ASA joins protest against crude tsunami song

Anita Varma News Editor

After the tsunami of Dec. 26, people worldwide offered condolences and monetary aid to the victims. However, WQHT 97.1 radio DJs decided to use the tsunami as material for a comedic morning show song. On Friday, Jan. 28, nearly 200 people gathered in New York City to protest the broadcast of the tsunami song, aired on Hot 97 radio.

The song, part of a longer radio sketch for the morning show hosted by Miss Jones, made light of the tsunami and used racial slurs against Chinese people.

In response to the broadcast, Vassar's Asian Students Alliance circulated the lyrics and a link to a larger protest, demanding an apology.

“We’re definitely outraged by what was played," said ASA Co-President John Wang ’05. “If you actually listen to the whole show in the morning, it’s quite apparent [the tsunami victimes] were ridiculed immensely.”

“People are dead and making and playing that song only cheapens the lives of those who died and are still affected by the tsunami,” added ASA Co-President Jason Wu ’07.

The protest in New York City was well-attended by people working in New York City and area colleges. Vassar student Joana Chan ’08 decided to make the trip to take part in the protest.

“I thought it was extremely inhumane to make light of such a tragedy," said Chan. "There were 300,000 people who died. Three hundred thousand deaths just isn't something to joke about.”

Chan, like fellow protestors, objected to the song's use of slurs against Chinese people.

“The song used a lot of racial slurs,” continued Chan. "I felt they were wrong and promoted ignorance and racism. They described [the victims] as Chinamen and ch*nks. China wasn’t even hit by the tsunami. That generalization that all Asians are Chinese is wrong.”

People gathered for the protest in front of the Hot 97 WQHT-FM Studios on Hudson Street. Members of the New York City Council planned the event, headed by Councilman John Liu.

“Elected in 2001, he’s the first Asian councilman ever to serve. His demonstration and his reaction... I think did a lot to empower the Asian community,” said Wang. “To see a politician that tries to take a step forward for people of his background and his constituency—we are really grateful to him.”

At the protest, people carried signs and chanted slogans as a group. Students from colleges such as Bryn Mawr and others located in the Philladelphia area took buses early in the morning to get to the city in time. In terms of participants, demonstrators were not limited to people of Asian descent.

“I'd say it was predominantly Asian,” said Chan. “But there were whites and blacks, everyone across the board...there were a lot of college students and high school students.”

People chanted things like “No, no more hatred” and demands that Miss Jones be fired. Also, participants asked that the Federal Communication Commission shut down the radio station.

“There is something wrong with airing such racist remarks,” said Chan. “It was really upsetting that they would find it acceptable to use such derogatory remarks toward Asian-Americans and Asians in general. The Asian community has been characterized as complacent, and it’s almost become acceptable. I’m glad there was a protest to show that it’s not.”

Hot 97 apologized for airing the song. The members of Miss Jones’ show, including Miss Jones, were all indefinitely suspended from the station.

“I think a lot of times people use humor to relieve tension,” said Chan. “I just thought they did it in an inappropriate way. I felt like the radio station took action too late, and they didn’t really get punished for their actions.”

Chan, Wang, and Wu agreed that this protest was an important action in showing that the Asian community would not remain silent if racially slurred.

Chan and Wu commented that racism against Asians is overlooked, with no show of outrage.

In terms of free speech, Wang, Wu, and Chan asserted that free speech does have limits, and Miss Jones’s show had gone too far. "Oftentimes in this society, it is far too easy for someone to get away with saying something racist or offensive towards Asians," said Wu.

ASA plans to continue with their efforts to make students more aware of racism and race relations.

“Our organization’s whole goal is to spread awareness, and to make people aware that there’s a lot of racial hostility out there and it's really apparent out there in the media and in newspapers,” said Wang. “It's rarely seen, and I think the media thinks they can get away with it with the shock value. And it’s only when the minority speaks up that we can finally make a difference.”