[Lorric]

To further clarify, this is the exact same deal as Bart Simpson putting a call in to Mo's Tavern with a stupid name like Seymour Butts and Mo falling for it. It just isn't English names this time.

[haloboy100]

I'd like to place a pizza order under the name I.C. Wiener, thank you.

[BloodEagle]

The company whose plane just crashed, killing three people and injuring over one hundred others, is upset that the mistaken broadcast which was later retracted has harmed their reputation.

 

To play Devil's Advocate for a bit, why should we let people get away with turning the death of three people into a racist joke?

Sure, in this case it seems like they're going after the wrong people. But if we're talking about the principle of the thing....

They specifically said that they'll never sue the organization that confirmed the names for the news organization.

Yes, the news organization was incredibly stupid for not realizing the joke, and they're internally punishing people for it, apparently.  But the initial error began further up the line, and suing the king's fool rather than the king strikes me as being disingenuous and deflecting, trying to drag attention away from any mistakes on the airliner's part.

ASIDE: And by the airliner's logic, even if there was no joke they should still be suing them for reporting on the issue.  The joke didn't make the airliner look bad, it made the news look bad.  The crash is what made the airliner look bad.

[NGTM-1R]

I don't think it's a racist joke. They're just playing with the names, it's got nothing to do with the race. It's just juevenile garbage, though in disgustingly bad taste.

The contents are race-based, it's racist by default.

[Luis Dias]

oh ffs everything is racist now?

If so, then I will unapologizingly defend a really good amount of racism. The funny good kind at least. And before you judge me too harshly I give you Zizek.

[Sandwich]

oh ffs everything is racist now?

If so, then I will unapologizingly defend a really good amount of racism. The funny good kind at least. And before you judge me too harshly I give you Zizek.

*snip*

Agreed. Racism IMO is maliciously treating another person as inferior just because they're different from you. It is not racist to acknowledge that those differences exist.

EDIT: Apparently, a prank wasn't needed to get unfortunately appropriate names...

On Monday, Suh, the Asiana spokesman, played down earlier reports that the company threatened legal action against the federal agency as well. "We will never sue the NTSB," Suh said.

[Lorric]

Agreed. Racism IMO is maliciously treating another person as inferior just because they're different from you. It is not racist to acknowledge that those differences exist.

Exactly.

[NGTM-1R]

Agreed. Racism IMO is maliciously treating another person as inferior just because they're different from you. It is not racist to acknowledge that those differences exist.

Exactly.

Pity that's not what happened here!

[haloboy100]

That's exactly what happened here. That's the entire point of racist jokes in this context; to use racist stereotypes as a method of humour.

Why are so many threads threads around here devolving into arguments about racism or sexism?

EDIT: Oh hey, they took down the video. The reason was because of a copyright violation.

Sure it was.

[Scourge of Ages]

EDIT: Oh hey, they took down the video. The reason was because of a copyright violation.
Sure it was.

Worry not!
http://youtu.be/wFA7t1sHxBI?t=44s
http://youtu.be/2GNQt578qHQ?t=6s
http://youtu.be/7ZR4Em9JJDw

[Sandwich]

That's exactly what happened here. That's the entire point of racist jokes in this context; to use racist stereotypes as a method of humour.

Except nobody was making any racist jokes in this prank. At worst it could be called a cross-lingual pun in bad taste. It was not singling out Chinese for racial properties or inferring that they are inferior in any way. It was merely making a pun based of what English-speaking Westerners perceive as Chinese-sounding names - the language, not the culture or people.

[karajorma]

Of course it's racist. The question is whether or not it's acceptably mild racism is the issue. I tend to believe if the situation was different it would be okay. But in the context of a plane crash, it is pretty out of order to make fun of the names of the pilots involved.

As for Asiana suing, well again, they're going after the wrong people. But there's a reason why you don't sue the judge while you're on trial.

[Lorric]

Except nobody was making any racist jokes in this prank. At worst it could be called a cross-lingual pun in bad taste. It was not singling out Chinese for racial properties or inferring that they are inferior in any way. It was merely making a pun based of what English-speaking Westerners perceive as Chinese-sounding names - the language, not the culture or people.

Again, exactly. It's no more racist than Bart Simpson and his calls to Mo's tavern.

[NGTM-1R]

Again, exactly. It's no more racist than Bart Simpson and his calls to Mo's tavern.

Except, you know, it's entirely based in race and doesn't work without a racial component, which is racist.

If you made this joke about white people, it'd be just stupid. Because they're white people. They don't have names at all like that.

[Luis Dias]

If you made this joke about white people, it'd be just stupid. Because they're white people. They don't have names at all like that.

You think white people haven't funny names to the other folks?

I have a friend of mine who is called Joaquim. When he presented himself to americans they laughed and laughed. They listened "Hi, I'm Joking".

If this kind of **** is racist, then consider me a fuill blown racist. From this kind of silly stupid criteria I'll even consider it a compliment.

[Lorric]

If you made this joke about white people, it'd be just stupid. Because they're white people. They don't have names at all like that.

You think white people haven't funny names to the other folks?

I have a friend of mine who is called Joaquim. When he presented himself to americans they laughed and laughed. They listened "Hi, I'm Joking".

If this kind of **** is racist, then consider me a fuill blown racist. From this kind of silly stupid criteria I'll even consider it a compliment.

I was thinking the exact same thing, that's what it comes down to. That's all it is. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm sure others with other languages can twist English names up into things which mean "other things" shall we say, in their own language. It would be a facinating subject in it's own right, it's something I've wondered about before.

You know, something like this with the boot on the other foot:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Fuchs

Maybe my name means something like that to someone else... 

[Luis Dias]

Ironically that was the most racist sentence I've come across in this thread so far. (the whites not having funny names)

[Lorric]

Ironically that was the most racist sentence I've come across in this thread so far. (the whites not having funny names)

  Yes! 

You had me worried there for a moment though, I thought you were talking to me!   

Speaking of which, we can have funny names in our own language. My mother went to school with a girl called Henrietta Fish. Then that girl got married. But it didn't help her. Because she then became Henrietta Stone.

Shame on her parents. 

[StarSlayer]

If Anita Baker married Moby Dick what would her name be...

[Lorric]

If Anita Baker married Moby Dick what would her name be...

There was someone with the surname Head at my school. He didn't have that name but I'm sure you can see the potential...