[BloodEagle]

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.

Well, the joke in and of itself is stupid.  The part of this that's funny is that the newscaster actually read them without getting it.  The names themselves weren't terribly amusing.

[Flipside]

My old school had a Wayne King and a Paul Skinback. They had such happy childhoods...

[Mongoose]

My brother had a friend named Michael Cox.  Yep.

[NGTM-1R]

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

No, I think white people don't have names like the ones used here. This joke's contents ar based on the race of the people it's being made about. It's racist by default. As Karaj noted, the question is whether it's acceptable or not.

Simply denying it's racist, however, is encouraging the minimal-understanding no-analysis Lorrics of the world to pretend that racism doesn't exist at all.

[Luis Dias]

White people have other kinds of names that will be laughable to foreigners in a different manner. Do you really believe in the ridiculous idea that somehow white people's names are "special" in this sense that no foreigner will laugh at them?

What is this "racist by default" thing going on here? It's evidently clear some kind of a stupid prankster thought it would be amazing to fool the tv's anchor into reading that thing on tv. Perhaps such prankster never even considered the idea that the anchor would not recognize the idiocy and was as surprised as everyone else who saw it live (or recorded). It is also obvious that the anchor was clueless about the whole shenanigan.

So I really fail to see "RACISM!" here (much more about total inappropriate pranksterism, outright stupidity from the editors and anchor of the show, etc.) and I really think it's almost offensive to read it here, as if racism was all about making fun of funny foreign names. ****, I really wished racism was about that. It isn't. It's something entirely different.

[Lorric]

White people have other kinds of names that will be laughable to foreigners in a different manner. Do you really believe in the ridiculous idea that somehow white people's names are "special" in this sense that no foreigner will laugh at them?

What is this "racist by default" thing going on here? It's evidently clear some kind of a stupid prankster thought it would be amazing to fool the tv's anchor into reading that thing on tv. Perhaps such prankster never even considered the idea that the anchor would not recognize the idiocy and was as surprised as everyone else who saw it live (or recorded). It is also obvious that the anchor was clueless about the whole shenanigan.

So I really fail to see "RACISM!" here (much more about total inappropriate pranksterism, outright stupidity from the editors and anchor of the show, etc.) and I really think it's almost offensive to read it here, as if racism was all about making fun of funny foreign names. ****, I really wished racism was about that. It isn't. It's something entirely different.

I really don't know why he can't see it. Are you mystified, Luis? I certainly am. It's as clear as day to me that it's not racist. It's obvious. It's exactly as you say it is. Naming conventions have nothing to with race. They can be changed. Unlike the race you are born into.

[Sandwich]

I'll say it again.... racism is treating or considering people who are different from you as inferior or less-capable. None of that was happening here. People weren't saying that the plane crashed because it was being piloted by Chinese pilots - that would be racist. The joke wasn't about the pilots being less capable or inferior in any way at all. It was about the Western perception of typical names in the Chinese language.

[Lorric]

Quite right Sandwich. It's about treating people as inferior or less-capable. Such as this example of Lorricism. Those poor Lorrics of this World. I'm a Lorric you know... 

Simply denying it's racist, however, is encouraging the minimal-understanding no-analysis Lorrics of the world to pretend that racism doesn't exist at all.

[Trivial Psychic]

Several years ago, Letterman had a top 10 list of people with names that get you ridiculed as a child.  The number one was Dick Assman.  He ran a gas station (a Petro-Canada I believe) outside Regina (no joke)(or was it Saskatchewan?).  Anyway, in 1995 my mother, brother and I went on a trip out to B.C. and we hit his gas station and there was a sign right outside that said "Home Of The Assman".

[Black Wolf]

Stephen Colbert pointed out why it's racist better than anyone on this thread.

[Zacam]

I'm pretty sure that the newscaster (regardless of their racial prejudices) didn't elect ahead of time to commit career suicide by saying "**** it, it's funny" and did it anyway.

So while the newscaster may not necessarily be a racist individual, racism is still present in the fact that she didn't engage her brain well enough to clue in to the fact that "wait a minute..." and as such, is passively racist by complicity.

As opposed to generic or aggressive racist, such as whomever thought that those names sounded "chinese" enough to see if anybody would actually air them. Or any of the people that can't say "fried rice" properly without trying to "sound" chinese saying it.

The context can be (and in this case, IS) extrodinarily racist, regardless of the disposition of its delivery or the disposition of the individuals involved.

And yes, it is also racist to have found it funny as **** and/or to have laughed about it. Sorry, there are no two ways about it.

[BloodEagle]

And yes, it is also racist to have found it funny as **** and/or to have laughed about it. Sorry, there are no two ways about it.

Finding a newscaster saying something completely inappropriate and thus ruining their career amusing makes me a racist?  Um. Okay. :/

[karajorma]

Did you honestly only laugh at the situation? Or did you find the names themselves funny?

There's a difference between being a racist (we all are, it's very hard not to be) and being a bigot. Just cause you occasionally find some humour in racial jokes doesn't make you a bigot. But it is the racist part of you that is laughing at the joke that those names sound Chinese.

Remember, this isn't a case of people laughing at someone with a real name that sounds funny in English. This is a case of someone inventing names which aren't real in order to make a joke about Chinese. It's made worse because in the west, oriental people have had to put up with this sort of joke for far too long. It's now in the same sort of league as making jokes about black people and fried chicken/watermelons.

I'll say it again.... racism is treating or considering people who are different from you as inferior or less-capable. None of that was happening here. People weren't saying that the plane crashed because it was being piloted by Chinese pilots - that would be racist. The joke wasn't about the pilots being less capable or inferior in any way at all. It was about the Western perception of typical names in the Chinese language.

So I assume these pictures are just about the Western perception of Chinese eyes, and also not racist?

[Black Wolf]

I'm pretty sure that the newscaster (regardless of their racial prejudices) didn't elect ahead of time to commit career suicide by saying "**** it, it's funny" and did it anyway.

So while the newscaster may not necessarily be a racist individual, racism is still present in the fact that she didn't engage her brain well enough to clue in to the fact that "wait a minute..." and as such, is passively racist by complicity.

As opposed to generic or aggressive racist, such as whomever thought that those names sounded "chinese" enough to see if anybody would actually air them. Or any of the people that can't say "fried rice" properly without trying to "sound" chinese saying it.

The context can be (and in this case, IS) extrodinarily racist, regardless of the disposition of its delivery or the disposition of the individuals involved.

And yes, it is also racist to have found it funny as **** and/or to have laughed about it. Sorry, there are no two ways about it.

I think it weakens the arguments aganst racism when stuff like this gets included though. Nobody's laughing because "Hurr Hurr, those yellow bastards sure do have funny names". We're laughing because the newscaster was too stupid to realize that the names weren't genuine.

FWIW, I thought it was funny. I thought Colbert's take on it was even funnier. If that makes me racist, well then, a racist I shall be.

[karajorma]

As opposed to generic or aggressive racist, such as whomever thought that those names sounded "chinese" enough to see if anybody would actually air them. Or any of the people that can't say "fried rice" properly without trying to "sound" chinese saying it.

The idea that the Chinese can't say "fried rice" is actually quite racist in and of itself. I've not spent enough time in Guangdong to know if it's justified when it comes to Cantonese but Mandarin speaks generally have no problems whatsoever pronouncing L's and R's. AFAIK it's actually the Japanese who have that issue, but I could be wrong there too.

Ironically it's us Westerners who have trouble with their R words. I don't know many Westerners who can pronounce the Mandarin word for Japan without quite a bit of practice.

[Flipside]

I'm not so certain, though, that racism can be inferred from not realizing a list of names was racist. That's kind of pushing the line for me. Yes, had she thought for 20 seconds, she might have spotted it, but when you are reading from an autocue, 20 seconds is often not an option.

We have a company down the road called 'Tak Kee Trading', which gets smirked about occasionally, it's not because of an opinion about race, it's about pronunciation, that's all. There was a huge factory on the River Severn in Wales, called 'The Jones Manufacturing Company', my Dad used to say that was where all the Welsh came from. Now, that was racist, but even a Welshman would have needed a really big chip on their shoulder to find it insulting.

[StarSlayer]

There's a difference between being a racist (we all are, it's very hard not to be) and being a bigot. Just cause you occasionally find some humour in racial jokes doesn't make you a bigot. But it is the racist part of you that is laughing at the joke that those names sound Chinese.

I'll say it again.... racism is treating or considering people who are different from you as inferior or less-capable. None of that was happening here. People weren't saying that the plane crashed because it was being piloted by Chinese pilots - that would be racist. The joke wasn't about the pilots being less capable or inferior in any way at all. It was about the Western perception of typical names in the Chinese language.

So I assume these pictures are just about the Western perception of Chinese eyes, and also not racist?

The stupid fools pulling on the corners of their eyes are failing miserably at making fun of physical characteristics common to Asian ethnic groups.  That's a physical characteristic that a person has no control over, it genetics.  Naming conventions are a cultural device, it's not intrinsically tied to an ethnic group.  Plenty of people in the world are of Asian descent and have names that are not considered typical of an Asian culture.  An Asian person can take the name John Brown just as easily as I could take the name Shingen Takeda.  While they are making a juvenile joke at the expense of cultural standards I don't think it rates the same as if they had made a targeted insult of Asian people over things tied specifically to their ethnicity such as the photos you linked.

For example:
"They must have crashed because they have slanty eyes." is unequivocally racist in the extreme and specifically ethnic characteristics.  On the other hand one of the local Chinese restaurants is named "I Yit Ho"  the pronunciation of which in English garners a juvenile chuckle.  There are English terms that translate into something equally silly in foreign languages as well.  I know American motor companies have occasionally fielded car lines in foreign nations that fell flat because the name they chose didn't translate well.  These are cultural differences that occasionally lead to juvenile humor.  While making a stupid jest at the expense of a tragic situation was extremely stupid and those responsible should be held accountable I don't think acting like KTVU is the KKK is quite warranted. 




As for the folks thinking its hilarious "this dumb woman" read them out loud, try repeating what's on the teleprompter professionally for a few years before you get too full of yourselves.  It's worth a chuckle maybe but insulting her intelligence and trying to build a case for her being a bigot is unfounded.  If people can autopilot through leaving their child in a vehicle do die of hyperthermia I think this woman can be cut some slack for auopiloting through a list of names.

[Lorric]

As for the folks thinking its hilarious "this dumb woman" read them out loud, try repeating what's on the teleprompter professionally for a few years before you get too full of yourselves.  It's worth a chuckle maybe but insulting her intelligence and trying to build a case for her being a bigot is unfounded.  If people can autopilot through leaving their child in a vehicle do die of hyperthermia I think this woman can be cut some slack for auopiloting through a list of names.

This deserves some attention. I never thought the woman was dumb either, she's paid to read what they put in front her. It's someone else's job to make sure the information is accurate, and that's where the failing was here. I just felt sorry for her. I thought about the way you could get put into autopilot as a newsreader myself, but the part about the kids in cars is a really nice touch.

[Dragon]

Well, as far as she knew, the crew were called that. A newscaster is not a reporter, in her situation, I'd have read those names, too. That's she's paid to do, afterall, not to question the data she's given. This could (and probably did) raise a few eyebrows, but considering some things newscasters read on a daily basis, it's reasonable to assume she dismissed it as another weird coincidence (as a news anchor, she certainly had her share of those).

[Scourge of Ages]

Remember, this isn't a case of people laughing at someone with a real name that sounds funny in English. This is a case of someone inventing names which aren't real in order to make a joke about Chinese.

An old classmate of mine named Hugh Gerald Rection may disagree with you (he was also not real).

And I think it bears mentioning that the crew were Korean, not Chinese, and the fake names were definitely more Korean-sounding than Chinese. Also, the real relief first officer was named Bong Dong-won. ^{1} So, there's that at least.