An advertisement for the Spanish Basketball Federation that appeared in the Spanish daily sports newspaper Marca featured Spain’s 15 national team members in uniform pulling back the skin on their eyelids, with smiles on their faces.
Why, yes. Yes, they are.
For those of us keeping up with 8Asians.com, remember that whole Mister Wong debacle? A brief synopsis: German Web 2.0 site uses mascot with slanty eyes, I write a big WTF post, CEO takes down logo, I get hate mail by hundreds of Germans for “American PC bullshit,” CEO gets a nice photograph and profile in Newsweek, with this blog here as a passing reference, life goes on.
Now replace “German” with “Spanish” and “Web 2.0 CEO” with “Basketball team,” and really it’s just the same thing over again, right down to the “our caricature of a whole fucking ethnicity is us being affectionate, not slandering” response, this time via bad translated Spanish newspaper column. So having gone through this before, my reaction to this stuff is slightly different:
1) Call me bitter, jaded or indifferent, but this is my biggest takeaway from the Mister Wong debacle: after dealing with angry Germans and talking with friends of mine who grew up in Europe, I have deduced this: I, as an American - especially as an Asian American - infer something different from someone in, say, Europe or Asia when someone pulls back their eyes to show “Asianness.” It’s been mentioned that one of the sponsors of Spains basketball team is Li-Ning Footwear. Why would they shoot themselves in the (Chinese manufactured) foot? And we haven’t seen much Chinese response through the social media outlets, either. (Another parallel to the Mister-Wong.com drama: two Chinese community managers commented that the caricature mascot didn’t offend them, and people were quick to judge “SEE? IF THEY’RE NOT OFFENDED, YOU SHOULDN’T BE. AND THEY’RE MORE CHINESE THAN YOU ARE.” To which I muttered, “fuck you, you don’t know me” and chain smoked half a pack of cigarettes. Anyway.)
I concede that there may be people who don’t think that’s as big of a deal, and I accept that — they have not grow up the same background as I did, they were not mocked on an elementary school playground this way, they did not experience the pulling of eyes with a chorus of “ching chong ching chongs” like me and some of my Asian-American peers.
So maybe the Spanish basketball team wasn’t being racist. Culturally insensitive and blissfully ignorant? Sure! To the point of being complete fucking douchebags? Totally!
2) Really, Organization of Chinese Americans in Washington, D.C., this is all you can come up with?
The Chinese-American organization also issued a statement from deputy director George Wu, calling the photo “disturbing” and “divisive.” “It is unfortunate that this type of imagery would rear its head during something that is supposed to be a time of world unity,” Wu said.
Seriously? Because somehow, OCA, that’s a kind of written response where it sounds like you had five minutes to write up a prepared statement, after some sports section from a newspaper called you guys up and said “Hey Chinese people, what do you you have to say?” It’s disappointing because of all the sound bites you can give in media-saavy Washington DC, it comes off as incredibly passive; ironic, since <sarcasm>Chinese people aren’t known for being passive at all.</sarcasm>
So, in conclusion, I throw out this argument: yeah, what the Spanish basketball team did is fucked up. Culturally insensitive, even. But do I think it’s racist? Not really. Besides, Spaniards can’t be racist towards the Chinese. You have to be African, Moroccan or Indian for that to happen.
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MinorityMilitant wrote:
Great post, Ernie
I blame the Asian Community — here and in Asia — for this one. What a lack of an outcry! Yeah, we know this shit gets old, but really, nothing happens. These clowns at these Asian American and Chinese American organizations sit on their asses (with the exception of a few) and take it with a grain of salt. I hope these Spaniard fuckers get booed and get a good ass “fuck-you” send-away when they hit the floor next time.
As for China, they’re so concerned about how they look on the world stage they bow their heads to these degenerates and brush it off like it’s a gesture of good faith. WTF was that? And this Lin-Ning footwear? NO COMMENT. As much as we denounce the people who keep making these racist remarks and offensive gestures, it’s the weak response from these communities that really get me worked up. It’s hard to turn a blind eye to some of these issues and it seems the Asian and Asian American communities continue to lose this battle. It undermines all that we do as activists online and around the country.
Where are these bozo celebrities when we need them? Aren’t they the ones that need to spearhead these PR issues for us? Oh wait, we don’t have a prominent Asian American that has the clout or balls to say what’s on their mind because we’re still vying for a major role in a Hollywood blockbuster hit that’s written by some clown that uses Asians for comic relief.
This is a cycle that will continue until somebody up there with some fucking sense and recognition gets up and starts opening their mouths for something worth while. At times like these we can use all the help we can get. And guess what? We don’t have any. Looks like we’ll have to wait for the next group of ignorant fucks to say some really repugnant shit about Asians so we can start from scratch again.
When that time comes, I’ll be back on the AA blogosphere and we can share our thoughts and opinions again about how Asians keep getting bashed. Just my two-cents.
Posted on 13-Aug-08 at 10:27 am | Permalink
Confuse-us wrote:
Ernie wrote:
…they have not grow up the same background as I did, they were not mocked on an elementary school playground this way, they did not experience the pulling of eyes with a chorus of “ching chong ching chongs” like me and some of my Asian-American peers.
That is an interesting point. If I were to make a wild guess, I would say that a majority of AA’s that grew up in the U.S have experienced what you describe. Racial baiting and racial bullying of AA kids is routine in schools and is sometimes (often?) overlooked by those adults whose job it is to look out for the welfare of the kids in their charge. I have read of some schools (in the NY area I believe) where the racist bullying got so bad that it required presidential intervention to make the teachers step in and protect the Asian students. Up to 50% of the students in these particular schools have reported that they experienced bullying with racial overtones.
Your point is interesting because I wonder to what degree the AA community deals with this issue which I think is one of the most important issues that our community should address. We are silent on this issue. It seems that our community thinks that schoolyard racism is acceptable yet juvenile racist behaviour by public figures is intolerable.
Could it be that we, as a community, by overlooking the sometimes dreadful things experienced by our kids, are enabling their tormentors to grow up thinking that it’s “not offensive” to pull their eyes into slits or to call someone a ching chong? Rosie O’Donnell didn’t think twice and how many non-Asian voices have been raised in protest over this incident?
It would seem that the best place to stamp out juvenile (but sometimes brutal) racial baiting would be in it’s juvenile setting. We can call for outcries and reactions and boycotts and online petitions, but tommorrow your kid still faces the same ignorance while the teachers look the other way.
Posted on 13-Aug-08 at 1:07 pm | Permalink
Lxy wrote:
I think we should ask John “I hate the Gooks” McCain to weigh in on this matter.
I’m sure that he would have much wisdom to impart.
Posted on 13-Aug-08 at 1:34 pm | Permalink
almost witty wrote:
As a British-Chinese person who grew up with the usual racist slitty-eyed imitations (and being told I smelt of curry, which is one hell of a neat trick) I can assure you that most Chinese people in Europe would find it as insensitive as everyone else.
I’m just guessing that the Spanish-Chinese (or Chinese-Spanish if you prefer) population are a very small minority, and certainly not empowered enough to raise a fuss or demonstrate about it.
I think the British-Chinese are the most “substantial” in terms of minority Chinese representation in their home nation (hell, we have an MP! and a Lord!) - and the only time the British Chinese have demonstrated was over accusations that it was Chinese foreign meat that started the foot-and-mouth epidemic…
Posted on 13-Aug-08 at 1:47 pm | Permalink
Brian wrote:
Racism is more about a measure of power than it is an objective concept of disrespect. Case in point, the word “nigger” vs. “honkey”. Now look at Spain and/or/vs. China. Who’s got the heat right now? The power? We’re talking 1.2 billion people in arguably the 2nd *most powerful* country on the planet. In this country, Asians all know what it feels like to be a kid and have the slanty-eyed thing done to us. But its new hat to Asians IN and OF Asia. It doesn’t sting as much to them. In fact, from the gist of it, they (Asia Asians) seem downright amused.
I like going by my gut reaction. And my gut reaction was “…motherfuckers…” But as a consolation, its interesting how Asians (specifically the Chinese in China) are brushing this off as if this is so insignificant to them, almost beneath them. Like a fly not even worth swatting. It’s not even about being “timid” or “intimidated” to respond. It seems they simply feel superior to the Spanish, and if the Spanish want to make their little jokes, let’em.
Posted on 13-Aug-08 at 2:00 pm | Permalink
Grace Chu wrote:
Hey isn’t one of them a member of the Toronto Raptors? And isn’t Toronto, you know, full of people of Chinese descent?
Nice job, genius! Maybe his car is being egged right now as I type this.
Posted on 13-Aug-08 at 3:35 pm | Permalink
Asianmommy wrote:
Brian has an interesting point. I personally am very offended, having grown up in the US. I hadn’t considered that the Chinese in China would feel differently.
Posted on 13-Aug-08 at 4:39 pm | Permalink
minjung@gmail.com wrote:
Addiitonal updates and apologies. Sort of.
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/basketball/news?slug=ro-spain081308&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Posted on 13-Aug-08 at 5:14 pm | Permalink
Michelle Chung wrote:
This ad is racist, and Asian people in Western countries have every right to be pissed orf! This Asian Australian certainly is. The Spanish claiming it was an affectionate gesture is such a cop out. Even if it was meant as a gesture of affection, it’s misplaced affection - like patting an intellectually disabled person on the head.
Posted on 14-Aug-08 at 5:12 am | Permalink
CaliStunna wrote:
And the saga continues,
Spanish tennis team does the “slanted eye”.
http://f3.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_oly_experts__2/ept_sports_oly_experts-964948690-1218761625.jpg?ymaem2_Cok_2UrLa
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Another-Spanish-team-discovered-making-eye-slant?urn=oly,100968
Posted on 14-Aug-08 at 8:04 pm | Permalink
almost witty wrote:
Oh, it gets better than that. The original journalist who broke the story says he never used the word racism or racist in his original story at all.
Posted on 15-Aug-08 at 7:50 am | Permalink
Is making a slitty-eyed gesture racist? | almost witty wrote:
[...] journalist Sid Lowe points this out in the Guardian, spreading the story everywhere else with predictable outrage in English-speaking [...]
Posted on 15-Aug-08 at 8:15 am | Permalink
jtmom wrote:
As soon as I saw the ad, I immediately felt really bad. This is not cool, it reminded me of the mockings I used to get from my school mates. When I told this to a friend. She said she has a friend who went to Spain as an exchange student during her college years. The host family kept making fun of her by gesturing the slanted eyes and saying “ching chong ching chong.” I mean, is the whole country just a bunch of insensitive ignorant people?
Posted on 15-Aug-08 at 11:35 am | Permalink
Jimmy wrote:
I’m chinese. I have slanted eyes. I don’t know why people are so upset over physical stereotyping. Be proud of your slanted eyes. Physical attributes do not speak of our beautiful cultural and heritage. Additionally Mao was so much better of a violent murderous dictator than Franco ever will be. Go tell those spanish players to eat some tapas and go fuck themselves.
Posted on 15-Aug-08 at 3:54 pm | Permalink
THE_BANANA_REPUBLIC wrote:
What they *did* was racist. But don’t call them racist. Focus on the action and not the character.
Posted on 16-Aug-08 at 2:49 am | Permalink
Mmmkay wrote:
As a Chinese growing up in Canada, I was also the victim of the eyelid-pull, “ching chong ching chong” taunts. It wasn’t from white people, but - get this - OTHER ASIANS (Filipinos, to be exact). What… the… fuck. Just goes to show that idiots come in all races and colors.
Posted on 16-Aug-08 at 11:48 am | Permalink
MiMi wrote:
One of the Argentinian olympic teams did the slanty eye thing, too. I’m convinced that some people on this earth allow the spirit of stupidity and ignorance RULE them.
And I’m sorry, but one of the reasons Asian Americans are such a big target is because ya’ll can’t even make up your minds whether passive or aggressive when someone insults you! Some will say forget it, some won’t and the wheels spin until you get insulted again, then the process of ‘what should we feel and what to do about it, if anything’ starts all over again. They do it because they can get away with it because ya’ll will say little to do nothing, and probably do even less. Period.
I’ll be soooo glad when I see some white hot lightening attitude of “This sucks, we’re not gonna take it anymore, it’s wrong and **** YOU!’ Come out of the Asian American community. I’m telling you, I will, cause ya’ll are TOO NICE, when it comes to situations like this.
Posted on 16-Aug-08 at 7:07 pm | Permalink
MiMi wrote:
Ooops…that last comment was full of errors.. Heh heh. Oh well! Ya’ll know what I mean! (I hope!)
Posted on 16-Aug-08 at 7:08 pm | Permalink
Jeff wrote:
@mmmkay: Not at all surprised that Filipinos would do that to you. Chinese have been a minority in the Philippines for a long time, and there are a number of jokes and rather nasty sayings about Chinese in Tagalog. Filipinos will also refer to slanted eyes as “chinky eyes” - I kid you not - although they usually stop once they learn about the context of “chinky” here in the US.
Posted on 18-Aug-08 at 10:15 pm | Permalink