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Rally against 92.3 FREE FM for racism against AsiansFYI...
Here's a link to an article about the incident followed by a media advisory below.
http://www.cctv.com/english/20070423/104459.shtml
Below
follows a letter from Telly Wong, long-time community activist and
social reformer for Chinatown, New York City, which may shed some light
on why the rally is taking place.
Dear Mr. Chiusano, Mr. Mainelli and Ms. Mateo:
After
listening to Mr. Jeff Vandergrift (a.k.a. "JV") and Mr. Dan Lay's
(a.k.a. "Elvis") racist and sexist prank phone call to a Chinese
restaurant (http://podcast.923freefm.com/wfny/370138.mp3), I was absolutely
shocked and appalled to learn that what I was hearing was actually a
re-airing of the segment. Apparently these men thought this bit of
"comedy" (originally aired on April 5, 2007) --in which restaurant
employees are verbally abused with racist, vulgar and sexist comments
that range from mock Chinese accents ("flied lice") to sexual
harassment (telling a female employee they want to see her "hot Asian
spicy ass")--was so uproarious that they felt the irresistible need,
and perhaps even more disturbing, had the permission, to replay it on
April 19 -- just a week after Don Imus was fired for his "nappy-headed
hos" comment.
There is absolutely no excuse for this type of
vile and unabashed racial hatred to be allowed on public airwaves nor
is there one for your company's blatant double standard when it comes
to public displays of racism. As a concerned Asian American and a
former CBS Radio employee (I worked in the public relations department
of Westwood One from 1999-2000), I am demanding nothing less than the
immediate termination of Mr. Vandergrift and Mr. Lay for their history
of racist and derogatory remarks towards Asians.
Yes, I said "history".
After conducting some research on Mr. Vandergrift and Mr. Lay's program,
it appears that this recent prank call wasn't the first time they have
degraded Asian women and the Asian American community. In addition to
frequently discussing Asian massage parlors, during the April 19, 2007
show (http://podcast.923freefm.com/wfny/411933.mp3),
the duo used a
mock Korean accent to "recreate" Seung Hui Cho's confession tape while
also tossing in a variety of stereotypical non-sequiturs ("you rike a
fortune cookie?" and "no tickey, no raun-ree", among others), which
inadvertently and carelessly implicated all Asians in Cho's lone
horrendous act.
Additionally,
during an August 28, 2006 interview with New York City Councilman John
Liu (http://podcast.923freefm.com/wfny/29084.mp3) to debate
racial segregation on that season's Survivor, the hosts repeatedly
insulted the Councilman's ethnicity with mock Asian accents
(telling
him to quiet down by shouting "Sirence!" and "Risten!" and then taking
calls from "Frushing Meadows" and "Rong Isrand") and overtly racist
remarks (referring to Asian men as having "rice pickles" and saying how
Councilman Liu can "barely see"). From listening closely to the
segment, it's also apparent that Mr. Vandergrift and Mr. Lay cowardly
turned down the audio on Councilman Liu's reception so he couldn't hear
what they were uttering.
While I'm sure Mr. Vandergrift and
Mr. Lay will defend the aforementioned antics in the name of comedy and
the First Amendment, I dare them to pull similar stunts when speaking
with a leader from the African American or Jewish community.
And
although I am fully aware that Mr. Vandergrift's spouse is Asian
(www.natashayi.com), neither I, nor any of my peers, believe that being
in a relationship with an Asian person gives their non-Asian partner
license to insult, humiliate and belittle our entire race. On the
contrary, I believe this fact only provides further evidence of Mr.
Vandergrift's complete and utter lack of respect for our community, our
heritage, and, perhaps most of all, his wife. Furthermore, if you or
any of Mr. Vanderbuilt's supporters still think he should be given a
free pass based on his dating preferences, you should be reminded of
the public pummeling that Ted Danson received in 1993, after he showed
up to a Friars Club roast in blackface -- even though he was dating
Whoopi Goldberg at the time.
=
In the press release announcing the dismissal of Don Imus (http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/04/12/publiceye/entry2678036.shtml), CBS President and CEO Les Moonves responds to Mr. Imus'
controversial remarks by saying, "there has been much discussion of the
effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young
women of color trying to make their way in this society." Later Mr.
Moonves adds that, due to that whole ordeal, CBS Radio is "presented
with a significant opportunity to expand on our record on issues of
diversity, race and gender. We intend to seize that opportunity as we
move forward together."
My colleagues and I are holding Mr.
Moonves and CBS Radio accountable for his words and demand the prompt
firing of Mr. Vandergrift and Mr. Lay for their long history of racist
comments as you did with Don Imus for his recent one. If you choose to
ignore our community's concerns, your company will be sending out a
very dangerous and socially irresponsible message, which is, "CBS Radio
will not tolerate racism!! (...unless it's directed at Asians)."
Additionally, if you expect the Asian community to be satisfied with a
measly two-week suspension and to just "go away", we look forward to
surprising you with our response.
The days of attacking, marginalizing and dehumanizing Asians in the media without any repercussions are over.
Thank you.
Telly Wong
Producer
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