More Asian Stupidity
April 28th, 2007 by Quan Tranh
Since Imus, many people have been acting stupid and I’m not talking about the shock jocks. Aside from Cho Seung-Hiu being stupid there are a lot of dumb Asians out there. “The Dog House With JV and Elvis,”on WFNY caused a major stink when hosts Jeff Vandergrift and Dan Lay punked some Chinese restaurants by calling up and asking for “very large slimp flied lice.” among other things. Well here come the party poopers.
Ben Fong-Torres is the radio critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. He called for JV and Elvis to be fired and added that it wouldn’t be the first time for the duo. “It’s time to continue to send messages. I know it may never work. But this is the society we live in now. The more people get really penalized for doing this kind of stuff — this demeaning, insulting, derogatory, racist kind of material in the guise of humor — the better off we are.”
Even the fools at Fallout Central are getting into the spirit of things. They have asked for people to appear on their podcast to defend JV & Elvis. I have offered to appear and defend their constitutional right to express themselves in whatever way they want.
Subject:
JV & Elvis Non-Controversy
From: Quan Trinh
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 11:47:13 -0400
To: comments@falloutcentral.com
Greetings,
I’m an Asian-American living in ___________ and I wanted to chime in on
the whole JV & Elvis non-controversy. My family first arrived in
America at the end of the Vietnam war and I absolutely love the freedoms
that we have in this country.
To that end I am a free market capitalist and a believer that the 1st
Amendment is absolute in all aspects. I have only heard the news media
reports of JV & Elvis’ show and some sound clips on the Internet, so I
do not know their entire history; however, I will be the first to rush
to their defense as an American Citizen who believes in freedom of speech.
If you refer back to your 2nd year Literature classes in College out of
many genre, there are two here that come into play, Satire and Sarcasm.
Satire is meant to be witty, but critical. Sarcasm is critical as well,
but less kind and more direct. Both have been used as forms of art
throughout the centuries.
If you take a look at Comedy Central most of the popular shows, such as
Mind of Mencia, South Park, and The Chapelle Show, could be classified
as Sarcasm. We as people tend to like racial stereotypes and insults,
provided it is on Comedy Central. Why limit it to there? What about
FOX network? The early seasons of MadTV had a skit with Ms. Swan, an
Asian woman who owns a nail salon and speaks poor “Engrish”. The MadTV
skits were very funny to me in my younger years because they reminded me
of my mother’s mannerisms.
As for Mr. Vandergrift being married to an Asian woman, I can see him
using that as a valid excuse based on the mixed couples I have
encountered. To cite a case of a Jewish friend, his girlfriend is
always telling Jew jokes. Now this may sound offensive, but she is only
repeating the Jew jokes her boyfriend tells everyone else. Is it less
insulting when a Jew tells a Jew joke? How do we know that Mr.
Vandergrift is not getting material from his wife? Is it wrong for you
to make jokes about your race/heritage and if you do; is there any
expectation that other groups can not or should not repeat said jokes?
Is it wrong when people like fellow Asians like AZN Thugz write songs
such as “Got rice” that are very stereotypical? Or
http://www.gregbender.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/asian.swf
What about their other song “Racing Ain’t a Thang” where they rap about
their street racing rice cars?
http://www.hotlyrics.net/lyrics/A/Asian_Pride/Got_Rice_(part_2).html
America is based on free market capitalism. I do not believe JV & ELvis
should be taken off the air by CBS. If they are so offensive then they
will fall in the ratings and a more popular show will take their place.
If they survive then I believe it is a sign that their brand of Sarcasm
is a viable product in the marketplace and based on simple Darwinism
should be allowed to continue.
I believe that the 1st Amendment is absolute in protecting all speech.
The US Constitution does not exempt certain speech from protection, only
judges since its writing have made exception based on community
standards. I do not support those rulings and I interpret the US
Constitution literally.
I think that Asians, Blacks, Whites, Latinos, etc should lighten up a
bit and be a little less serious. Everyone should grow a thicker skin.
It isn’t a nice world out there and you have no control over what
happens. Shrug it off, ignore it, deal with it, move on.
Hats off to Natasha Yi for defending her husband. First, you always
back the home team no matter what the home team does, or you switch
teams. Second, she knows how to kick back and let the water roll off
her back.
If you are interested in discussing or debating further on your podcast
I can be reached at nnn-nnn-nnnn Sunday evening. I would really be
interested to know if I am in the minority as an Asian American who
thinks you are way out of line. Please respond to this email so I can
block out a couple of hours uninterrupted for the call if you wish to
speak to me. I will be very interested to see if you do call other
Asians to get a counterpoint.
This entry was posted on Saturday, April 28th, 2007 at 10:51 am and is filed under Entertainment/Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 28th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Here is a quick recap of the CBS RADIO protest, where the OCA and Fall out group were exposed as the true racist factions. The doghouse had a nice show up as well in one day’s notice, while they had people bused in with signs that were pre-made, and some not knowing what they were protesting.
This OCA group and it’s sidekick ‘Fall-Out Central” showed their true colors, they handed out information that compared the prank call to Hitler and the mass killings of Jews in WWII by the Nazi’s.
The OCA protest was full of RACIAL comments… They were calling the white people Nazi’s and KKK members, and making racial insults towards Jews!!!!
If you want to say those things…fine say what ever you want..But don’t talk about double standards and try to get a radio show fired, when you are doing the same THINGS!!
These are the same people who on their website were calling JV’s Asian wife equally offensive stereotypical names, when she voiced her SUPPORT for Her husband and his radio show…
-
On there OWN website, the majority of their comments are from Asians saying they were being too sensitive, and then they were swiftly hit with the same stereotypical attitudes they were “supposidely,” trying to rid the radio waves of.
They were the one who used hate speech IN PUBLIC!
Im happy to say a few news reporters were there to catch them in their hypocritical protest. The reporters are in contact with a select few at the Doghouseforum website and will hopefully show the world who really was shooting off the hate speech.
To top it all off they decided to shake hands, pat each other on the back, and even HUG each other after spewing the real public racist hate speech.
Thanks again for shedding truth on this matter we would like to invite you to visit the following websites..
http://www.doghouseforum.com
http://www.thedoghousearmy.com
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April 28th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
If this is true then there is a double standard. Though it’s really irrelevant. The constitution protects hate speech as much for them as it does for skinheads and KKK members.
April 28th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
As in every free nation, everyone has to protest against what they feel is wrong.
In this case, the protesters are fighting against what they believe are racial stereotypes that are so pervasive in American society. The reason why this is important is because dehumanizing stereotypes, such as these, can lead to bigger things. First, someone will randomly call you racial slurs and while you shrug it off, the next time it’ll be something more harsh.
In our free market capitalistic society, these protesters have every right to voice their opinion to CBS’ advertisers and use their financial clout to promote change. Stop telling people what they should and shouldn’t be offended by and why they can or can’t protest it.
April 28th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Rob, you are giving up your individuality for a mob mentality. Racial stereotypes are not dehumanizing. How do they reduce you as a human? Explain what human is? 500 years from now you and I will be dead and our emotions, feelings, and thoughts will be reduced to either ashes or worm food.
I have no problem with people using large sweeping generalizations about my ethnicity. Do I feel dehumanized? No, I am proud to be a Gook, Great Omnipotent Overlord King. I don’t care if a fellow AZN calls me that or if a KKK member does the same. I know what Gook means and my definition overrides the speaker’s.
As for harassing advertisers I think you are wasting your time. If Coca-Cola pulls out, then Pepsi will step up, then Cadbury-Schweppes, and if advertising dollars are so devalued then your microbrew colas will step in. There is always someone willing to pay for advertising. One misconception people have today is that advertising exists to support someone else. Advertising is a tool to get your product out to market, period. If I have a mass market product I don’t care anything but how many commercial breaks during my target demographic listening/viewing time I can get.
You are entitled to your opinion and so am I. I didn’t say that anyone is not entitled to the freedom to protest. I am saying that you are really wasting your time by protesting and boycotting. And I will tell you that you should not be offended since I am willing to bet you can not find a line in the 1st Amendment that says you have the constitutional right not to be offended.
April 28th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Additionally, I don’t think he can hide behind his Asian wife as proof that he’s not racist.
If I recall correctly, Strom Thurmund was having sex and fathered a child with his black maid while subjugating black Americans at the same time.
Case in point, my friend knows a Vietnam vet that’s married to a Viet woman and when their daughter would bring her white boyfriend home, he was fine with it. When she brought back a Viet boyfriend, he let the racial slurs fly freely.
My uncle is married to a white woman but he constantly makes racist statements against white people.
“Uncle, aren’t you married to a white woman?”
“Yes but Julia is different from them.”
My point being that women have to understand that just because men put their penises into different colored holes doesn’t mean that they can’t be racist. With that logic, men can’t be sexist because they love women.
April 28th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I also wanted to add one more point and apologize that I didn’t just put them all into one post but my blackberry can only tolerate a certain number of entries.
From what I’ve seen, the Asian American community is so concerned with these types of statements by mainstream American media such as these radio DJs.
The reason why it’s such a sensitive issue is because of the lack of positive portrayals of Asian Americans in mainstream American media. As you can often seen, there is almost no balance in the ratio of degrading and stereotypical portrayals compared to the mainstream negative stereotypes that pumped out.
I’m willing to bet if that American media was a little more progressive in showcasing Asian Americans as normal people, there would be much less concern with these types of statements. Unfortunately, we have this lopsided ratio.
I constantly make fun of Asian stereotypes with my family but I also realize that Asian people are more than that. However, mainstream media never explores the other side and makes Asian Americans to look like nothing but caricatures.
April 28th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Holy Jesus! You’ve been typing all that on your BlackBerry? Now that’s dedication!
I don’t see Asians as needing any additional positive stereotypes. In California, Asians and Whites are excluded from many social programs that benefit Blacks and Latinos. Why? Because Asians are not a “disadvantaged minority”. Don’t expect your racial discrimination lawsuit to go anywhere in California since you would be on the same level as White people.
I don’t see the lack of positive portrayals in the American media when it comes to Asians. There are fictional characters such as Captain Hirkaru Sulu and Ensign Harry Kim from Star Trek. Michelle Malkin is a successful person in news media. Granted there aren’t that many Asians in mainstream media, but there are many behind the scenes in computer science, biotech, and finance.
I think one problem is that Americans get involved with this Racial identity….thing. Canadians do not seem to have the need to go into such trivialities. While I may be of Asian racial heritage, I am an INDIVIDUAL. My friends are INDIVIDUALS, not White, Black, or Jewish. We all exist as individuals and regardless of how others of our ethnicity is represented we are individuals. . I find it insulting to be labeled as just a group of people when there are so many things that make up ME.
Everyone has an individual personality, Curriculum Vitae, and family life. Instead of categorizing people in large groups let’s concentrate on the individual.
April 28th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Rob you wrote…”In our free market capitalistic society, these protesters have every right to voice their opinion to CBS’ advertisers and use their financial clout to promote change. Stop telling people what they should and shouldn’t be offended by and why they can or can’t protest it.”
Fine if it offended you, sure. But who decides what is offensive…Do you not see that no matter what joke, in this case a Prank Call- their will forever be someone who is offended?! Do you not see how this is dangerous to all speech in general??
If this group through their bullying, corporate shake down policy, and scare tactics does indeed get Jv and Elvis taken off the air.. You believe that, that is the right thing? You believe because one group was offended that this entails that NO ONE BE ABLE TO CHOOSE TO LISTEN TO THEM??
This is America, it’s freedoms are often taken for granted, its often self hated by Americans but I choose to love and respect my country for all of our rights, we are privileged to be here as so would die to live in the land of the free, and many do in fact die to have the chance to better themselves here… Yes you have the right to protest what ever you want… But the day you decide what I am allowed to listen to, or deem something inappropriate for me is the day I will show you a frightening America, an America where FREE SPEECH is no longer the case, and substituted for “Approved Speech.” When that day comes, the protesting you mentioned will also come to an end.
Changing the dial to another station is the only realistic approach, if enough people were to do this and due to poor ratings they are cancelled- That’s one thing but by force, I cannot and will not agree.
As you can see all over the Internet, all this has done has further enrage tensions so no matter the outcome nothing will be settled.
My opinion remains the same, they should not be fired…
-Jv and Elvis…The Doghouse, the best new show in New York.-
April 28th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Heh. I have an excuse in that I’m working a weekend shift in my company’s server room so I need to find a way to kill the boredom. At any rate, these small Blackberry keys are really starting to cramp my fingers.
Moving on…
First, I object to the term “positive stereotypes” because while certain stereotypes may seem positive, they’re actually not. Stereotypes are based on gross and prefabricated generalizations about a specific group or entity. From a logical perspective, if the “positive stereotypes” are true, then the “negative stereotypes” must also be true. You can’t have one without the other. It’s not a stereotype buffet where you can pick and choose what you like.
Second, I will admit that there are more positive representations of Asian Americans in mainstream American media over the past 10-15 years but it’s still far behind all the negative images which mainstream America has attributed to Asian Americans. Also, in order for mainstream Americans to understand another perspective of Asian America, they have to actually be seen, not hiding behind something. A movie set could be run completely by black Americans but if all the main characters are white, America won’t see black Americans as positive people.
I actually believe that liberal dominated Hollywood and MSM (mainstream media) are drawing a further divide between racial groups.
Lastly, regarding your comments of being seen as an individual, being seen as an individual is the objective for all racial minorities but so frequently is it a reality. I’m a 3rd generation Chinese American but I still get remarks as to how good my English is or how I should be good at math simply because of my race. Being viewed as an individual is strictly a white privilege, not a minority privilege.
Case in point, after the VT college shootings, why is it that the South Korean community was inclined to apologize even though Cho acted alone? And why haven’t white people apologized for the Oklahoma City Bombing? It’s because while minorities wish to be viewed as individuals, we frequently are not.
Look, I’m not saying that it’s wrong to make racial jokes but I think you’re not seeing the other side of the coin. I’ve always followed the idea of Yin/Yang and the idea of balance. If there were a counterbalance of positive Asian American media representations, I doubt many people would make such a huge fuss about this issue now. Hell, it doesn’t even have to be a ratio of 1:1, simply doing 2:1 would be fine. Right now, it’s like 30:1.
April 28th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Sorry, the following:
“Lastly, regarding your comments of being seen as an individual, being seen as an individual is the objective for all racial minorities but so frequently is it a reality.”
should read:
Lastly, regarding your comments of being seen as an individual, being seen as an individual is the objective for all racial minorities but frequently, it is not reality.
From the gist of this website, I gather that the author is a conservative Republican. Being a little conservative myself, I find it very annoying that MSM has painted conservatives as gun-crazy racists. Conservatives complain about it all the time that they’re made out to look like some meat headed racist. If it’s wrong for them to object to this unfair image, why would it be fair for it to happen to anyone else?
April 28th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Rob & Guido
Thanks for all the comments. I have a potluck dinner party to go to and I need to hit the kitchen.
On one last note to Rob. I am not a conservative Republican. I am a Libertarian. Libertarians believe in freedom. Republicans will support free speech where it is not obscene or does not offend their religion. Republicans think Libertarians are hippies that want to legalize drugs and Democrats think Libertarians are out to destroy the poor by reforming the tax structure of the country. Most people would end up probably being libertarians if they knew more about it.
If you want to learn more about Libertarians visit http://www.lp.org
April 28th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
You over sensitive babies! Stop crying! I’m a girl and I WANT MY DOGHOUSE BACK IMMEDIATELY.
Because you guys are acting like a bunch of babies you’ve gotten my show suspended..
Now I can’t listen who gives you that right?!
and P.S “boys” I’m a 22 year old woman, and even I CAN TAKE IT!!!
Losers