Hot 97 Radio Hosts Sing of ‘Africans Drowning,’ ‘Screaming Chinks,’ and ‘Chinamen’ Tsunami Victims (Asia Media Watch, 02-08-2005)
NEW YORK – (FinalCall.com) – Who said activism was dead in America?
Activists of every stripe descended on City Hall Jan. 24, demanding that the Indiana-based Emmis Communication Corporation discipline the morning crew at WHQT-FM (Hot 97) for a parody skit that ridiculed the tsunami victims in south Asia.
›On Jan. 26, the president of Emmis Radio issued a statement posted on their website, which appeared immediately on the AP news link, that the morning crew had been suspended “indefinitely.”
“What happened is morally and socially indefensible,” Emmis president Rick Cummings said in the statement. “All involved, myself included, are ashamed and deeply sorry. I know the members of the morning crew are contrite. They know their actions here are inexcusable.”
He admitted that the station had been flooded with calls demanding the firing of show host Tarsha Jones, known on air as “Miss Jones.” Many of the activists said the decision by Emmis Radio to suspend the crew was a step in the right direction.
But the city’s only Asian council member said suspension is not enough. “Clearly not sufficient,” said Councilman John Liu (D-Queens), according to AP. He told the wire service the show’s co-hosts must be removed “permanently.”
Some City Council members are demanding that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) take action against the station.
“Station management has to be responsible for their product,” Councilman James Genarro (D-Queens) told reporters at city hall. “They can’t hide behind the air-talent that’s on the show doing this kind of crap,” he added.
“This is not the first incident in which Miss Jones has made a racially inflammatory comment,” offered Kai Yu of Asian Media watch. The activist was speaking of the time Ms. Jones, in response to the sale of a board game called Ghettopoly, asked listeners to make their own board games called “Chinkopoly” and to make demeaning imitations of Asians as retaliation against Ghettopoly’s creator who is an Asian American.
Asian Media Watch suggested filing a complaint with the FCC, which enforces laws prohibiting the broadcast of indecent programming during certain hours (including profanity) as the best course of action. An FCC spokesperson told The Final Call on Jan. 26 that a complaint had been filed and that they could not comment on a pending investigation.
However, some activists are concerned about the harm that may have been done between the Black community and the Asian community.
“My concerns are based on the fact that Ms. Jones is African American, and so too are the majority of the listeners of radio station Hot 97. Once again, the powers-that-be have pit one oppressed group against another–the tradition of divide and conquer,” observed Carlos Rovira, a well-known New York City Puerto Rican activist.
“The Nation of Islam and its newspaper, The Final Call, are in the position to shed a perspective capable of suppressing this very negative situation, which is harmful to all peoples of color,” Mr. Rovira added.
Minister Kevin Muhammad, the New York City representative of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, said that Mr. Rovira was correct. “What we need to understand is that many benefit from the divide-and-conquer tactics in a city that has a majority population that is people of color,” Min. Kevin explained.
According to the 2000 U.S. census, 11 percent of the population is Asian. There are 374,321 Chinese, 206,228 Asian Indian, 90,208 Koreans, with Filipinos and Pakistanis rounding out the list.
Min. Kevin added that the blame must be laid in the lap of management. “It is blatant hypocrisy for management to act as if they did not know what was being aired for four days. They have staff meetings. Didn’t they discuss what Ms. Jones was doing in their daily staff meetings?” he asked.
“Management only reacted seriously when corporations such as McDonalds threatened to pull their advertising,” he contended.
He also expressed concern that the same kind of attention that was paid to the tsunami song has not been apparent in speaking out against the use of the words “n—-r” and “b—h,” which he said are used constantly during the morning air-time.
“We must all speak out against all levels of disrespect,” he said.
NEW YORK–Who said activism was dead in America?
Activists of every stripe descended on City Hall Jan. 24, demanding that the Indiana-based Emmis Communication Corporation discipline the morning crew at WHQT-FM (Hot 97) for a parody skit that ridiculed the tsunami victims in south Asia.
On Jan. 26, the president of Emmis Radio issued a statement posted on their website, which appeared immediately on the AP news link, that the morning crew had been suspended “indefinitely.”
“What happened is morally and socially indefensible,” Emmis president Rick Cummings said in the statement. “All involved, myself included, are ashamed and deeply sorry. I know the members of the morning crew are contrite. They know their actions here are inexcusable.”
He admitted that the station had been flooded with calls demanding the firing of show host Tarsha Jones, known on air as “Miss Jones.” Many of the activists said the decision by Emmis Radio to suspend the crew was a step in the right direction.
But the city’s only Asian council member said suspension is not enough. “Clearly not sufficient,” said Councilman John Liu (D-Queens), according to AP. He told the wire service the show’s co-hosts must be removed “permanently.”
Some City Council members are demanding that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) take action against the station.
“Station management has to be responsible for their product,” Councilman James Genarro (D-Queens) told reporters at city hall. “They can’t hide behind the air-talent that’s on the show doing this kind of crap,” he added.
“This is not the first incident in which Miss Jones has made a racially inflammatory comment,” offered Kai Yu of Asian Media watch. The activist was speaking of the time Ms. Jones, in response to the sale of a board game called Ghettopoly, asked listeners to make their own board games called “Chinkopoly” and to make demeaning imitations of Asians as retaliation against Ghettopoly’s creator who is an Asian American.
Asian Media Watch suggested filing a complaint with the FCC, which enforces laws prohibiting the broadcast of indecent programming during certain hours (including profanity) as the best course of action. An FCC spokesperson told The Final Call on Jan. 26 that a complaint had been filed and that they could not comment on a pending investigation.
However, some activists are concerned about the harm that may have been done between the Black community and the Asian community.
“My concerns are based on the fact that Ms. Jones is African American, and so too are the majority of the listeners of radio station Hot 97. Once again, the powers-that-be have pit one oppressed group against another–the tradition of divide and conquer,” observed Carlos Rovira, a well-known New York City Puerto Rican activist.
“The Nation of Islam and its newspaper, The Final Call, are in the position to shed a perspective capable of suppressing this very negative situation, which is harmful to all peoples of color,” Mr. Rovira added.
Minister Kevin Muhammad, the New York City representative of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, said that Mr. Rovira was correct. “What we need to understand is that many benefit from the divide-and-conquer tactics in a city that has a majority population that is people of color,” Min. Kevin explained.
According to the 2000 U.S. census, 11 percent of the population is Asian. There are 374,321 Chinese, 206,228 Asian Indian, 90,208 Koreans, with Filipinos and Pakistanis rounding out the list.
Min. Kevin added that the blame must be laid in the lap of management. “It is blatant hypocrisy for management to act as if they did not know what was being aired for four days. They have staff meetings. Didn’t they discuss what Ms. Jones was doing in their daily staff meetings?” he asked.
“Management only reacted seriously when corporations such as McDonalds threatened to pull their advertising,” he contended.
He also expressed concern that the same kind of attention that was paid to the tsunami song has not been apparent in speaking out against the use of the words “n—-r” and “b—h,” which he said are used constantly during the morning air-time.
“We must all speak out against all levels of disrespect,” he said.
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