Miley Cyrus and Activism
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If you’ve been around the AA blogosphere for the past few weeks, you’ve seen the whole hoopla over Miley Cyrus and the slant-eyed pose. It was discussed on all the major Asian American sites, and you can see it on the 44s over here. Miley first offered a half-apology, and when the Organization of Chinese Americans called her out on it, she offered a 3/4 apology. In her second “apology,” she wrote on her own site:
I really wanted to stress how sorry I am if the photo of me with my friends offended anyone.
It’s a non-apology apology.
Anyway, Minority Militant learned that Miley Cyrus has been invited to the White House, and he has asked his readers to write to the White House and to express their disappointment. I support his effort, and I posted more of my own views on bigWOWO here.
Now I know the arguments.
1. Why bother? It won’t do anything.
2. This isn’t such a big deal.
3. It’s a defensive maneuver. We need to do proactive stuff and not get bogged down by negativity.
I might agree with #1 since historically the mainstream has swept Asian American issues under the rug. But that’s an educated guess, not an opinion.
I disagree with #2 since it’s a symbolic gesture that ought to be called out.
I agree with #3 in spirit, but I find it hard to see how a letter and a 42 cent stamp is much of an investment of time and money that would get one “bogged down.”
In short, I think TMM is right. We need to speak out. Sure, no one is dying because Miley Cyrus is making fun of Asian people. But there’s a trickle down effect with everything celebrities do. It’s not healthy to have someone with those views as a child celebrity on the Disney payroll, nor should people of those beliefs be invited to the White House. At the very least, the mainstream should hear our views.
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lopan
5:16 pm | Feb 12, 2009You can’t even tell it’s Miley in that photo. She looks so chinese!
Scaramanga
7:44 am | Feb 13, 2009Asians Want $4 Billion From Miley Cyrus
lopan
3:44 pm | Feb 13, 2009That lawsuit is ridiculous. Look, the chinky eyes thing is horrible and it sucks. I know the asian american community is hurt and offended, and now they’re looking for blood. Having said that, I wish we could maintain some perspective through this.
What Miley did was wrong. She didn’t know it at the time, and her apology sucked, but come on — she’s a teenaged kid. We’re holding her upto a very high standard for social and racial sensitivity that, frankly, i don’t think any kid her age meets. It’s all over the news now that Miley’s a racist and the Asian Americans are pissed — but what’s going to be accomplished after this? I don’t think any progress will be made on behalf of AA race-relations. People aren’t seeing this as a huge slight against AA’s, and they certainly aren’t having that lightbulb moment where they realize how racist they are. No, instead, what’s going to come out of this is that AAs are super-sensitive, can’t take a joke, and will jump all over a poor teenage girl and blow it all out of proportion (e.g. frivolous lawsuit). Watch out for the crazy asians!
I’m not saying that the reaction isn’t warranted; i’m saying that we need to choose our battles. Perception is just as important as the cause — to get people on our side they need to empathaisze and see the injustice. Sadly, no one will be on our side if we blow up on a stupid teenage girl who doesn’t know any better.
SamuraiJack
5:36 pm | Feb 13, 2009I wonder who that Asian guy is, and if he was in on the “joke” or not. In any case, I’ll place my bet that he “wasn’t offended”, probably because he’s been brainwashed into dismissing racism by society.
I don’t think being a teenager excuses that behaviour. We’ve become too accepting of racism that this type of behaviour is too common. It’s not just her that did it, her whole group of friends did the “chinky eyes” thing:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tmz.com/media/2009/02/0211_miley_faces_ex.jpg
Yes, we need to choose our battles, but what sort of message does it send if we do nothing about this? It sends exactly the same message that’s been sent all along - that it’s okay to be racist to Asians as long as it’s in the context of a joke. How do we prevent this sort of behaviour in the future if we don’t speak up about it now?
Asians have been unwilling to confront racism when it’s been indirect - are we going to give up confrontation in this case as well? What’s next, we only complain if they pass racist laws again? A line has to be drawn, and ideally, each time the line should be redrawn forward.
etain
6:01 pm | Feb 13, 2009Just to offer an anecdote — today my students took a field trip. Of course they all had cameras. First photo they took someone did the Miley Cyrus chinky eyes, and besides me there was also an Asian student sitting at the table. You better believe they heard it from me.
THX1138
8:40 pm | Feb 13, 2009That lawsuit is not the best way to handle this situation. The person that launched it is either misguided or an economic opportunist. It’s not a good idea.
I would focus more on the issue of White media racism and Disney in general. Miss Miley and her “goofy faces” are just a symptom of this problem. When Miley’s career is long over and she is relegated to “Where Are They Now” documentaries on the E! Network, the issue of anti-Asian racism will still remain.
That said, I don’t believe in turning the other cheek or worrying about appeasing (White) Mainstream sensibilities on this issue. In America, that type of groveling gets you nowhere and is an attitude that some “Orientals” are plagued with, if ya know what I mean.
The question all boils down to tactics–what is the most effective tactic in dealing not only with Miss Miley but more importantly White media racism in general.
kushibo
2:54 pm | Feb 21, 2009How could you grow up in America and by age sixteen not know this was offensive? Or am I projecting my California upbringing on the rest of the country?
jaehwan
1:38 am | Feb 23, 2009I posted this in the forum, but if anyone is interested in writing to Disney, I have a downloadable database here:
http://www.bigwowo.com/2009/02/my-letter-to-disney/
It lists the names and company addresses of 13 Disney execs. I mailed them all last week. I also sent a copy to the Organization of Chinese Americans and the Committee of 100.
By the way, there’s a Chinese guy on the Disney Board of Directors. Not saying that that will do anything, but just saying…
mojorider
1:00 pm | Feb 24, 2009I don’t think the lawsuit was meant to be serious other than a way to be a major thorn in someone’s ass. I find nothing wrong with it and in fact think more agitation should be done. Whether or not the lawsuit amounts to anything (most likely, it’ll get tossed by the judge) is besides the point. I think it sends a message that you can’t be dismissive of Asian Americans and think there will be no consequences to being racially insulting, whether intentional or not. Someone needs to be the gadfly, the Asian Al Sharpton.
On the other hand, hitting hard at the economics is an even better idea. The letter writing campaign to Disney is a good start. Afterall, since they’re the parent company for the stupid Hannah Montana crap, do you think they want bad publicity? Or anything to do that may affect revenue? We may be a small minority group, but we can also flex economic muscle if we want to. And that captures a corporation’s attention.
When it comes to voicing displeasure, we could take a page from black community in how to respond. Just look at the reaction to the NY Post’s decision to run that political cartoon. All of a sudden, Rupert Murdoch is issuing a lame apology, with the usual, “if anyone was offended”. And still, the NAACP is calling for the firing of the cartoonist.
I dunno what the best tactic is, but it seems that the black community is able to get much more responses. Whether that’s thru fear or intimidation, whatever, it sends a message that this stuff is not to be tolerated. Maybe it’s a balance of both: being the gadfly and being calm and rationale.
Now, I need to write my letters.
jaehwan
2:12 pm | Feb 24, 2009Hey Mojo,
Thanks for the comment! I agree with you on Miley. And thanks for writing letters. We need to send them the message. They should hear our voices, since the media (haha…ie them) is not doing a good job. As for my own letters, so far only OCA has responded. Disney hasn’t said anything, nor has the Committee of 100. I’m still waiting.
Earlier today on my personal blog, I wrote about Rupert AND the very issues that you raised. AND I made the same comparisons between the NY Post and Miley incidents. Great minds think alike! However, I actually like Rupert’s apology. He said:
“It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such. We all hold the readers of the New York Post in high regard, and I promise you that we will seek to be more attuned to the sensitivities of our community.”
He’s saying that the Post was not attuned to the sensitivities of the community, and he’s promising changes. That’s pretty strong. If Disney promised to be more attuned to the sensitivities of our community, that would be a giant step forward.
Yes, sometimes I wonder about what’s going to get people to do the right thing. Rupes is married to one of the most famous and powerful Chinese American women in the world. If Wendi Deng doesn’t have access to Rupes’s ear, I don’t know who does.
SamuraiJack
4:18 pm | Feb 24, 2009I still think that was a cop-out answer:
The words “interpreted”, and “sensitivities” imply that it wasn’t really racist, but just interpreted as such, as well as the offended parties being too “sensitive”.
A better apology would be to acknowledge that it is racist, and to hold accountable the offender, as well as to promise changes to make sure it never happens again. This is probably wishful thinking though. I would take the above apology any day over the Miley “apology” though.
And yes, Asians do need to become more “militant” (vocal) about shit like this. It’s too bad we suppress and ridicule the more militant Asians - we do need an Al Sharpton, or a Jesse Jackson. Our “artists” are also pretty lame, we need people like John Legend who give a shit.
jaehwan
4:35 pm | Feb 24, 2009SJ:
He said that it wasn’t meant to be racist, and maybe it wasn’t. Even Sharpton himself, when this first came out, didn’t jump the gun on judging the artist’s intentions; Sharpton himself began by asking for clarification.
So it may be unintentionally racist. Promising to become more attuned is basically a promise to listen. I would love for that to take place on the Miley issue.
mojorider
4:40 pm | Feb 24, 2009yeah, it might be a cop out or kind of a lame apology, but it’s much better than Miley’s “IF I offended anyone” qualification. At least here, Murdoch pledges not to be tone deaf on racial sensitivites.
The thing I’ve been trying to research is to see just how much Disney merchandise is manufactured over in Asia. That might make a compelling argument that one of their network stars just insulted the very people who help keep Disney afloat working in their sweat shops to make Mickey Mouse figurines and crap like that. The very people who help keep Disney’s revenue and stock price up thru lower costs of production.
And I think the letter writing campaign of harrassment, while being civil and well thought out, is good, I still like the pit bull attack of lawsuits and what not being done. People don’t see this a slight against Asians because we don’t raise a big enough stink about it to provide the ignorant with a little education. Even though we’re not responsible for their education.
We’ll see what generates a response: the militancy of lawsuits and being a gadfly, or thoughtful letters with cogent arguments designed to shame the Disney pukes for not publicly dealing with this. maybe they did put pressure of Miley behind the scenes—we don’t really know. But I don’t think they like the idea of bad publicity and Walt Disney employees being labeled racist by extension either.
mojorider
5:16 pm | Feb 24, 2009Interesting to know Disney was also behind insulting Pacific Islanders as well:
http://localsknowhawaii.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-letter-to-disney.html
More contact info from TVcom.forums:
disneychannel@disneyonline.com
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Disney Executives:
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Anne Sweeney Co-Chair Disney Media Network President
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Write The President and Director of The Disney Channel
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Write The Disney Channel Worldwide President of Entertainment
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Write The Chairman of Walt Disney Studios
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