December 11, 2006
Forget the Ni Hao Ma's, It's John Liu Vs. Rosie O'Donnell
Where the hell is Lisa Ling when Barbara Walters needs her? Last week, Rosie O'Donnell commented about the whole Danny DeVito drunk as a skunk on The View by imagining what people in China were hearing:
"The fact is that it's news all over the world. You can imagine in China, it's like, ching chong ching chong ching chong Danny DeVito ching ching chong chong ching drunk The View chong."Of course, Rosie's riff has upset City Councilman John Liu, who sent a letter to Barbara Walters to complain. From Room 8, here's the letter:
Asian Americans across the country are very offended by remarks made by Rosie O'Donnell this past week on your program "The View." Her caricature of the Chinese language hits a raw nerve in our community. For your information, a clip of the relevant December 7, 2006 programHmm, ABC does deserve credit for green-lighting the short-lived Margaret Cho sitcom All-American Girl, which is known as being the first sitcom with an all-Asian cast... but it sucked. (Maybe ABC will line up Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim from Lost - they're Korean, but at least they're Asian! - for some good will.) Liu told Fox News, "It really hits a raw nerve for many people in the community — many like myself, who grew up with these kinds of taunts. We all know that it never ends at the taunts." It's so true, but at least Rosie didn't squint or use her fingers to make her eyes slanted.
is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuTspbPmV_g.As a well-traveled and experienced journalist who has gained respect from many people around the world, you better than anyone should know that these types of derogatory remarks have consequences beyond the stupidity of the person who made them. Yet, you more than anyone
stands to profit handsomely from the pumped-up ratings generated by this type of controversy.I do not believe the production and broadcast of these remarks reflects the high standards of excellence held by you or the American Broadcasting Company. But, what will you do to hold yourself and those who host the program accountable for such offensive remarks? I and the many Asian Americans offended by "The View" look forward to your response.
Gawker has the clip, to which they thoughtfully added a gong (a sound effect that confused the Daily News, which thought the gong was added by The View producers).
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The Asian trifecta is now in play.
You just need one more for the day Jen!
John Liu = The Asian Al Sharpton?
I guess every race needs at least one loud mouth to get the word across.
Asian trifecta? Hmm, we'll see, but Chinese New Year is not for a very long time.
It's so true, but at least Rosie didn't squint or use her fingers to make her eyes slanted.
oh you're sooooo right!! how sensitive of rosie!! ching chong ching chong is nothing to get riled about as long as she doesn't slant her eyes!!
gimme a break.
(sigh) I was trying to beat the John Liu Bashers too...
Rosie offended lots of people with that BS. Would it make people feel better if it was Ming-Na Wen or Lucy Liu speaking out? How about Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao or Former Governor Gary F. Locke?
hardly a surprise. Rosie is a typical far-left nutcase racist.
Because obviously she was only ridiculing the Chinese people and not actually commenting on the absurdity of Danny Devito's appearance on the View being blown completely out of proportion.
Context, people: it works wonders when you're trying to understand a situation.
as an asian person, I think the remark would be lighthearted within a group setting of people who know each other. That being said, since Rosie is an extremely public figure and her show is broadcast to millions I find it very disturbing of her to say these kinds of things without sensitivity. If I were to count the number of times I was taunted with either a bruce lee howl or a ching chong sing song in my lifetime it would be in the thousands. It is actually very hurtful because people usually do it wih malice. Rosie didn't look like she did it with malice but as a joke but nevertheless it still struck a nerve. For a person like rosie who if you allude to Clay aiken being dirty for being gay she will go Apeshit and demand an apology this is very hypocritical as well. I'm thinking of doing an art project called "walking around being Asian" and record by microphone all the snide racist remarks thrown at me during the daytime without fear of retribution or repurcussion. you'd be amazed at how many people want to pick on asian people just cause they think we are easy targets.
if rosie had done it using a "zany" french or british accent, no one would have cried racism. why is it only racist if you imitate a chinese person, yet not someone from, say, germany?
i honestly have been wondering this for years. can someone please enlighten me?
john liu must have a LOT of time on his hands. if he were my councilman, i would be pissed that he spends his time trying to get his name in the paper rather than doing his job. i can't stand him playing the race card when it so is NOT racism. then next time when it really is, no one will listen. lame.
Yes, the "we willfully refuse to recognize all humor" claque has spoken. Good job.
Rosie of all of them should have known better. She's a member of a minority that gets discriminated against. How would she like it if one of the other View women had done a tirade using lesbian stereotypes?
Oh, I guess I should clarify - I mean poster #3, who has no sense of context, not Rosie, who deserves the criticism.
So much for my snappy putdown.
So when John Liu becomes offended by an obviously ignorant racist gesture, he's supposed to keep his mouth shut and take it like a good little subservient minority?
Yeah, okay.
Truth of the matter is, every race should be outraged at idiocy like this. It's telling that so many people take it trivially, indicating that, yes, racist attitudes still prevail with a lot of people, including minorities.
Ni Hao Ma? is the most racist shit in the world. I don't understand the point of it. People who aren't chinese say it and then have this monkeygrin on their faces expecting you reciprocate by being impressed with the fact they know how to say hello in chinese badly. AND? what else? stop condescending to me motherfucker!
rosie is ugly
i read the article, i have the context.
she should know better. she could have made her point without throwing the CHING CHONG shit in. it's lazy and ignorant and a cheap laugh.
#8
Since when are French, Germans English or Americans different races? I thought they're all caucacians.
"ching chong ching chong ching chong"
I agree that what Rosie said was stupid and she reached a bit too far for a cheap joke.
But to most people, that is exactly what they make of the Chinese language when they hear it. She just thought out loud.
I too, am looking forward to thier reply.
No excuse for this. I'm glad The honorable councilman John Liu is looking out for EVERYONE.
Liu for mayor.
It wouldn't be racist if it weren't for the fact that so many goddamn people didn't taunt me with this ching chong shit every day. If just one person said this a year it wouldn't be racist. Frequency makes it racist. I doubt anyone who isn't asian understands how many times a day a person who is asian gets a ching chong song while walking in the street. Hell, I could walk on the street right now and get it. You will never understand the pain a person feels. It's like the schindlers' list movie where the Germans yell "JEW!!!!" in the middle of the street. But no one yells nigger or Jew in the streets unless they were in a fight and it was in the heat of an altercation. But people will readily say stereotypical asian sounds in broad daylight cause they think asian people are reserved and don't fight back.
But to most people, that is exactly what they make of the Chinese language when they hear it. She just thought out loud.
but don't you think she's helping to perpetuate it by saying it on television?
does rosie o'donnell even matter ?
Me no rikee Joh Liu. Liu is a grandstanding idiot.
WTF does this have to do with the City of New York???
He represents all the constituents of his district, not just the Chinese, and should concern himself with matters taking place in the City Council.
Why doesn't he tell Chinese shop owners to stop dumping garbage in the street and Chinese people to stop shoving their way onto subway cars?
Step 1: Read my first comment.
Step 2: Read other people's comments.
Step 3: Read my comment again.
Step 4: Point proven.
John Liu referred to Rosie as an "experienced journalist?" Really?!! That's a stretch of the imagination.
Anyway, Rosie is certainly quick to take offense at any real (or imagined) slight directed towards homosexuals. So it's somewhat hypocritical of her to not show the same sensitivity towards other minorities.
There is only one race. The human race. *shoots self in head at absurd peace loving statement*
How come when a non-white comedian does an impression of a white guy it isn’t considered news or racist?
non-white comedians = blacks or hispanics. Just askin is a racist.
Also, why do the chinese feel that its ok to spit and fart and pick their nose wherever they want? They should be reminded that they arent in the 3rd world anymore.
I always thought O-Ren Ishii has got to be the sexiest character name for a movie (Kill Bill). She can kick my white ass anytime she wants.
Sorry to say but Gawker has much more funnier and insightful comments. This must be where Craigslisters go after they get an IP ban.
[#20] Since when is Chinese a race?
"Since when are French, Germans English or Americans different races? I thought they're all caucacians." Hah. No one is crying racist to this? Americans and Europeans are very differen from each other: Anglo-Saxons, Normans, Scandinavians, Germanic, etc. Oh I see, you think all European people look alike. How racist.
How come it's OK to lump people from Europe together but not from Asia?
why don't you stop generalizing asshole?
As the letter was addressed to Barbara Walters, I think Liu was referring to her as "a well travelled and experienced journalist", not Rosie O'Donnell. Travelling on a cruise ship with some friends and then making a documentary about it would not qualify O'Donnell as the above description.
"if rosie had done it using a "zany" french or british accent, no one would have cried racism. why is it only racist if you imitate a chinese person, yet not someone from, say, germany?"
Right, I see Asians mocking Germans and French on TV constantly.
william; cause no other race spits, farts, and picks their nose right in public right? asshole, stop generalizing. The chinese who do that are fresh off the boat poor immigrants from mainland who sell counterfeit bags on the street to make a living cause they have no formal education and work as cheap labor for communists for most of their lives. Sames shit with poor white trialer trash and africans in the projects. People who live in the ghetto have ghetto mentalities.
forget about what rosie says, theres a lot of funny comments by people here. Kinda makes me feel uncomortable. Says more about society then some tv stars stupid comments...
Ja, dee asians are constantly making fun of my scandinavian accent. Zis is very sad for me. plus, the chinese word for cuacasian is "white ghost". that's goddamn offensive if you ask me. Ja!
No other race spits, farts and picks their noses in public like the chinese. They have the bad manners sewn up! Sorry to offend you and your ancestors.
Well if you speak correct american english, no one would be making fun of your hard to understand accent.
and, Scandinavia is full of racists, too.
"But don't you think she's helping to perpetuate it by saying it on television?"
True, but its hard for anyone to take Rosie O'Donnell seriously. At least from where I stand anyway. As a matter of fact, anyone who watches the View on a regular basis should have their heads examined.
jen your defense of ABC is that they have asian american actors/actresses so that gives them the right to make racial slurs???? talk about a sell out!?!?!? maybe you'll also "profit handsomely" because of your idiotic posts that riles up readers. guess you can discuss this during your yuppy happy hour sipping on martinis discussing shoes but please leave real editorials to real journalists.
i love how stories like these give dumb white ppl an excuse to pull out all their chinese jokes from the elementary school archives...
I don't know, maybe it's okay for people to make fun of any ethnicity white person because.... white people own the world? I'm not saying they do, but that's the general feeling from many minorities. On top of which, do white people rise up and say "HEY STOP MAKING FUN OF MY ACCENT!!!!" No... because they don't give a crap. Why not? Maybe because at the end of the day, they still own the world. Big whoop.
BTW, when I hear other languages that I don't understand, I don't think it sounds like CHING CHONG CHING CHONG or eetsa me-ah, Mario, eetsa spicy meatballa, blah blah blah. I HEAR WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING. I can't even begin to try to mimic it unless I actually speak part of the language because it doesn't sound like how I hear it.
But seriously, you're all missing the point. The point being, stop taking yourself so damn seriously and rise up for other reasons besides boo hoo, someone made a racist comment about me/my race again, and maybe *you'd* rule the damn world already. Asian people make up some ridiculous percentage of the world and what do we have to show for it? Um... some crazy Korean guy with nuclear arms, a giant country that can't take care of itself, another few countries that are starving to death.... at the end of the day, who the hell cares if someone mocks you?!?!?!?!?!?! The best revenge is to live well, not scream about what they said to you.
PS Where the hell do you people live that walking around outside begets lots of racist comments? It's been years since I've gotten more than 1-2 comments in a month from total strangers. And yes, I'm living and working in NYC, Manhattan. Oh did I mention usually the comments come from other minorities?
PPS If John Liu DID tell a bunch of Chinese businessmen to stop dumping garbage in the streets, do you think that would make the front page? Get real. No one cares what politicians do unless it's controversial or seriously impactual.
bradley-
it's all thanks to the anonymity of the internet. none of these assholes would have the balls to say any of it to my or anyone else's asian face.
John Liu for mayor,
I wonder what Lucy Ling has to say about this? I've always had this theory, the more you shun your culture, the more slitty your eyes will be.
Coin slot slitty.
I should do a study, just like Dave Chappelle does his white people studies. who I'm kidding? I'm right.
by the way is it 4 o'clock, yet?
(reference to a Twilight Zone episode)
That's why I love new technology.
The Asians have been putting voice recorders in all their MP3 players for a while now.
Technology is the great equalizer, then comes the law suit.
And, NYS law says only one person needs to be notified when recording. You don't need the other person's permission.
How great is that?!
Someone get Ti-Hua Chang on the case...that is if he's not at an asian party.
everytime i was beaten by white,black ,and hispanic kids. it was always with these type of taunts. it sucked when i was the only asian living in the area in my parts of nyc. I'm glad there is some speaking for asians.
#8, I understand your question. The reason why mock-Chinese is offensive, but not German, French or British accents, is because the mock-Chinese in itself specifically encapsulates the entire racist sentiment, and it's very commonly known to have that purpose. Most people know this.
If Rosie spoke gibberish in mock-Spanish, for example, she would've achieved the same comic effect but without the racist backlash. This is because when people are racist against Hispanics, people don't generally speak mock-Spanish, they do other things (shout slurs, names, etc). People who are racist against Chinese do oftentimes speak mock-Chinese, and that's pretty standard.
That's why it's different, and that's why it's offensive. I hope this makes sense to you, it doesn't seem too complicated, right?
Comments like these is what makes me hate being chinese ever since I was a little kid.
Well, that's too bad stephen,
You're Chinese wherever you go. Too bad you can't lighten your skin and remove that eye lid fold.
Or if you're a female, correct that horizontal vagina.
Actually, you can remove the eyelid fold:
http://blog.wired.com/biotech/2006/12/caucasian_eye_f.html
When China becomes the world's biggest superpower in 2060 and enslaves most of the western world with our Superbrains who's gonna be speaking mandarin for reals bitch? You dirty ghosts will speak what we want you to speak.
Cmon, give Rosie a break. Its not like any chinese watch the View. They are all either gambling or playing the violin.
1) Rosie's imitation of an asian language was no more disrepestful than if she had imitated German, Russian, French or Spanish sounds. It's not HER fault asian is such a ridiculously-sounding language.
Asiatics: LIVE W IT. Or, as you guys like to say; "ching chong chu cha ching cho hu".
2) So Danny was sauced. BIG F*CKING DEAL.
Anyone with perspective will realize that we live in a country whose president can't put a coherent sentence together in English even when NOT stewed. A bumbling, babbling moron who sounds like he has no f*cking H.S. and yet most of you mofo's out there support his retarded ass.
THAT'S the person you people should be paying attention to and worrying about, not some poor sauced actor on a dumb TV show.
I know people who have had that surgery eyelid fold, but they had seriously covered eyes, where it actually impeded their vision. I don't think women or men who get the surgery look any less Asian though.
"When China becomes the world's biggest superpower in 2060 and enslaves most of the western world with our Superbrains who's gonna be speaking mandarin for reals bitch? You dirty ghosts will speak what we want you to speak."
When China becomes the world's biggest superpower in 2060 and enslaves us, your woman will quickly realize that we 'dirty ghosts' are MUCH better endowed penis-wise than you poor peanut-packing bastards.
That way, we will impregnate EVERY single one of them and eventually regain power once again. We will rule LOOOOOONG TIME.
Which means that by 2090 you'll be delivering chow-mein on your bike again.
i guess you don't need to go to the flyover states to find ignorant racist a-holes when you can find them here in good old NYC - shame on you.
ben dover: you'll be castrated before that happens
I can understand why this mockery of the language can be taken as offensive. At the same time, I honestly think that the posters asking why it's okay to mock other (Caucasian) languages/cultures pose relevant questions. I posed a similar question about Dave Chappelle a few weeks ago and I'm sure it got a few eye-rolls from self-hating liberals and minorities alike. (For the record, I'm liberal but not to the point where I forego my identity or put aside entirely my own self interests).
We have some extremely fucked up double standards in terms of what is considered 'acceptable' humor. It's either all fair game, or none of it ought to be.
Bottom line:Not funny. Not funny just because of the ethnic slur (pretty unfunny in my book but others might disagree), but unfunny because IT JUST WASN'T FUNNY! It wouldn't pass the lowest burlesque house. It was a comment that would have been considered hackneyed many a moon ago. Well, like most of her "humor."
And again we'll give you the same answer.
Chappelle makes fun of whites AND blacks. did you see the "white people can't dance" skit with John Mayer?
White people CAN dance, only it's to the electric guitar, Hispanics dance to the electric piano and some spanish giberish and black people dance to drums.
Wong way,
That's one skit, and okay, I obviously have no problem with that. Problem is, not all of them are so benign.
I'm surely not telling you something you don't know is true, right?
Again, I'm not personally offended by anything Dave Chappelle does or says, but let's just for a moment take his 'white face' news anchor character. Can you even imagine the social backlash if the situation were reversed in this day and age?
And please, let's not rehash blackface - we're talking about the here and now.
Another example if you don't like that one - the Wayans Bros. "White Chicks" movie. Exactly how fast would Sharpton et al hold a press release were Jim Carrey to play the lead in "Black Chicks"?
anonymass---
I think the 'double standard' issue can be best resolved this way: White people benefit from racism while Chinese people (and other 'minorities') are shut out by it. It's just a fact that current American culture r