Meet Alexandra Wallace. She's a UCLA political science student with something on her mind. She's got a problem with Asians -- specifically, the "hordes" of Asians (and their families) in her apartment complex and the Asians answering their phones in "ching chong ling long ting tong" at the library. The original video has been taken down, but lots of cloned videos have been re-posted. You must see it for yourself:
This is so incredibly ignorant, it's almost hard to believe that she's for real. I've re-watched it several times now, and I actually find myself laughing at the sheer stupidity. For those who want the literary version, here's the full transcript of her rant. It's equally hilarious and infuriating. Read it aloud for full effect:
Okay, so here at UCLA it's finals week.Granted, it's annoying as hell when people answer their phones in inappropriate places. But it's clear that this person is uncomfortable with the large population of Asian students at UCLA, and is working out her issues in the most regrettable way possible.
So we know that I'm not the most politically correct person so don't take this offensively. I don't mean it toward any of my friends I mean it toward random people that I don't even know in the library. So, you guys are not the problem.
The problem is these hordes of Asian people that UCLA accepts into our school every single year, which is fine. But if you're going to come to UCLA then use American manners.
So it used to really bug me but it doesn't bother me anymore the fact that all the Asian people that live in all the apartments around me -- their moms and their brothers and their sisters and their grandmas and their grandpas and their cousins and everybody that they know that they've brought along from Asia with them - comes here on the weekends to do their laundry, buy their groceries and cook their food for the week. It's seriously, without fail. You will always see old Asian people running around this apartment complex every weekend. That's what they do. They don't teach their kids to fend for themselves. You know what they don't also teach them, is their manners.
Which brings me to my next point. Hi, in America we do not talk on our cell phones in the library. I swear every five minutes I will be -- okay, not five minutes, say like fifteen minutes -- I'll be in like deep into my studying, into my political science theories and arguments and all that stuff, getting it all down, like typing away furiously, blah blah, blah, and then all of a sudden when I'm about to like reach an epiphany... Over here from somewhere, "Ooooh Ching Chong Ling Long Ting Tong, Ooohhhhh."
Are you freaking kidding me? In the middle of finals week? So being the polite, nice American girl that my momma raised me to be, I kinda just gave him what anybody else would do that kinda like, [puts finger up to lips in a "shh" motion]. "You know it's a library, like, we're trying to study, thanks!" And then it's the same thing five minutes later. But it's somebody else, you know -- I swear they're going through their whole families, just checking on everybody from the tsunami thing. I mean I know, okay, that sounds horrible like I feel bad for all the people affected by the tsunami, but if you're gonna go call your address book like you might as well go outside because if something is wrong you might really freak out if you're in the library and everybody's quiet like you seriously should go outside if you're gonna do that.
So, thanks for listening, that was my rant. I just -- even if you're not Asian you really shouldn't be on your cell phone in the library but I've just never seen that happen before so thank you for listening and have a nice day.
Well, Alexandra, you obviously posted this video because you had these complex "epiphanies" about your fellow students, and dammit, you wanted to express yourself. So let me help you get the word out there. But remember, darling -- the internet is forever. I can't even begin to fathom how this silly little video is going to come back to bite you in the ass. And I actually feel sorry for you.
UPDATE: That said, I do not condone harassment or retribution towards Ms. Wallace. She's not a public figure or a corporation. She's a remarkably ignorant individual who did something extremely stupid and worthy of a great deal of ridicule. However, she should not have to fear for her safety. I've posted her video primarily for information, education and entertainment purposes, as a testament to the fact that ignorant attitudes like this are out there and thriving. Alexandra was just dumb enough to publicly broadcast it.
UPDATE:
And of course, here's the inevitable autotuned remix by Dracu Lo. Warning: do not listen to this if you don't want a repeated chorus of "Oooooooh ching chong ling long ting tong" stuck in your head.
And here's the official response to the video from UCLA administration, as reported by The Daily Bruin: Viral YouTube video called "repugnant" by UCLA administration.
UPDATE: Here is the UCLA Asian Pacific American Coalition's official response to Alexandra Wallace's rant: In Response to "Asians in the Library."
UPDATE: The Daily Bruin has reportedly received a statement from Alexandra Wallace in which she apologized for posting the video:
Clearly the original video posted by me was inappropriate. I cannot explain what possessed me to approach the subject as I did, and if I could undo it, I would. I’d like to offer my apology to the entire UCLA campus. For those who cannot find it within them to accept my apology, I understand.Yes, Alexandra. Clearly inappropriate. Something you definitely should have considered before uploading that damn thing. Definitely no undoing that now.
UPDATE: The UCLA Asian American Studies Center has also released a statement on "Asians in the Library." An excerpt:
"Asians in the Library" is a travesty on many levels, representing an attack on Asian and Asian American students and their families and undermining UCLA as a global university with deep ties to communities and institutions in Asia and other parts of the world. It entails a "new racism" by foregrounding students who speak Asian languages and have different family traditions, as it insidiously groups and attacks UCLA's American-born as well as our international students of Asian ancestry. As the only University of California campus without a diversity requirement, UCLA surely needs to implement a diversity requirement that will expose every student to the task of living civilly with people of different origins, backgrounds, orientations, and beliefs, whether they are born here or come from abroad.A diversity requirement might not be such a bad idea.
