Slavery, Fried Rice: Apologies & Suspensions All Over

Yesterday, City Council members Robert Jackson, Larry Seabrook and John Liu introduced a resolution to formally apologize for NYC's role in slavery. According to the Empire Zone, Jackson hoped the resolution would "spur dialogue and interest among the new generation of New Yorkers who will lead us in the future" while Liu stated, "New York is the greatest city in the world, but let’s face it: The early foundation of this city was built on the backs of slaves." (The NY State Legislature is working on a formal apology, too.)

Liu explained the apology resolution on Ed Lover's Power 105 show this morning, which you can hear here. Interestingly enough, Lover himself had to recently apologize to the Asian community for his "Are You Smarter Than An Asian?" contest, where, per City Councilman Liu's office, "an 'Asian' male named Mr. Hung Lo, who spoke with a stereotypical broken English and asked insulting questions like: 'How does an Asian pronounce 'fried rice?'"

Fried rice also has a guest role in the suspensions of 92.3 Free FM DJs JV and Elvis. The Dog House duo, who recently used a number of anti-gay epithets towards band A Brief Smile, was suspended indefinitely without pay after the Organization of Chinese Americans complained to CBS Radio. From the AP:

In the segment, broadcast on April 5 and again last week, a caller to a Chinese restaurant intersperses an order for takeout with lewd language and racial slurs.

The caller tells one female employee he wants to come to the restaurant to see her naked and refers to a part of her body as “hot, Asian, spicy.”

The caller attempts to order “shrimp flied lice” and refers to a male employee as “Chinese man” before claiming himself to be a student of kung fu.

At one point he refers to a part of the employee’s body as a “tiny egg roll.”

CBS Radio is currently airing the Best of the Doghouse with JV and Elvis, which suggests they'll be back.

The OCA's NYC chapter president Vicki Shu Smolin told the NY Times, "I just see plain ignorance in the CBS management — of the community, of who we are, of what we’re all about. If they don’t fire the D.J.’s, it will be a double standard,” and promised to take a cue from the Reverend Al Sharpton's role in Don Imus's eventual firing. She also admitted that the OCA had to send letters to CBS CEO Leslie Moonves by regular mail because she didn't have contact info: "It was, she acknowledged, an indication that her organization was not yet as media savvy as Mr. Sharpton’s."

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By Jen Chung in Miscellaneous, News on April 24, 2007 1:25 PM

Comments [rss]

mike c

im glad someone is taking charge, we should all rethink what rossie said awhile back... when will the madness end

a reader

What to do when the politicans start with the rhetoric? When the media moguls posture and pose? Vote with our feet and pocketbooks and follow our own consciences, regardless of what others do or say.

I won't vote for or buy from anyone who uses the race card to promote themselves. Affirmative action, desegregation and legal recourse against discrimination are more than enough to redress slavery and racism. In the fullness of time, increased opportunity will equal the scales, not apologies.

Garbage apologies only help politicians. They do not help black children see themselves as more than beggars at the feast. It does not sustain or engender courage of conviction among those who lack it. Let black people be people for god's sake... stop making them poster children for self congratulatory posturing and rhetoric.

foo

Vote with our feet and pocketbooks and follow our own consciences, regardless of what others do or say.

I won't vote for or buy from anyone who uses the race card to promote themselves. Affirmative action, desegregation and legal recourse against discrimination are more than enough to redress slavery and racism. In the fullness of time, increased opportunity will equal the scales, not words.

Garbage apologies only help politicians. They do not help black children see themselves as more than beggars at the feast. It does not sustain or engender courage of conviction among those who lack it. Let black people be people for god's sake... stop making them poster children for self congratulatory posturing and rhetoric. Down with them all.

sponsorME!

Imus was not fired b/c of political correctness...not directly at any rate. Imus, and any other shock-jock that gets canned b/c of some idiotic remark gets fired b/c their are corporate sponsors that fear backlash from the listening public when their ad-sponsorships keep the show going...not b/c of what Al Sharpton has to say. GM and other big corporations pulled their ads from Imus's show, so MSNBC and CBS canned him. Now certainly that backlash from consumers could be seen as PC, but who cares, it's our airwaves and our consumer money...I wouldn't buy a GM if a gun was at my head, but that's another issue.

eye heart john liu

I Love John Liu, he must be doing something right.

hr, king of all dummies. fa fa fohey. ta ta toothey.

hr

John Liu - the asian al sharpton. Is he now the spokesperson for all things asian? self appointed king of asians?

bob

JV and Elvis were previous fired from an urban radio station in the Bay Area for making offensive remarks.

wow

John Liu jumping on a race bandwagon? How weird. I thought he just spent his time sending out press releases.

need more calgon

Hey, I'm good at third grade humor, where's my radio show?

flied lice humor, wonderful, just wonderful.

Wonder what Les Moonves's girlfriend thinks about this?

Questions & Answers

All week I've been hearing stories that revolve around violence, racism & ignorance. I get horrifying headaches just listening to the news.

Speaking of ignorance, the story about the idiot parents that left their 4 yr old to wander around the sidelines of a Colorado State football game where he got blitzed had to be the real winner this week.

Eric

I think that education will help the understanding of how horrific slavery was for our nation but I think the apology is nothing more than Reverand Al wanna-be's who should stop trying to climb onto a soap box and start paying attention to actual issues like healthcare reform. I think these councilmen are asking the people of this city to degrade themselves for apologizing for actions they never took part in. This city and many others were built on the backs, blood and brains of many people, must we apologize to every little sect of the human race for that?