In the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, there has been outpouring of support, concern and proactive response from the global online community. Unfortunately, there has also been no shortage of dumbass racist comments, from Godzilla jokes to remarks about "payback" for Pearl Harbor. The above tweet was posted Friday by Alec Sulkin, writer for the The Cleveland Show and Family Guy. He has over 160,000 followers.
To his credit, he has since deleted that tweet and posted a subsequent apology, perhaps due to the intense negative reaction it evoked, or maybe even because he realized that he had just made an intensely stupid and insensitive remark about the deaths of thousands upon thousands of people.
But the point was made, and damage done. And sadly, his remark was just one of the voices out there expressing similar stupidity. The tsunami disaster has inspired a parade of ridiculously racist and insensitive reactions from regular joe social media messages to public figures alike...
The Pearl Harbor comparisons seem to be the most immediate, with a legion of morons echoing Sulkin with their own dumbass updates on Facebook and Twitter. Just take a look at this huge status montage with a sampling of messages invoking "karma," "payback" and "Pearl Harbor."
This one is similar, but more graphic: Americans: Assholes of the World.
This tumblr account has made an effort to track and re-post all the terrible tweets about the quake and tsunami: Karma Japan.
More on this trend from the Village Voice blog: Facebook Imbeciles Think Japan Tsunami Is Karmic Payback for Pearl Harbor.
And more from our friend Joz on 8Asians: Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami: Did Japan "Deserve" It? As one friend put it, this is like the new "Swim you bitches, swim." Except that idiot with a friggin' Facebook account has assumed the role of being their very own Hot 97.
With the death toll in the thousands, thousands more unaccounted for, and the fear of nuclear disaster looming, comedian Gilbert Gottfried apparently thought this was the right time for a barrage of tasteless tsunami humor: Gilbert Gottfried -- SHOCKING Japan Tsunami Jokes. According to our friend Gil Asakawa, Gottfried has subsequently been fired as the voice of the Aflac duck.
You'll be totally shocked to learn that rapper 50 Cent had to join in on being an asshole: 50 Cent's Japanese Earthquake Tweets Spark Outrage.
Cappie Pointdexter, guard for the New York Liberty, has apologized for the uproar she caused over tweets like "What if God was tired of the way they treated their own people in there own country! Idk guys he makes no mistakes" and "u just never knw! They did pearl harbor so u can't expect anything less." I get the strong sense that Pointdexter doesn't have any idea what the f@#k she's talking about.
Then there's CNBC anchor Larry Kudlow, who was talking about how the global stock markets might have been affected in the wake of the quake, and was happy to report that "The human toll here looks to be much worse than the economic toll and we can be grateful for that." Incredibly poor choice of words, Larry.
The point of all this is that people should just keep their mouths shut when all that really comes out is stupid shit. But underlying all these monumentally dumb -- and now documented -- reactions is an enduring undercurrent of intolerance, resentment and prejudice towards Japan and its people. I swear, if ignorance was an Olympic event, America would proudly take the gold medal every time.