I implore you to read this Hyphen blog post by Kao Kalia Yang, who speaks out the racist mishandling of Radiolab's "Yellow Rain" segment: The Science of Racism: Radiolab's Treatment of Hmong Experience.I posted this piece earlier in the week on Facebook and Twitter, where it received a really strong reaction across the board. I was going to include it on the weekly "Read These Blogs" roundup, but on the second thought, it really deserves a dedicated post. That's how much I want you to read it:
On September 24, NPR show Radiolab aired a 25-minute segment on Yellow Rain. In the 1960s, most Hmong had sided with America in a secret war against the Pathet Lao and its allies. More than 100,000 Hmong died in this conflict, and when American troops pulled out, the rest were left to face brutal repercussions. Those who survived the perilous journey to Thailand carried horrific stories of an ongoing genocide, among them accounts of chemical warfare. Their stories provoked a scientific controversy that still hasn't been resolved. In its podcast, Radiolab set out to find the "fact of the matter." Yet its relentless badgering of Hmong refugee Eng Yang and his niece, award-winning author and activist Kao Kalia Yang, provoked an outcry among its listeners, and its ongoing callous, racist handling of the issue has since been criticized in several places, including Hyphen. When Hyphen's R.J. Lozada reached out to Kao Kalia Yang, she graciously agreed to share her side of the story for the first time. What follows are her words, and those of her uncle.This whole debacle is infuriating. Read the rest of the piece here.