Ben & Jerrys - Taste the Lin-Sanity - Is it Offensive?

There was another example of racism toward Asian Americans in the news this weekend when Ben & Jerrys was selling Lychee and Fortune Cookie Ice Cream in one of their Boston Stores. As several non-Asians mentioned to me that they didn't think this was offensive. With all this sudden racial sensitivity played out in Media, I have head individuals say that they think this is getting out of hand. When I hear comments like that, it makes me cringe. Yes, I may be oversensitive to these issues, but after the Madison Square Garden Fortune Cookie incident, Jason Whitlock and Floyd Mayweather -- what were the Marketing Folks at Ben and Jerrys thinking?

As someone pointed out, it is one thing if Jeremy Lin had come forth stating a liking to Fortune Cookies and Lychees (another Asian Stereotype), but this assumption has been made solely based on his race.

It appears even after the first Anti-Asian incident several weeks ago, there is still a lack of understanding of cultural sensitivity by many. Maybe it's time that some of our leaders in America stepped forward.

BTW, I'm not particularly fond of Lychees ...

Top Jermy Lin Racism Stories written by Asian American Journlists

1. A Question of Identity: The headline, the tweet, the unfair significance of Jeremy Lin by Jay Caspian Kang, Grantland - 02/22/2012

"What I can say is this: "C-word in the Armor" was completely unacceptable and made me seriously reconsider my continued employment with the company."

2. No More C-Words in the Armor: The Jeremy Lin controversy suggest it's time to retire the phrase for good. by Huan Hsu, Slate 02/21/2012

3. Asian men Can Jump, The Real Lesson of Linsanity by Deanna Fei, 02/17/2012

4. Will Jeremy Lin's success end sterotypes? by Timothy Yu, Special to CNN

Villifying Anthony Federico - Did he know the C-Word was a Raical Slur?

I am one of the those bloggers that is vilifying Anthony Federico, the former ESPN writer. I have read his well-written apology and frankly would like to know the following:

1. Did he know the C-word was a racial slur against Chinese Americans?
2. Did he know the C-word is similar to the N-word?

I have read both his apology and some information from an interview with his boss, Anthony Mormile, the vice president of mobile content at ESPN.

Said Mormile, “Anthony had no concept, no awareness that could be construed as a potentially explosive headline.”

Again, with 6 years experience and certainly with the proclaimed passion for charitable giving -- how could this be a lapse in judgment? How would Federico lack the cultural sensitivity to not notice this?

Unfortunately, Mr. Federico's apology is acknowledged but the professional journalist that should be acknowledged here is Anthony Mormile. He acted swiftly and decisively in firing Federico and perhaps has done more for sending the message to the rest of the professional journalists that racial slurs will not be tolerated in the mainstream media. As I mentioned in a previous post, after Mr. Mormile's actions, Jason Whitlock removed his post.

Rep. Judy Chu

“I think that the use of the term is appalling and offensive,” she said on MSNBC. “The ‘c’ word is for Asian Americans like the ‘n’ word is for African Americans.” - Rep. Judy Chu, California (D)

I absolutely applaud Rep. Judy Chu, the Democrat from California. Rep. Chu is not afraid to take the stand that is is absolutely wrong for the ESPN writer, to use the "C" word. As a Politician and a leader in America, she is standing up for what she believes is an appalling and offensive act.

I also admire Rep. Chu in questioning the innocence of the ESPN writer. I looked up the background of the now fired ESPN writer and he is from the State of Connecticut that has a 3.8% Asian population. His hometown is North Haven, CT with only a .1% Asian population. He attended Providence College that is 12 percent Asian, African-American, Hispanic or Native American descent students. On the other hand, nearby New York City is the home to over one million Asian Americans. Living in the Northeast, it is very difficult to believe that the ESPN writer had never heard of this derogatory racial slur. It is also not believable that ESPN did not provide some type of cultural sensitivity training for its employees, especially those with editorial responsibility. It does sound like ESPN does have some editorial review processes since the headline was removed in less than an hour. The fact that he used this line before is not an acceptable excuse, it certainly was not used in context with an Asian American, one that had already been in the news associated with other racial slurs.

Thanks Rep. Chu for standing up for this Asian American.

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"In My Humble Asian American Opinon"
http://martinogasianamerican.blogspot.com

Saturday Night Live - Stereotypes of Asian Americans

I watched the Saturday Night Live Jeremy Lin Sketch and I had to admit it was funny. That said, I did notice that the SNL comedy writers included references to both Chinese and Japanese Stereotypes playing into the the "All Asians look alike negative stereotype". They included references to Japanese stereotypes with Jeremy Lin, a native of Palo Alto California, USA of Taiwanese descent. To the Saturday Night Live writers, here are those stereotypes.

• Kobe Beef - is a Japanese product not a Chinese one.
• Wax on Wax Off Mr. Miyagi - Pat Morita is an American Actor born in Isleton, California USA of Japanese descent. Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid Movies is portrayed as a character from Okinawa of Japanese descent.
• Domo Arigato Mr Roboto - The song Mr. Roboto written by Dennis De Young and performed by Styx contains the Japanese lyrics "dōmo arigatō misutā Robotto" which are not Chinese.

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"In My Humble Asian American Opinion"

"When people ask me where I'm from, are they really asking, What's your Ethinicity?"

Martin Ogawa a native of Davis, California, USA of Japanese descent

ESPN takes Action for Offensive Comments

Less than 48 hours after the unnamed headline writer wrote a racial slur into the Jeremy Lin/NY Knicks article, ESPN took prompt action by firing the writer and suspending their New Anchor. In my humble Asian American opinion, the News Anchor is lucky to keep his job and the Headline Writer is lucky no one has outed him yet. There is no excuse whether or not the use of the racial slur was intentional or inadvertent, professional journalists should be held to a higher level of cultural awareness standards then the rest of society.

As we were debating the punishment, someone asked me when was the last time I had heard this racial slur, 5 or ten years ago. My response was 2 months ago. I was playing a pickup basketball game at a local park and when selecting teams, one of the captains said, "I will take the C****" and used the C-word to refer to me. When I introduced myself, I told him that I was Japanese-American and that the term he used was like the N-word. Okay, this was the same park where only once in ten years have I seen everyone scatter as a guy left the court to go to his car to get his gun after a game filled with stoppage time and continuous disputes over fouls. But rather than ignore the racial slur like my father, a second generation Nisei would have done as a member of the Silent Minority -- I decided it was time rather than move aside and get out of the way but to stand up for my fellow Asian Americans and take the charge. I was going to enlighten this ignorant young man on racial etiquette. After my brief BTW comment, I proceeded to play 3 on 3 on the same team with Mr C-word. During the game, I could tell he was in complete shock over what I had said to him as the ball arrived in my hands when I had wide open looks more often than I've seen in any pickup game. After the game, he continued to apologize despite my desire to move forward. Nevertheless, it wasn't until Jeremy Lin stepped forward with his comments about hearing these racial slurs that I understood the significance of what Jeremy has done for Asian Americans and other Minorities in America in only a few weeks.

In my humble Asian American opinion, these actions taken by ESPN are fair and just. They are professional journalists and rather than make excuses for their employees, they are holding them accountable for their actions.

ESPN Jeremy Lin Racist Headline - The C Word is like the N Word

The C word that ESPN recently used on its headline "C in Armor" is clearly racist. The ESPN employee was either extremely ignorant or is American's Number 1 Racist. The Employee and any Editors that were responsible for Approval should be fired over this. Doesn't ESPN have a list of unacceptable words for its Editors and Employees?

Let's wait and see how long it takes for ESPN to apologize to the Chinese Community.