05.07.07
Weekly Poll: “Special Interest Group”
When Don Imus used the now infamous phrase “nappy-headed hos” to refer to the Rutgers basketball team, the African American community spoke out against it. The mainstream media referred to them as the African American community.
When Jeff Vandergrift (”JV”) and Dan Lay (”Elvis”) aired a series of highly insulting and racist radio segments (radio program 1, radio program 2, radio program 3) that denigrated the Asian American community, the Asian American community spoke out against it. However, the mainstream media referred to them as “a special interest group.”
Why is the African American community referred to as it is, but the Asian American community is referred to as “a special interest group?”
- A) The African American community has more people (34.9 million) than the Asian American community (12.5 million)
- B) The Asian American community is viewed by the mainstream media as “less important” than the African American community
- C) Asian Americans are expected to keep quiet. Any attempt to speak up is belittled by mainstream media.
- D) Asian Americans are viewed as perpetual foreigners. Therefore any interest their community has is viewed as a “special interest,” and is never viewed as something that is “worthy”
- E) The Asian American community has been marginalized to the point where it is, on a mainstream-media level, effectively powerless. The mainstream media intends to keep it this way, and by repeatedly using the term “special interest group,” it ensures that it succeeds in doing so.
- Some Other Answer
Hiroshima Survior said,
May 7, 2007 at 4:23 am
Any special interest group is called a special interest group because they are not the voice of their whole race,religion,sex,or any other class of people. Fallout central and OCA don’t speak for the whole asian race. If there was a national election on who or what asians want, the votes would not match any of Fallout Central or OCA’s opinions.
GS said,
May 7, 2007 at 4:30 am
It was a prank call…
A…..Prank……calll……
It was not hate speech, it is in NO WAY comparable to Hitler or Nazi’s or the holocaust in any way.. You are so filled with hate and bitterness towards everyone that you cannot differentiate between a prank call and the mass killings of WWII.
And for anyone who doesn’t know- Yes this group handed out that propaganda filled checklist on the protest day comparing the prank call to Nazi Germany.
Warren said,
May 7, 2007 at 6:36 am
Fallout central & OCA speaks for me and I believe most Asians. Jeff Vandergrift and Dan Lay should be fired because they degraded and demeaned an entire race, they crossed the line. For common sense rules, see article below:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/left/orl-syn-pitts-050107,0,7544846.story?coll=orl-opinions-col-fromleft
Albert Wang said,
May 7, 2007 at 1:01 pm
In my opinion, Vicki Shu Smolin of Organization of Chinese Americans, New York Chapter, does not represent the entire Asian American community.
By insisting on her unreasonable, untenable, unpopular demand for the arbitrary, wrongful firing of JV & Elvis, Vicki is dragging the entire Asian American community into a losing battle. Her position is contrary to the FREEDOM OF SPEECH, and the tactics used by her (getting the “blessing” of Senator John Edwards, paid for his 2008 Presidential campaign) is the wrong way to make a positive difference for all Asian Americans as a group.
We need to use the right “means” to achieve the right “ends”.
Using political influence and other improper influece to force CBS Corporation, a NYSE-listed company, to fire a few employees (JV & Elvis) as SCAPEGOATS is simply the wrong way to resolve this controversy.
We should focus on the root cause of the “glitches” made by CBS Radio in BROADCASTING and RE-BROADCASTING the Dog House “Chinese Food” prank calls, which contain words and phrases that, contextually, depicts sexual organs, sexual activities, excretory organs, and excretory activities in a way that is “patently offensive” as measured by “contemporary community standards”, in violation of INDECENCY regulations of the Federal Communications Commission.
JV & Elvis certainly do have their SPEECH RIGHTS in uttering words and phrases that might be INDECENT, OBSCENE and PROFANE in the privacy of their own homes, as well as during the recordings of their talk shows.
CBS RADIO, a subsidiary of CBS CORPORATION and therefore subject to its Code of Conduct and other company policies and procedures, has the social responsibility, as well as the regulatory obligation, to properly edit DOG HOUSE’s talk shows before they are BROADCAST over open air into our homes, thereby infringing our PRIVACY RIGHTS on not being exposed, and not exposing our children, to materials that are deemed to be INDECENT, as defined by the United States Supreme Court in the Pacifica Foundation decision in 1978.
Let’s be rational and reasonable to each other.
Let’s also be FORGIVING, especially to people who have ASKED FOR OUR FORGIVENESS (e.g., JV & Elvis), because, you never know, you might have to ask for other people’s forgiveness one day.
Ask yourself how you should react so that your reaction will give you a clear conscience and a good night sleep tonight. Don’t just jump into a battlefield without knowing what you are fighting for, and who you are fighting against.
I have made my decision — I told OCA-NY about this incident on Saturday, April 21, 2007, partly because CBS RADIO did not respond to my inquiry earlier that morning. I wanted an apology from CBS RADIO. Instead, JV & Elvis gave them their apology. I wanted to do what I believe was the right thing to do.
Firing JV & Elvis without cause is the WRONG thing to do. You don’t remedy an INJUSTICE by imposing another INJUSTICE on someone else.
Let’s not become mobsters and become guilty of mob lynching.
Let’s uphold the FREEDOM OF SPEECH, be a good citizen, and not take justice into our own hands.
Let’s together end this Stupidity and Foolishness.
Albert Wang………a Romantic Realist
aspiring to be a valiant seeker of TRUTH, LIBERTY and JUSTICE.
Jun Zuniga said,
May 7, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Some individuals seem to be engaging in the willful obfuscation of the events. The argument is not who or who does not represent the Asian American community, it is clear from the number of individuals, protestors, and community activists moving on this issue that the actions of CBS & the Doghouse have mobilized a large section of the community. The question is whether or not the Asian American community will be shown the same respect and be accorded the same seriousness as other ethnic groups in America. Our collective voices are not worth any less than anyone else’s in our country (and yes, that means the USA). The question is not one of “free speech”. The question is whether or not Asian Americans will tolerate being subjected to disrespect on the basis of our ethnicities/race. People will find out shortly that the answer is a resounding “NO!”
pooper scooper said,
May 7, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Believe me, most Asians ARE pissed at these dogturds.
Who wouldn’t be?
For all you dogfans out there…imagine you were an Asian guy quietly and obediently enduring the small penis jokes and bad hackcents every 5 minutes on the radio. After 10, 20, 30 years…might you eventually get rather FED-UP too???
Enuff is enuff! Keep quiet now and this s**t will KEEP GOING ON. If we don’t stop it now, it will still continue 50 years from now!
vickis enemy said,
May 7, 2007 at 9:00 pm
i knew vicki when she lived in cali. she was depressed and had n purpose in life after getting dumped. this is the most attention she has gotten and loves it. she feels like this OCA crap gives her something to live her. pretty pathetic. go back to your country where people are not allowed to say anything!
Warren said,
May 7, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Vicki’s enemy is now resorting to personal attacks, this is how you can tell when they lost the argument, or there’s a personal agenda involved.
Go back to my country? I AM in my country!!!
JimmyConnors! said,
May 7, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Wow Nappy headed hoes…..words don’t do damage you tools
humpy said,
May 8, 2007 at 8:40 am
i think albert wang and xionxiong wong has mostly been moderate and reasonable and to some extent i agree with them. firing people is curing the symptomes and not the disease of racism. holding CBS and other corporations responsible and getting their corporate advertisers to listen is the real solution.
but i have to comment that “special interest group” is just semantics as you can say that al sharpton or jesse jackson don’t represent “ALL” african-americans, especially given that condosleeza is bush’s right hand job woman.
it’s only a matter of semantics that the racist mainstream likes to toss around to trivialize asian-american struggles, but keep fighting the good fight.
NO JUSTICE NO PEACE!
Beckylus said,
May 8, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Look, if racists didn’t keep targeting Asians, we wouldn’t have to form groups.
We kept silence in the face of racist taunting for DECADES now…and obviously that only enabled the problem and conditioned them to think it was OK.
Well, it’s NOT. And if we have to mobilize and speak up to stop it, we MUST now.
Thank yourselves for that, assholes.