I'm sure this has been touched on, but has this article been posted?? Forgive me if it has... ----------------------- APA Community Should Tell Shaquille O’Neal to ‘Come down to Chinatown.’ Shaq’s ethnic slurs deeply offend one Yao fan By Irwin Tang Special to AsianWeek In his most recent racial taunt of Yao Ming, Shaquille O’Neal told a reporter, “Tell Yao Ming, ‘ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh.’” No, the superstar center of the L.A. Lakers was not trying to speak Chinese. Shaq was, in a most derisive tone, aiming a racist barb at the rookie center for the Houston Rockets. Ironically, just days before this racial taunt was aired nationally, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had honored O’Neal with their Young Leaders Award. We can only hope that the NAACP had no knowledge of Shaq’s earlier racial taunt of Yao Ming and L.A. Clippers center Wang Zhizhi, broadcast on June 28 on Fox Television’s Best Damn Sports Show Period. When Yao Ming was brought up, Shaquille O’Neal spoke with a mock Chinese accent and made mock “kung fu” moves. Also in June, Shaq announced that he would test Yao’s toughness by taking an elbow to Yao’s face. This comment, combined with Shaq’s racist taunts are particularly disturbing, as Asian Pacific Americans often suffer racial taunts while being assaulted or physically intimidated. But Shaquille O’Neal is not a stupid brute. That is, he may be a brute, but he’s not a stupid one. He knows the media is on his side. National and local news organizations have consciously ignored Shaq’s racist comments. I know, because I called the Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated, the Associated Press and other news organizations and offered them information about this story. They did not want to write about it. The only reason anyone knows about Shaq’s latest taunt is because Fox Sports Radio’s Tony Bruno Morning Extravaganza played a recording of the taunt several times to its nationwide audience on Dec. 16 and 17. On the latter day, Bruno commented that Shaq’s comment was “not racist,” and then invited listeners and radio commentators to call in jokes making racist fun of Chinese. For hours, people cracked jokes, such as offering free bike parking to increase Chinese attendance at basketball games. On Christmas Day, while calling the Celtics-Nets game for ABC, veteran sportscaster Brent Musburger lamented that “the hordes of China” might stuff the All-Star ballot box and vote Yao Ming in as the Western Conference’s starting center, rather than Shaquille O’Neal. How Kafkaesque, and how familiar, it is that the interests of the American media and those of Asian Pacific America are diametrically opposed. The media has betrayed their own dedication to controversy by making nothing out of something that deserves much ado. Rather than slam celebrity racism, as they have in the past, some media organizations obviously wish to reserve the right to revel in their own racism. Will the NBA punish racist speech, as it has in the past? The Association is too busy passing out fortune cookies. In “honor” of Yao’s first game in Miami, the Miami Heat on Dec. 16 passed out 8,000 fortune cookies to spectators. Yao found the promotion amusing but pointed out that fortune cookies have nothing to do with him. He said that he was not angry because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese. Let’s not beat around the bush. If a white player had, for instance, made monkey sounds to taunt a black player, it would have been a national controversy. But Yao is Chinese and Asians are fair game. For evidence, watch TV for a couple of hours. Asian Pacific America cannot, or will not, demand as much respect as other minority groups. What do sports commentator Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, NBA Head Coach Dan Issell and former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Trent Lott have in common? They all lost their jobs due to comments offensive to blacks or Hispanics. Golfer Fuzzy Zoeller, baseball pitcher John Rocker and basketball star Isaiah Thomas were all forced to apologize for racially insensitive comments. Spit on me once, shame on you. Spit on me twice, shame on me. What will our APA leaders do about this potentially explosive issue? In the past, our national leaders have tended to shy away from the harsh lights of TV cameras, nicely fitting our stereotype as quiet, obedient people. As media-hound lawyer Johnnie Cochrane single-handedly forces the NFL to consider more black head coaches, what will our APA leaders do about Shaq’s offensive taunt? Write a letter? Forgive my bitterness. I grew up in Texas, facing those “ching-chong” taunts daily while teachers averted their ears. I love basketball, and when Yao was drafted by Houston, I had to suppress my excitement, lest he turn out a complete flop. I went to see the Rockets play the L.A. Clippers on Dec. 12. Yao is a huge young man with huge skills. But he’s also a kid in a foreign land. You can tell by the way he carries himself when the ball is not in play. My heart goes out to Yao Ming. Yao Ming is our Asian Jackie Robinson, though he does not face the intensity of animosity Robinson faced. Unfortunately Shaquille O’Neal is the modern-day Ty Cobb, the rough-playing baseball superstar who used the n-word about Robinson. “I look forward to breaking down that mother f—’s body,” Shaq said of Yao Ming. “He said my name three times, two in Chinese and one in American. You don’t ever call me out. I’m from LSU.” Yao has never “called” Shaq out. But I am calling Shaq out. Come on down to Chinatown, Shaq. You disrespect Asian Pacific America, and we will break you down. Perhaps when you and the Lakers come to Houston on Jan. 17 to play Yao Ming and the Rockets, the APA community will have a press conference waiting for you. Perhaps there, before a national audience, you can apologize to Yao Ming, forfeit your NAACP award, and implore young people not to follow your example. Or perhaps nothing will happen. Another racial slur will be left to sink slowly into the APA collective unconscious and ferment as self-loathing. And then we’ll only have ourselves to call out.
Racism is racism. Shaq may be the daddy of fun, but he's not always funny. The ladies he jokingly spoke on the air about having bedded, Yao, etc. This is beyong 'political correctness' to just blind stupidity. Shaq, and anyone else, needs to be called on it. Loud and hard.
rH, this article has popped up a number of times here; I think it does because papers keep republishing the darn thing.
This IMO is not only a well-written piece but clearly identifies the absolute hypocracy that pervades American sports and political values.
I'll say two things 1) He shouldn't have done it in front of the media. That was his mistake. 2) Don't pretend YOU haven't done this with your friends. It's just humor. Nothing more. China needs to lighten up. I'm sure they make fun of Americans too. Yao may have even thought it funny. Could be a personal joke between the two of them. Who really knows.
It was a stupid and insensitive thing for Shaq to do. However, to liken parodying kung fu movie stereotypes to making monkey sounds is, frankly, ridiculous. The kung fu stereotype is essentially saying, "Chinese people talk funny and they all know martial arts." Making monkey sounds is essentially saying, "Black people are not human at all; they are incapable of language; they are more akin to some subhuman primate from the jungles of Africa." To suggest that one is anywhere close to as insulting as the other is, well, insulting. I'll concede the man has a point about the racial insensitivity. I get my back up too when the French are insulted, or -- when I was in Chicago -- Texans. But he wants to make it out to be a bigger deal than it is. This is not Jackie Robinson. When Jackie Robinson entered the MLB, his presence was widely resented. Yao's presence is somewhat resented in some quarters (see Smith, Kenny), but these resentments are roundly criticized and Yao is mostly welcomed with open arms. Do you think Shaq really hates having a Chinese player in the league? I don't think so; I think he was just trying to make a joke which fell a bit flat because it was insensitive. Same with Miami: they want to welcome and honor Yao in some way but were particularly adept in how to go about doing it. I'd say that doesn't count as racist, only racially insensitive. I'm not happy about that either, but I won't make a bigger deal of it than it is.
PhiSlamma... No matter how many friends were in on it...it never was funny to me. Ever. And never did I feel like I had to lighten up when I responded. As far as the comparison of Chinese and funny language and black's to monkeys goes...Ill agree with Juan Valdez that it isn't a fair or accurate comparison. So then If a white player were to turn his bottom lip way down, flatten his nose and mock black's would that be a more accurate comparision. Ching-Chong is meant as a racial slap...everytime...end of story.
I don't think Shaq is a racist, although what he said was very insensitive. He was trying to be funny without realizing the consequences. And he became a bad role-model for kids across America for that.
To see why, just reverse the roles. If Yao started calling out Shaq by pursing his lips and trying to speak in ebonics....do you still think it would be a joke? Or would everyone in the nation hear about it and be up in arms? I think it would be the latter. Its not ignorance. Its not necessarily racism. But its disrespect of an entire race of people, and considering the chinese population in LA, its just plain stupidity. Has this episode been brought to the attention of the NBA?
I never take Shaq seriously anyway. Through the years listening to him talk in his interviews has proven to me that he has the IQ of a goldfish and the education to compliment it. But then again that is not why he is in the NBA is it. I mean next time listen to this self absorbed ego mainiac when he talks, do you reallly expect him to act any different than he has? However, that being the case , and going back to Charles Barkeley's "role Model" argument I am sad to say more kids will emulate Shaq than true role models out there. Therefore, i think it is imoportant that someone gets media's attention to this pig, and when he shows up in town in his next game take signs in the game that would remind the ESPN and the national media of his idiotic coments.
Clowning or not- this is not funny. Shaq is a jerk. Regardless of Shaq's intent- the result is offensive and in extremely poor taste. Shaq makes himself look bad and ignorant.
Shaq is racist, but Tony Bruno is not; he has apparently been misrepresented by Mr. Tang. http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49284
Personally I don't care what Shaq thinks. Whether he is a racist or not doesn't worth my attention. But if a star player like Shaq made a controversial statement and/or remark about an asian player publicly and the media and NBA ignored it or played it down, then that sounds like a serious problem. So the problem at hand is not about Shaq at all. I think the author feels the same way with me (except that he hates Shaq also).
http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=2976#bottom Brian NYC: Good piece about Shaq on NBA Insider. Do you think he's a racist? I think the comment he made was tasteless and the reporter who wrote the article about it was right that there would be an uproar if a similar comment was made toward an African American athlete. I think an apology and/or an explanation from Shaq is needed. Thanks. Chad Ford: (12:49 PM ET ) Were Shaq's comments at Yao Ming racially charged? Absolutely. Did he intend them to be racial slurs? Only Shaq knows the answer to that. But what people tend to lose site of when we talk about isssues like this is that just because there wasn't an intent to do harm doesn't mean that there wasn't harm. I have received a ton of e-mail from Asian readers who were deeply hurt by Shaq's comments. I think Shaq would be surprised. Those close to him say he doesn't have a racist bone in his body and he was just trying to be funny. Of course they said the same thing about Fuzzy Zoeller.
But what "harm" are you referring to. The remarks were directed at Yao Ming. If Yao Ming doesn't care then can you still have harm? I don't think it's so cut and dry. If I call Shaq a dumass and he thinks it's funny, but China does not, then is there a problem?
