"What's up with the Asians"

It was Thursday morning, June 26. I was driving to meet a couple people for breakfast in Madison Heights. Naturally, I was scanning the stations. 89X (88.7FM here in the metro-Detroit area) was my choice. They were doing their morning talk show. I didn't mind the lack of music - I'd listened to them for two years' worth of morning drives to high school, and I figured anything was better than silence.

As the hosts - "Dave and Chuck the Freak" - ended one segment, they started with "...and now for 'What's up with the Asians'." Cue "Asian style" background music. I could feel the all-too-familiar dread rising in my throat, and if I hadn't been driving, I would've slapped my hand to my forehead. Repeatedly.

The first section started off mildly enough, giving me a measure of hope that it wouldn't be as bad as I thought. The DJs discussed workplace regulations in Japan restricting employee waist size to cut down on obesity. Okay. Let's see what they have to say about - oh, look at that. Not even one minute in and one of the hosts has already made the unoriginal, sweeping generalization that all Asian people are short. Another one cuts in and starts doing an impression of a Japanese executive, complete with fake - dare I say it, racist - accent.

Next, they talk about Harry Lee, an recently-deceased Asian American sheriff from New Orleans. Who was a cowboy, in their words. They don't miss a beat in doing impressions of the late sheriff with the same fake accent, guffawing over the apparently self-contradicting image of a foreign Asian - as opposed to an Asian American, as Harry Lee was - donning the garbs of a cowboy. No respect for the dead. And beneath the juvenile humor lies a more harmful idea - Asians can't take on "traditional" American roles. An Asian American cowboy? That's ridiculous! What kind of accent would he have?

As one character says in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, "You're an American citizen, but you're not really an American."

At this point, I resigned myself to my growing disgust and flipped to another station. Was this what the station had come to? Of all the things going on in the world - in our country - they decided to devote a chunk of air time to mocking Asians and Asian Americans? And they did it using the same tired, old stereotypes - Asians are short. Asians can't speak English without an accent. That's what I call cheap laughs - no effort, no thought, and no heart - and it saddens me to see anyone stoop to such levels, but it's especially disappointing to see them do it.

I've listened to this station for years. Hell, I've enjoyed it, even if it's never been the brainiest comedy. 89X was a regular part of my day - something familiar but always fresh. That's why it was my first choice on that morning drive. And that's why I couldn't just roll my eyes and laugh at the ignorance on display. I felt actual disgust, as if a friend had turned around and made squinty eyes at me - you know, as kids did in the fourth grade. 89X, I thought you were better than that.

You can find the podcast of The Morning X on this page, under 8 a.m. Thursday, June 26. A direct link is here.

arthur