy are one company and Chrysler doesn't count anymore as they are owned by the Germans) and that's Honda and Toyota. Everybody else is as bad or WORSE. Nissan for example is a company a lot of people push as being quality and their cars are just as likely to be junk as a Ford.

And as far as can you consider those cars foregin cars even though they are built here? Yes. Because at the end of the day those profits are going back to Japan and not America. The jobs are going to be there regardless so the arguement of "they are employing Americans" doesn't really stand up. If all the people buying Civics were buying Foci there would be more Ford asssembly plants here in the States and possibly in our neighboring countries of Canada and Mexico. Which it greatly behooves us to have them with solid and stable economies as opposed to making Japan even richer.

So again not trying to come down on you but it's just not accurate or fair to say only American cars being sold in America would be a horrific thing on the level of large amounts of the workforce suddenly not showing up for work.
Just giving info.

warrrreagl · 05-15-2005, 04:03 AM

Explain to me the difference between the negative reactions above and those towards 'Piss Christ' by Andres Serrano. I am fully aware that the MATERIAL is vastly different, but I don't see any difference in the REACTIONS.

In both cases, I see a group of people who are personally outraged over something that hits home to them, and they want the whole show shut down.

Telluride · 05-17-2005, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by streak_56

I would rather have a world where everyone got along than just a few groups making fun of eachother.

Just because people make fun of each other doesn't mean they can't or don't get along. My friends and I are always making fun of each other and playing practical jokes, and we're still friends.

Telluride · 05-17-2005, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by warrrreagl

Explain to me the difference between the negative reactions above and those towards 'Piss Christ' by Andres Serrano. I am fully aware that the MATERIAL is vastly different, but I don't see any difference in the REACTIONS.

In both cases, I see a group of people who are personally outraged over something that hits home to them, and they want the whole show shut down.

My ethnic background is Irish, German and French, and I've seen and heard plenty of mocking about all three. I've never been offended by any of it (I've found a lot of it to be funny, in fact), and all I ask is that anyone who does the mocking be willing to be mocked in return.

Ustwo · 05-17-2005, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeshoe

Yes, what boring world we would live in without war, disease, racism, poverty, slavery, and crime. Thank goodness we'll never save any of those problems.

Shock jocks are the source of human diseases?

analog · 05-17-2005, 09:56 PM

I can understand being upset when your particular ethnicity or whatever is targeted, and I can respect the "little guy" taking a dump on the media machine by having an impact via loss of ad revenue... but everyone is the butt of the jokes at some point.

Think about commercials here in america. White men are most often the goofiest, stupidest, most lazy, ignorant, etc., people you ever met in most of these commercials. Why? Because it's our turn. Because now that we've made fun of everyone else for a while, and they all decided that doing so any longer was unacceptable, the sights are now set on the white male. You can say ANYTHING you want about a white male, his personal sexual habits, his eating habits, his spending habits, anything- and not one person bats an eye, they're too busy laughing.

The point is, everyone has their run in the gauntlet. The best example is a comic I saw a few weeks ago. He was a black man, and telling jokes about black people- himself and his stereotypically-portrayed black friends. It was hilarious. I'd say the audience was less than 25% black people (who, to my witness, laughed just as hard at the "black jokes" as everyone else). Then he launched into a small bit about asians and "how they drive". The room's laughter response damn near cut in two. And he perks up, as it was expected, and says (with a large smile), "oh it was funny when i was telling the nigger jokes, but stay off the asians, I got it." Then he launched right back into some jokes about himself and his stereotypically-portrayed black friends and the laughter was full volume again. I found him after the show and shook his hand

It's sad that sometimes people can't understand the difference between racism and entertainment. I'm SO SURE they've NEVER done skits making fun of irish people, muslims, jews, stupid white men, british people, actors, actresses, janitors, doctors, the list goes on to infinity. I'm surprised these people are taking this situation in this manner.

EDIT: Oh- and just to add... i'm italian, and much of my family is from the new york area. I can't tell you how many times in my ENTIRE LIFE i've heard people do the "new york italian mobster" accent and treat every italian from new york like they're either a construction worker or in the mafia. Never once has it occurred to me to be offended by this. This isn't an issue of being PC to quell the masses, this is people being thin-skinned PC radicals.

flamingdog · 05-17-2005, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARTelevision

Sure, the problem as I see it is that - in the main - our media-culture-education system is not in the business of producing people with critical thinking abilities.

I agree with this one hundred per cent. All the majority of media does is mire the human consciousness in a swamp of petty debates and tittle-tattle, tupenny ha'penny 'entertainment' and current affairs which is clearly skewed in favour of the ruling elites.

Cynthetiq · 05-27-2005, 06:55 AM

updated information:

Quote:

The latest developments in the Jersey Guys situation... It appears that NJ 101.5 FM has agreed in writing to the following:

Issue an on air, formal and blanket apology by the "Jersey Guys"
Invite Jun Choi (the Korean American candidate who was attacked) to be a guest by "Jersey Guys"
Cultural sensitivity training for all 101.5 FM employees
Public access programming focused on promoting awareness of the contributions of Asian Americans
Diversity committee established at 101.5 FM with community members to foster cross-cultural understanding
Personally, I think all these measures are pretty much useless—too little too late, really. No matter what happens, it's just a case of the station covering its ass. None of these gestures can truly be considered genuine. Still, I suppose it does signify some kind of victory.

Cynthetiq · 06-01-2005, 07:01 AM

follow up
LINK

Quote:

Asian-American groups accept apology from radio hosts
Published in the Asbury Park Press 05/29/05
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON — A coalition of Asian-American groups says it has accepted an apology from two talk radio show hosts regarding on-air comments about a Korean-American political candidate that some considered racist.

The controversy stemmed from statements during an April 25 edition of "Jersey Guys," a talk show hosted by Craig Carton and Ray Rossi on NJ 101.5 WKXW-FM, owned by Millennium Radio New Jersey.

"We are encouraged by the outcome in this matter and by Millennium (Radio) New Jersey's ongoing commitment to ensure greater ethnic understanding and awareness," Veronica S. Jung, a representative of the Asian-American groups, told The Record of Bergen County.

The incident came just weeks after a high-profile exchange with Carton and acting Gov. Codey over disparaging comments Carton made about Codey's wife, Mary Jo, and her experience with postpartum depression.

jorgelito · 06-01-2005, 12:42 PM

Thanks for the follow-up(s) Cyn, but where's your commentary? You live in the area right? Have you heard their show? What do you think?

Sounds like "the system worked" to me in the sense that people used the available and appropriate channels to address their concerns/grievances. I believe that to be a good thing and I have no problem with it.

0energy0 · 06-01-2005, 07:56 PM

dirtyyyyyyyyyyy jerzeeeeeeee.

speaking as an asian pacific american, we need to do something about this racism. being a part of CAPAY and sticky rice project, i will introduce this information to the community.

Martian · 06-01-2005, 08:59 PM

I don't know, I'm of two minds here. Part of me is thinking that these offended parties need to lighten up, but I recognize that A) I haven't heard the relevant broadcast (the link above didn't work for me) and that B) I'm not part of the minority it relates to and therefore not fully able to relate. What I do know is that as a Scot (in terms of heritage, anyway) I'm not about to start a campaign against groundskeeper Willie, even if he does seem to be the cultural equivalent of those WWII anti-japanese propaganda cartoons in that he plays up to every stereotype there is about Scots. As a Canadian citizen, I'm also not about to start a campaign against the South Park movie, either. I didn't find it all that funny, but I recognize that some people do.

Don't ask me where I'm going with this, because I'm not really sure. It's ultimately up to the individual as to whether they find certain material offensive or not, but at the same time, remember that "blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."

05-12-2005, 06:55 AM	#2 (permalink)
ARTelevision I change Location: USA	As you know, I am in favor of citizens using their power against media. The oppression in our lives today that interests me is media oppression. I am always heartened when citizens gain a victory over offensive media. __________________ create evolution

05-12-2005, 07:10 AM	#5 (permalink)
Redlemon Devoted Donor Location: New England	I hate all shock jocks, no matter what group of people they choose to target. It is not good radio, even if it pulls in the listeners. __________________ I can't read your signature. Sorry.

05-12-2005, 07:37 AM	#7 (permalink)
ARTelevision I change Location: USA	We have become used to being assaulted by media. The audio of this show has one of the commercial-interest-microphone-wielding-human-celebrities saying he is offended by the situation that prompts his offensive remarks - how quaint. The word "offensive" is a subjective one isn't it? "Subjective" refers to an individual human perception - that's a person. Media is not a person - it is an overwhelming assaultive force. It's not a complicated thing for me to choose to support individual perception over and against media mouthpieces. __________________ create evolution

05-12-2005, 08:46 AM	#9 (permalink)
ARTelevision I change Location: USA	...and good to have you back in the mix, bro. Sure, the problem as I see it is that - in the main - our media-culture-education system is not in the business of producing people with critical thinking abilities. __________________ create evolution

05-12-2005, 07:32 PM	#14 (permalink)
warrrreagl pinche vato Location: backwater, Third World, land of cotton	The Moonies and Hare Krishnas called. They have brochures for some of you. __________________ Living is easy with eyes closed.

05-12-2005, 02:02 PM	#12 (permalink)
flat5 Very Insignificant Pawn Location: Amsterdam, NL	We'll never know. Not getting along is boring too.

05-12-2005, 08:40 PM	#15 (permalink)
Bob Biter Non-smokers die everyday Location: Montreal	Man, after reading this, especially the comments about how Asian Americans would never be fully accepted as "actual" Americans, I suddenly had a deep, ardent wish that every "American" would live a few years abroad, specifically in an Asian country. Living in Japan for almost 2 years has taught me this: there's a difference between acceptance and tolerance. The Japanese want to be exposed to the English language and non-Japanese customs/ways of life, but only on their terms. I'm happy the Asian communities spoke up in the States, but this sort of thing never happens in Japan. Americans seem to be of the opinion that any immigrant wishing to make it in the US should learn English, work hard, then reap the rewards. Over here, most Japanese think of their language and culture as so inscrutable that any foreigner (who is never designated by his country of origin, always as "foreigner"), shouldn't even bother to learn them. I still get complimented on my usage of chopsticks (shit, there're tons of Chinese restaurants in Montreal that I've been going to for years beforehand) and people think it's an act of god that I can string together more than one sentence at a time or read kanji characters. Again, yay for the Asian community speaking its peace. I only wish such voices were heard in other countries as well... Sorry to thread jack. It just struck a nerve. __________________ A plan is just a list of things that don't happen.

05-13-2005, 10:25 AM	#16 (permalink)
sashime76 Addict Location: Hoosier State	Has anyone seen A Day without A Mexican? What would the world be if we went one step further? A Day without An Asian? Think about it, if just half of the sweat shops in China took a week off. Japan, Korea cut their electronics, automotive output by 1/2. Wal-Mart would have to close half its stores. Many car dealerships across the nation would have to either close up or change to sell "American" (not necessarily built in US) cars only. How many recalls have Ford, GM, Chevy had in the last 2-3 years? How about Toyota, Honda, Nissan or Hyundai? Can we still call them "foreign" cars? See below: http://www.hondanews.com/CatID1020?m...01257&mime=asc http://www.toyota.com/about/operations/na-affiliates/ http://www.conway.com/ssinsider/bbdeal/bd001113.htm http://www.conway.com/ssinsider/bbdeal/bd021230.htm Recently I read a report in a local news paper, it mentioned quite a number of students with high academic achievements. All (about 10 of them) but three were "real" Americans, the rest were Chinese, Koreans, Japanese and Indians (India). Yet, when I looked up this website, http://mustang.doe.state.in.us/SEARC...m?city=Fishers Asian students only make up 4% of the school population in most cases. Go visit any university in California, from UCSD, UCLA, UC Berkley, to Stanford, you see all these Asian students. Are they all beneficiaries of the Affirmative Action? I don't think so. I doubt many, if any, of these DJs have any idea just how the "minorities" have contributed to the society? These individuals are as shallow as the comments they make. The same goes to the program managers, producers, and station owners, for failing to educate their employees. Sure, I will probably never shake my accent although slight. My 2 and 4 year old sons can understand and communicate in 4 languages we regularly use at home. I'd be shocked if they (DJs) can speak grammatically correct English!

05-13-2005, 02:01 PM	#17 (permalink)
clavus pow! Location: NorCal	It's nice to see people directly affecting change in media. I find this much better than government regulation. __________________ Ass, gas or grass. Nobody rides for free.

05-15-2005, 04:03 AM	#19 (permalink)
warrrreagl pinche vato Location: backwater, Third World, land of cotton	Explain to me the difference between the negative reactions above and those towards 'Piss Christ' by Andres Serrano. I am fully aware that the MATERIAL is vastly different, but I don't see any difference in the REACTIONS. In both cases, I see a group of people who are personally outraged over something that hits home to them, and they want the whole show shut down. __________________ Living is easy with eyes closed.

05-17-2005, 09:56 PM	#23 (permalink)
analog Banned	I can understand being upset when your particular ethnicity or whatever is targeted, and I can respect the "little guy" taking a dump on the media machine by having an impact via loss of ad revenue... but everyone is the butt of the jokes at some point. Think about commercials here in america. White men are most often the goofiest, stupidest, most lazy, ignorant, etc., people you ever met in most of these commercials. Why? Because it's our turn. Because now that we've made fun of everyone else for a while, and they all decided that doing so any longer was unacceptable, the sights are now set on the white male. You can say ANYTHING you want about a white male, his personal sexual habits, his eating habits, his spending habits, anything- and not one person bats an eye, they're too busy laughing. The point is, everyone has their run in the gauntlet. The best example is a comic I saw a few weeks ago. He was a black man, and telling jokes about black people- himself and his stereotypically-portrayed black friends. It was hilarious. I'd say the audience was less than 25% black people (who, to my witness, laughed just as hard at the "black jokes" as everyone else). Then he launched into a small bit about asians and "how they drive". The room's laughter response damn near cut in two. And he perks up, as it was expected, and says (with a large smile), "oh it was funny when i was telling the nigger jokes, but stay off the asians, I got it." Then he launched right back into some jokes about himself and his stereotypically-portrayed black friends and the laughter was full volume again. I found him after the show and shook his hand It's sad that sometimes people can't understand the difference between racism and entertainment. I'm SO SURE they've NEVER done skits making fun of irish people, muslims, jews, stupid white men, british people, actors, actresses, janitors, doctors, the list goes on to infinity. I'm surprised these people are taking this situation in this manner. EDIT: Oh- and just to add... i'm italian, and much of my family is from the new york area. I can't tell you how many times in my ENTIRE LIFE i've heard people do the "new york italian mobster" accent and treat every italian from new york like they're either a construction worker or in the mafia. Never once has it occurred to me to be offended by this. This isn't an issue of being PC to quell the masses, this is people being thin-skinned PC radicals. Last edited by analog; 05-17-2005 at 10:00 PM..

06-01-2005, 12:42 PM	#27 (permalink)
jorgelito All important elusive independent swing voter... Location: People's Republic of KKKalifornia	Thanks for the follow-up(s) Cyn, but where's your commentary? You live in the area right? Have you heard their show? What do you think? Sounds like "the system worked" to me in the sense that people used the available and appropriate channels to address their concerns/grievances. I believe that to be a good thing and I have no problem with it.

06-01-2005, 07:56 PM	#28 (permalink)
0energy0 Insane Location: Title Town, USA	dirtyyyyyyyyyyy jerzeeeeeeee. speaking as an asian pacific american, we need to do something about this racism. being a part of CAPAY and sticky rice project, i will introduce this information to the community. __________________ Is the juice worth the squeeze?

06-01-2005, 08:59 PM	#29 (permalink)
Martian Young Crumudgeon Location: Canada	I don't know, I'm of two minds here. Part of me is thinking that these offended parties need to lighten up, but I recognize that A) I haven't heard the relevant broadcast (the link above didn't work for me) and that B) I'm not part of the minority it relates to and therefore not fully able to relate. What I do know is that as a Scot (in terms of heritage, anyway) I'm not about to start a campaign against groundskeeper Willie, even if he does seem to be the cultural equivalent of those WWII anti-japanese propaganda cartoons in that he plays up to every stereotype there is about Scots. As a Canadian citizen, I'm also not about to start a campaign against the South Park movie, either. I didn't find it all that funny, but I recognize that some people do. Don't ask me where I'm going with this, because I'm not really sure. It's ultimately up to the individual as to whether they find certain material offensive or not, but at the same time, remember that "blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."