Of Course Your Chinese Spy Balloon Jokes Are Racist

"Weather Barroon"



The appearance of a Chinese surveillance balloon over North American airspace last week inspired about a thousand hand-wringing discussions about spying and safety. And, predictably, racist jokes.

Case in point, this tweet from Joel R. Carter Jr., a state senator from Mississippi who immediately went to the tired and shitty place for this comic gem to take a jab at the Biden Administration. Carter posted an edited image of the balloon with the words "Weather Barroon (Totary NOT for spying)."

Some classic shit, Joel. You really got 'em good.

Charlyne Yi Recounts Racist Remarks from Writer and Director David Cross

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.



Charlyne Yi -- the award-winning actor, comedian, writer, and musician best known for her role as a series regular on House, her voice acting work on Steven Universe, and her starring role in Paper Heart which she also wrote -- took to Twitter earlier this week to describe her first encounter with writer, director and actor David Cross.

In a series of four tweets, Yi -- who is mixed race Filipinx and Korean American -- describes how when she first met Cross, Cross made fun of Yi for her appearance. When she didn't respond, Cross reportedly said: "What's a matter? You don't speak English?? Ching-Chong-Ching-Chong." Cross went on to mockingly challenge Yi to a karate match.

At the time of the encounter, Cross was over forty years old, and already an established comedian, writer and TV and film actor with several stand-up comedy specials already under his belt. Yi was a veritable newcomer to the comedy and acting scene, and was only about twenty years old.

Sports writer fired for racist tweet about Indy 500 winner

"I am very uncomfortable with a Japanese driver winning the Indianapolis 500 during Memorial Day weekend."



On Sunday, Takuma Sato became the first Japanese driver ever to win the Indianopolis 500. Which was cool... but not so cool for one Denver sportswriter, who expressed on Twitter that he was "uncomfortable" with a Japanese man winning the storied motor race on Memorial Day weekend -- a tweet that promptly got him fired.

Not long after Sato crossed the finish line of America's most prestigious motorsports race, Terry Frei, a sportswriter for the Denver Post, farted out this ridiculous, thoughtlessly racist tweet trying to somehow draw an unfortunate connection between a Japanese driver winning the Indy 500 -- who says Asians can't drive? -- and the fact that he did so on a holiday meant to honor those who died while serving in the country's armed forces.

Speaking Truth to Power is not Cyberbullying: On Tone Policing and Respectability Politics

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.


Zach McGowan (left), who is not Native Hawaiian, has been cast to play Ben Kanahele (right) in the upcoming "Ni'ihau" film.

Last week, Deadline broke the story that writer/director Gabriel Robertson (EastEnders, Bucket, The Gift) was attached to write and direct a feature film based on the infamous so-called "Ni'ihau Incident." Deadline further reported that actor Zach McGowan (Dracula Untold, Terminator: Salvation, Black Sails) -- who is not Native Hawaiian -- had been cast in the leading role of Benehakaka "Ben" Kanahele, a historical figure and Ni'ihuaian who was awarded a Purple Heart for his role in the incident.

News of McGowan's casting triggered immediate backlash from Asian American and Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander activists, who accused the filmmakers of using "Polyface" to whitewash the character of Ben Kanahele. In addition, Asian Americans criticized early buzz surrounding the planned "Ni'ihau" film, which described the incident as a "catalyst" for Japanese American incarceration (Editor's Note: see JACL's Power of Words handbook).

In truth, the events at Ni'ihau Incident was co-opted by hardline conservatives to provide a veil of legitimacy to obscure the racist and anti-Asian motives behind Japanese American incarceration. History has since confirmed that Executive Order 9066 — which led to the forcible removal of over a hundred thousand Japanese and Japanese American civilians — was not based in significant military intelligence showing that Japanese Americans were untrustworthy; rather, Japanese American incarceration emerged as the latest escalation in a decades-long pattern of legalized anti-Asian and anti-Japanese harassment and criminalization.

Online outcry against "Ni'ihau" was fervent, taking the shape of memes, Twitter threads, and long-form thinkpieces. As it turns out, the filmmakers behind the planned "Ni'ihau" film were listening; and, they weren't very receptive to the criticism.

Hey, TV One. That's not Brenda Song. That's Jeannie Mai.

Oops. Totally different celebrity of Southeast Asian descent.



Welcome to another edition of All Asians Don't Look Alike, a concept that people apparently need slapped upside the head with on a regular basis, much to our annoyance. So check this.

The awesome Jeannie Mai is a co-host on The Real, which was nominated for Best Talk Show over the weekend at the NAACP Image Awards. So Jeannie and her colleagues attended the awards, and of course, walked the red carpet. TV One's Twitter account posted a photo of Jeannie and her co-hosts Adrienne Bailon, Loni Love and Tamera Mowry... but mistakenly labeled Jeannie as Brenda Song.

#NotAllTheSame: Trump Supporters Troll Washington Post Editor Because They Think All Asian Women Are The Same

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.


A woman allegedly takes a photograph of Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson during a break at his confirmation hearing.
Conservative Tree House expressed shock and outrage today from a video published to the internet of an (East Asian or East Asian American) woman who appears to take a surreptitious cellphone picture of Rex Tillerson's notes during a break from his confirmation hearing for Secretary of State. The story was then soon picked up by the Gateway Pundit.

The two Far Right blogs that frequently serve as alternative sources for conservative news cited "Twitter folks" to identify the woman in the video as Doris Truong, former president of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and a current editor at the Washington Post. Indeed, spurred on by these headlines, Twitter's Trump Trolls were quick to launch a torrent of hate Doris Truong's way, tagging her with hundreds of tweets calling her "sneaky", a "paid Clinton idiot", a "bitch", a "whore" and a "spy". The racist and sexist hate has also called for Truong to be arrested and charged with espionage.

There's a couple of problems with this. The first, of course, is that that woman is not Doris Truong.

Not all Asian women look alike. Let me say it one more time for the cheap seats: Not all Asian women look alike.

MTV writer sparks outrage with tweet over Jeff Sessions' granddaughter

But look at the adorable Asian baby sitting in the senator's lap.



Jeff Sessions has a significant and explicit public history of hostility towards civil rights and racial justice. His professional career has been defined by racism, and he is absolutely unfit for the role of U.S. Attorney General. Oh, he'll tell you that's not what's in his heart, and that he's being unfairly caricatured.

Also, look at this adorable Asian baby sitting on his lap!

On Tuesday, Trump's pick to be the nation's top lawyer appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary to give testimony regarding his nomination. He was accompanied by many members of his family, including his daughter Ruth Sessions Walk, her husband John Walk -- who is Asian American -- and their four daughters. One of the girls was prominently visible sitting on the senator's lap.

Critics alleged that putting the cute kid front and center was a calculated move. Ira Madison III, a writer/host with MTV News, posted a series of tweets suggesting that Sessions was using his nonwhite granddaughter as a "prop" to deflect the many claims that he is racist. He joked that the senator stole the kid from a Toys "R" Us, followed by a pretty astute tweet about America's use of Asian Americans as "model minorities."

Daniel Dae Kim offers Jesse Watters a plane ticket to see 'Hold These Truths'

"Maybe you will learn something about the role Asian Americans have played in the shaping of our country."



So you got mad about that racist Fox News segment by walking talking assbag Jesse Watters, in which he went to Chinatown with no other point but to make fun of Asians. Some responded to the piece with wickedly clever clapback videos, while some took the opportunity to simply call Watters a "racist piece of shit" in person. Actor Daniel Dae Kim is offering Watters a round trip plane ticket to Minnesota.

The Hawaii Five-0 star is offering Watters a plane ticket to see his friend Joel de la Fuente in the play Hold These Truths, now playing at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, to "learn something about the role Asian Americans have played in the shaping of our country." This is a serious offer -- "not a trick or joke" -- made in the spirit of understanding. He'll pay for Watters' round trip airfare.

Kim made the offer to Watters' via Twitter:

John Cho meets the guy who started #StarringJohnCho

"Turns out it was not my mom." Meet William Yu.



The totally awesome, widely celebrated #StarringJohnCho campaign challenges the dismal lack of diversity in Hollywood, imagining what it would look like if today's blockbusters cast an Asian American actor -- specifically John Cho -- as their leading man. Started by William Yu, the viral web project got the attention of a lot of folks, jamming social media timelines and getting mainstream news shoutouts from outlets across the board.

But what does the actual John Cho think of #StarringJohnCho?

"I thought the idea was fantastic," the Star Trek and Harold and Kumar star told Yahoo7. "I loved that it was sparking this discussion that otherwise we wouldn't be having and it did it in a postive way. It [the campaign] was kind of silly, but then people really did have that discussion, and it did get people thinking about it. I felt like it was me on the poster but it wasn't really about me. I really dig it."

Cho recently got to tell the creator of #StarringJohnCho how much he dug it -- in person. On Monday, he posted a photo he took with Yu, confirming once and for all that it wasn't his own mom behind the campaign.

The Most Idiotic Way to Commemorate December 7

Erick Erickson's parents apparently never forgave the entire continent of Asia for Pearl Harbor.



December 7 marks the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the so-called "Day of Infamy" that led to the United States' entry into World War II. Conservative pundit Erick Erickson -- who most recently was in the news for shooting a front-page New York Times editorial calling for gun control -- to share a fond childhood recollection of how his family used to observe Pearl Harbor Day: with shameless racism and xenophobia.

Erickson tweeted:

Mike Huckabee thinks he's funny, tweets racist dog joke

"I trust Bernie Sanders with my tax dollars like I trust a North Korean chef with my labrador!"



I considered simply titling this post "Fuck You, Mike Huckabee." But that's just a regular, everyday sentiment. This post concerns a joke that the Republican presidential candidate posted during Tuesday night's Democratic debate. On Twitter, the former Arkansas made a racist crack while criticizing Senator Bernie Sanders:

Harry Shum Jr posted a video. With dancing. And muscles.

Welcome to the Shirtless Shum Workout.



So... just because. Harry Shum Jr. casually posted this video the other day on Twitter. There isn't much to say about it, except that it involves dancing and shirtlessness and muscles. I think I've said enough.

Wall Street Journal tweets "chink in the armor" joke about Chinese president

Can we please retire this expression?



Come on. COME ON. I'm going to say it again: can we all just mutually agree to retire the expression "chink in the armor" -- especially in reference to anything having to do with China/Chinese/Asians?

Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal tweeted a link to a story about the perceived vulnerabilities of Chinese president Xi Jinping, and thought it would be clever to include the phrase "chink in the armor." Seriously? Is this somebody's not-so-sly attempt at slipping in a very obvious racial slur?

The tweet, which was posted on Sunday evening, was quickly deleted. A few hours later, the Wall Street Journal followed up the offending tweet with a perfunctory "no offense was intended" tweet, claiming that their use of a "common idiom" was nothing more than a huge coincidence.

Jeremy Lin reads "Mean Tweets" on 'Jimmy Kimmel' again

In which an NBA star's worth is compared to mustard pickles.



Jeremy Lin appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live the other night to take part in another all-new special NBA-themed edition Mean Tweets. If you're not familiar with the popular late night talk show segment, basically, celebrities read things that actual Twitters users have tweeted at/about them. And they're mean.

U.S. Army deletes "chinks" tweet

Can we please retire this expression?



Folks, I've said this before, but can we please retire the phrase "chink in the armor"? I know this is a legit, centuries-old expression, meaning "a vulnerable area," but its usage today just does not look or sound right and makes for awkward moments, regardless of intent. Our latest offender: the United States Army.

Army expresses surprise about racism allegations over deleted tweet

On Thursday afternoon, the Army's official Twitter account posted a tweet referring "chinks" in the armor of its special ops capabilities. The tweet, which prompted several accusations of racism, has since been deleted.

Somebody got yelled at for this 'Fresh Off The Boat' tweet

Show's official Twitter account posts offensive promotional image.



Who the hell thought this was a good idea? On Thursday, the official Twitter account for the new ABC sitcom Fresh Off The Boat posted a crappy promotional image depicting various people of the world... and their hats. It immediately drew the ire of the internet -- including angry words from Eddie Huang, whose memoir is the inspiration for the comedy, and Jeff Yang, whose son Hudson plays Eddie on the show.

Maybe Bobby Jindal shouldn't do State of the Union commentary

"Your welcome."



Before President Obama took the podium to deliver his State of the Union address, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal hopped on Twitter to publicly denounce and dismiss Obama's speech, offering his version of a summary that absolutely nobody asked for. He even smugly signed it off with "Your welcome."

Um, you mean "you're." Classic.

Aziz Ansari unleashes Twitter fury on Rupert Murdoch

It's all #RupertsFault.



You may have seen News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch's ridiculous, now-infamous tweet about holding all Muslim people responsible for a "growing jihadist cancer." Aziz Ansari sure saw it.

On Sunday night, the popular Indian American comedian -- who comes from a Muslim family -- took a moment to take Murdoch to task with a tirade of tweets of his own. It was gleefully vicious, in turn mockingly holding Murdoch responsible for egregious crimes committed in the name of Christianity.

With 4.93 million Twitter followers, Ansari set off a wave of tweets from scores of other users who got in on mocking Murdoch, and got the hashtag #RupertsFault trending in the United States.

Tell the Department of Justice to #LetUsVote!

40,000 voters in Georgia have no idea if they'll be able to vote tomorrow.



Got this passed along to me from our good friends at 18 Million Rising... In Georgia, at least 40,000 people don't know if they'll be able to vote in tomorrow's election. Forty thousand new eligible voters haven't been added to the state's voter registration rolls, even though they turned in all their completed registration paperwork.

The majority of these 40,000 voters come from Asian, Black, and Latino communities.

Despite a lawsuit filed by national and local organizations against Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp to speed up the processing of these "missing" new voter registrations, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Christopher Brasher failed to intervene on behalf of these voters.

It's being called "The Most Brazen Attempt at Voter Suppression Yet."

Last week, 18MR launched a petition demanding that the Department of Justice investigate Secretary of State Kemp's inaction, and to hold him and the state of Georgia accountable for these missing voter registrations. Today, with less than 24 hours until the polls open, let's turn up the pressure on the Department of Justice.

Are you active on Twitter? Here's 18MR's call to action:

Hari Kondabolu's Great Redskins Compromise

"The Redskins' tradition is only 81 years old. That's like one grandparent. One racist grandparent."



As a general rule, whenever Hari Kondabolu turns to the camera and says, "Hello, I'm comedian Hari Kondabolu..." you should definitely sit up and listen, because he's about to drop some knowledge. In this awesome Upworthy video, Hari discusses the unfortunate name of the Washington Football Team, and offers his solution for a compromise. Literal red skin. Take a look: