z****g
发帖数: 586 | 3 RALEIGH — More than 300 people, spurred by a late-night skit on national
television that offended people of Chinese descent across the country,
marched in protest Saturday in downtown Raleigh.
The protesters were outraged at ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” On Oct. 16,
the late-night show host asked a roundtable of children what the United
States should do about its debt crisis.
“Shoot cannons all the way over and kill everyone in China!” one boy
suggested.
Kimmel appeared to briefly mull over the idea.
“Kill everyone in China? Okay, that’s an interesting idea,” Kimmel
replied. Then he asked the children if the United States should allow the
Chinese to live.
“No!” insisted the boy, who suggested the Chinese should be killed, while
the other kids said yes.
Triangle protesters and others across the country don’t blame the children.
“Kids are kids,” read one sign. “But Jimmy Kimmel is not. ABC fire racist
.”
Kimmel and ABC have since apologized for the incident, but it meant little
to the protesters in downtown Raleigh. The group stood in front of the ABC
affiliate WTVD station on Fayetteville Street with signs such as “Hate
Speech Is No Joke.”
Some held up signs that read, “Teach Kids To Love, Not To Kill,” while
others held up signs demanding that ABC “admit its racist wrongdoings.”
One sign pictured Kimmel with a Nazi swastika just above his head.
On another sign, a smiling Kimmel asked a Gummi Bear dressed up like Hitler,
“How should we solve the world’s problem?”
Gummi Bear Hitler: “Kill all the Jews.”
Kimmel: “That’s an interesting idea.”
The well-organized protest was attended by several segments of the Triangle
’s Chinese-American community: gray-haired seniors, parents, college
students and scores of children from toddlers to teenagers.
Ge Sun, who has lived in Raleigh for more than 15 years, pointed out that
there are an estimated 10,000 people of Chinese descent living in the
Triangle.
One elementary-age child wrapped up in an orange fleece blanket held aloft a
sign that read, “Fire Jimmy Kimmel.”
Sun works as a scientist with N.C. State University and the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. He attended the protest with his 11-year-old son, Victor.
Sun said the child did not want to attend, but he told him it was important.
Sun described the protest as “a kind of education” on how important it is
for one’s voice to be heard.
“We rarely do this,” he said. “We rarely hear the Chinese voice.”
ABC offered an official statement after hearing from groups across the
country. WTVD officials released the statement Saturday to The News &
Observer:
“We offer our sincere apology. We would never purposefully broadcast
anything to upset the Chinese community, Asian community, anyone of Chinese
descent or any community at large. Our objective is to entertain. We took
swift action to minimize the distribution of the skit by removing it from
all public platforms available to us and editing it out of any future
airings of the show. We hope our actions and our apology effectively address
your concerns. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”
There has even been a petition filed for the Obama administration to review
at the White House’s “We The People,” an online initiative, where
citizens can petition the president to comment on issues if at least 100,000
people sign on during a 30-day period.
By early Saturday evening the petition had 102,760 signatures.
Lingchong You, who teaches biomedical engineering at Duke University, stood
on the steps in front of the Wake County Courthouse and told the protesters
that he saw the skit several days after it had aired. The segment was taped,
and You wondered why the show’s producers did not eliminate the segment or
at least edit out the offensive language.
You, the Duke professor, noted that Kimmel and ABC have both apologized, but
he said he is not convinced the apologies are sincere.
“They find excuses and blame those who feel offended for not having a sense
of humor,” he said.
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/11/09/3356702/chinese-americans-protest-kimmel.html#storylink=cpy |
