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Slavery, Fried Rice: Apologies & Suspensions All Over
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 24, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 24, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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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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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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