"there's a lot of, like, korean painter scam guys"

Oh, come on. Given past experience, I shouldn't really expect much from radio personalities, but here we go again. Media Matters points us to racist comments made on a recent broadcast of Clear Channel's John and Ken Show: John & Ken Show: "There's A Lot Of ... Korean Painter Scam Guys."

On the January 5 show, co-host John Kobylt was talking about a small claims lawsuit he had once filed against a "Korean painter." When pressed why it was relevant that he was Korean, he explained that there are a lot of "Korean painter scam guys"... and other broad, dumbass generalizations.

Here's the audio clip:



And here's a partial transcript:

FARREN: And the fact that he was Korean is relevant because?

KOBYLT: Oh, no, it is relevant, because --

CHIAMPOU: Good question, lawyer Shannon.

KOBYLT: Because there's -- because there's a lot of, like, Korean painter scam guys. There are certain cultures that --

CHIAMPOU: That is painting with a brush. Oh, here comes certain cultures.

KOBYLT: No, there's certain cultures that become involved in certain lines of work, and they bring their --

CHIAMPOU: And the word spreads that they can rip people off, like you.

KOBYLT: That's exactly right.

CHIAMPOU: The dumb Polish guy on the West Side.

KOBYLT: That's exactly right. Because they were charging way less money than an American painter, and my wife -- my wife went for the cheap bid, which we have never done again, because this is going back about 15 years. And, yeah, it really is -- they just invite all of their nephews and their brothers-in-law, and lets form a paint company, and let's do the quick squirt, squirt, squirt on the wall and disappear.

Um, has anyone else ever been taken by one of the purported hordes of "Korean painter scam guys" and his nephews and brothers-in-law? It sounds a bit like this dude is trying to fabricate an entirely new stereotype from scratch.

I'd never actually heard of The John & Ken Show, but it apparently has an audience of 1.2 million listeners... and, according to Media Matters a history of racially charged rhetoric. Surprise, surprise. (Thanks, Anna.)