I’m never too surprised when I hear right-wing talk radio hosts make racists comments, but it is still sad to hear about these incidents, especially when the attacks are against someone I know. Radio talk show hosts Bill Nojay (who happens also to be running for a different public office – New York State Assembly) and Bob Savage of The Bill Nojay Show this past week were reading a local newspaper headline and commenting on Shinagawa’s recent Democratic primary win.
Nojay and Savage start off by making fun of Shinagawa’s last name, impressing themselves that they could pronounce his last name properly, then stating that Shinagawa hails from the People’s Republic [of China]. What bullshit! I mean, what kind of name is Nojay or Savage? I guess we can take Savage as his namesake and consider him one. And from the People’s Republic of China? Of course, these two are clearly aware that Shinagawa is of Japanese heritage and trying to link him to Communist China.
As far as I am concerned, the next thing these guys will be questioning Shinagawa’s eligibility to run, like a typical birther, since they already think he hails from China. I’m hoping Nojay gets the kind of backlash as Michigan Republican Pete Hoekstra did for airing his racist Super Bowl ad earlier this year and loses in November. The two end their rant to the background music of 1960’s Japanese hit “Sukiyaki,” only reinforcing Shinagawa’s “otherness.”
The radio hosts make other few factual errors as well in this short excerpted clip, mocking his age and experience. But in the game of politics, that is not too surprising and pretty fair game. Being racist is not. Please let WYSL know how you feel about Nojay and Savage’s comments by calling the station at (585) 346-3000 or faxing them at (585) 346-0450, providing Nojay feedback on his campaign website here, and/or contributing to Shinagawa’s campaign.
- Excited
- Fascinated
- Amused
- Disgusted
- Sad
- Angry
