Why Asians won’t just move on after genocide joke
By ALAN MI
Published: by Dallas Morning News on 08 November 2013 12:30 PM
This weekend, you will see 10,000 Asians protesting in more than 20 U.S. cities because they feel that ABC and Jimmy Kimmel have not taken responsibility for a massive insult to their heritage.
In an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Oct. 16, a 6-year-old boy said that America should “kill everyone in China.” Kimmel played along and led a discussion about how that would work.
I joined a protest on Friday, Nov. 1, at the WFAA site in downtown Dallas. I am just an ordinary Asian-American. I’m not an organizer; I’m not extreme in my views.
I graduated from Peking University — “China’s Harvard” — and taught computer science for three years at Tsinghua University — “China’s MIT.” I fled China in 1989 after political persecution in the wake of the Tianenmen crackdown. I was 28 years old, and I didn’t understand anything people were saying in the new world.
I have never taken an English class in the U.S., but I elevated my English writing by listening to a thousand nonfiction books. So unlike many in the Asian immigrant community, I can write fairly well in English. That’s why I would like to explain why we are so upset.
Some have said our outrage is an overreaction. But if you replace “all Chinese” with “the blacks” in the sketch, you can easily see how offensive it is.
ABC and Kimmel have apologized privately and publicly, but in all the wrong ways.
On Oct. 27, 11 days after the incident, ABC executives Lisa Berger and Tim McNeal issued a private apology to the organization 80-20 that backed the protests. It starts with, “I’m sorry you felt that a call from our producer to personally apologize would have been insufficient.” ABC executives essentially said it was up to the Chinese to understand better and quietly go away. They made no effort to understand the depth of insult themselves. Ah, it’s the Chinese who don’t have a sense of humor!
Two days later on his show, Kimmel apologized, starting with: “There seem to be a lot of people upset with me today, more upset than usual.” How trifling! He said, “I thought it was obvious that I didn’t agree with that statement, but apparently it wasn’t.” That’s a clever deception. Nothing showed he didn’t agree.
The next day, Kimmel said, “We should not have put it on the air. … I feel bad that you didn’t take it as a joke. I don’t know what you go through personally, but I am sure there are many challenges. … We won’t be showing the Kid’s Table segment anymore.”
Oh, it’s the kids who caused all the troubles? The sketch, “Kid’s Table,” is not the problem. Kimmel’s judgment is. ABC’s airing standards are.
Another two days later, Kimmel was still blaming children when he said: “The offensive comment, which was made by a 6-year-old child during the nonscripted segment …” Clearly, he is trying to evade his own responsibility using the kids as shield. Who set the kids up for the segment? What about his instigation, “Should we allow the Chinese to live?” And whose decision was it to air it? Not a 6-year-old’s.
Each and every time, ABC and Kimmel say something new, they forfeit what little sincerity is left.
Finally, while covering the protests in San Francisco, New York, Dallas and Houston, ABC World News With Diane Sawyer on Tuesday gave Kimmel airtime. Diane Sawyer called Kimmel “our pal,” defiantly showing support for him.
That is basically squaring off with the Asian-American community and saying “bring it on.” This is appalling. Kimmel should not be on the air; Sawyer should apologize; and executives should be fired.
We cannot tolerate race-disparaging attitudes to get laughs. This is racism under the cloak of entertainment. It must be stopped.
Alan Mi has lived in Dallas since 1989, when he fled China. He is a software engineer at a large national retailer. His email address is alan_mi_20030420@yahoo.com.
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