9.08.2011

fox sports cancels show after racist usc segment

So... you know that racist Fox Sports segment they shot at USC? The one with all the funny-talking Asian kids who knew absolutely nothing about football? The network has canceled The College Experiment, the show on which the segment aired: Fox Sports cancels show after video mocks Asians.

The video features comedian Bob Oschack approaching Asian students at USC and asking them to give an "all-American welcome" to new Pac-12 Conference members Colorado and Utah. The joke being, of course, that the hordes of Asian kids at USC are anything but all-American.

The show has reportedly been canceled, effective immediately, and Fox Sports issued another apology to the University of Southern California, as well as to "the Asian and Asian American communities":
Fox Sports Network spokesman Lou D'Ermilio said in a statement that last week's segment was "clearly offensive and inconsistent with the standards FOX Sports believes in, and we sincerely regret that it appeared." He said the show that aired the video, "The College Experiment" would be cancelled effective immediately.

The Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, Colo. reported (http://goo.gl/RmKAE) about the video and the network issued an apology. The video shows a comedian approaching Asian students at USC and asking them to welcome the universities of Colorado and Utah to the Pac-12 Conference. The comedian tells the students to give the new Pac-12 members an "all-American welcome" and then mocks students' accents.

D'Ermilio says the video was removed as soon as the network became aware of it. He said "there was a breakdown in our internal processes" and that the network is taking steps to make sure an "incident of this nature is not repeated in the future."

"We sincerely apologize to the Asian and Asian American communities, and to everyone else who found this video offensive, and again to the University of Southern California, which was the unfortunate setting for the video," D'Ermilio said.
It's great to hear about the network taking responsibility and swift action about something like this, for a change. But what concerns me more is that someone, and however many people it takes to shoot, produce and distribute something like this, thought that it would be perfectly fine. Yes, I'd say there was more than a simple breakdown in "internal processes." That's racist! More here: Racist segment at USC forces Fox to deep-six 'sophomoric' show.

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