Racist Comments by The Jersey Guys of NJ 101.5 FM

[ric]

This should be a sticky

from another site i'm on:

**************************************
ECAASU ACTION ALERT: April 27, 2005
**************************************

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

"The Jersey Guys" Make Outrageous and Racist Comments on New Jersey 101.5 FM Against Korean American Running for Edison Mayor!!

Is this another case of Miss Jones??

Craig Carton and Rich Rossi, known as "The Jersey Guys" made insensitive remarks towards the Asian Pacific Islander American community during the April 25, 2005 broadcast of their show. What started as comments against Jun Choi [http://www.junchoi.com/ ], a Korean American who is running for Edison, NJ mayor, turned into an outright attack against our community.

Below is a partial transcript of the Jersey Guys Radio show on April 25, 2005

Craig Carton and Ray Rossi
http://www.nj1015.com
New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio
PO Box 5698
Trenton, NJ 08638

Craig Carton: ìWould you really vote for someone named Jun Choi [said in fast-paced, high-pitched, squeaky voice]?î

Craig Carton: Iím using Jun Choi [said in fast-paced, high-pitched, squeaky voice] as an example of a larger problem.

Ray Rossi: and you knowÖ

Carton: Weíre forgetting the fact that weíre Americans.

Rossi : You know that heís going to get theÖ whatever that vote is

Carton : And hereís the bottom line... no specific minority group or foreign group
should ever ever dictate the outcome of an American election. I donít care if the Chinese population in Edison has quadrupled in the last year, Chinese should never
dictate the outcome of an election, Americans should.

Rossi: Americans should, exactly

Craig : And itís offensive to meÖ not that I have anything against uh AsiansÖI really
donítÖ i donít like the fact that they crowd the goddamn black jack tables in Atlantic City with their little chain smoking and little pocket protectors..

Rossi: Now now now..thatís an issue with me..

Carton: Iím just saying, now thatís all Asians, not just KoreansÖyou knowÖ you got
Pai-Gaw poker playing.

Carton: My point is on a much larger stand..

Rossi: I understandÖ but you see you had to put that out thereÖ

Carton: Weíre bending over backwards to cater to fringe groups of people and I donít
like it!

Rossi: As long as we understand where youíre coming fromÖ with the, uh poker table
group...

Carton: Well go to AC for one week and try and get a tableÖ ëching chong, ching chong, ching chong [Mimics Chinese accent..] hehe you hit it on 17 you stupid b*tchÖ
the dealerís got a 5..im holding an 18Öwhatíre you hitting forÖ you know? They do it all day and nightÖthey got their little beady pocketbooks with the little beads on itÖ they take out wads of 100sÖ ching chong ching chong [accent] they donít know how to play the gameÖ eh, honey i got a 13 and Iím playing against a 6Ö

Rossi: Hehe, their money is green too! [Laughter]

Carton: There should be like Asian-only rooms in casinosÖ but just to be fair, I have nothing against themÖ

Rossi: No, of course not [laughter]

Carton: Very good peopleÖ very nice people...
[Commercial Break]

Carton: Asian Americans factoring in the Edison race, Korean native and mayor both court the growing segmentÖ uh Iíve said it about the Arabs about 4 months ago, Iíve said it about uhÖ you name a group thatís suddenly important in politics, other than Americans as a whole and I got a problem with itÖ Iím not nitpicking any one specific group... I donít likeÖ like when Corzine came out and saidÖIím counting on the Arab community to get me electedÖ right then and there you lost my vote!

Rossi: Well, butÖ you see what it isÖ

Carton: He was over at the Nordic lodge of Rhode IslandÖ cuz I go to this place where its like 60 bucks for all you can eatÖ and I thought he was lying to me
[Unrelated Topic]

Caller: Good, how are you guys?

Carton: Doing good, babe.

Caller: Itís government for the people of the people and by the people and as long as you guys became American citizens and now have the right to vote, why not have them vote for someone who they feel comfortable with and will take care of their issuesÖ

Carton: WellÖ Iím glad you called with thatÖ god-forsaken disgusting liberal viewpoint, uh mickeyÖ

Caller: Iím not a liberal at allÖ itís by the constitution of New JerseyÖ
Carton: Well, you are a liberal by definitionÖ by definition you are a liberalÖ.if theyíre here legally and theyíre Americans, I think they ought to vote forÖ [mocking falsetto voice] no no noÖthatís liberal by definitionÖ so let me explain to you what the
problem is with it mickey so you can be a little bit brighter at the dinner table tonight, ok?

Caller: Ok

Carton: They are Americans, they have every right to vote. I will never deny them that, you know my grandparents came over here, they wound up with the right to vote and theyíre very proud of itÖ same with Rayís and most of our listenersíÖ they also have
the right to run once they become Americans, and I donít begrudge them that either, my problem is this: when we start focusing our campaigns on the minority of people and not the majority of people, I find that to be problematicÖ anybody running for office, whether itís the Mayor of Edison or the Governor of New jersey, the focus should be whatís good for the breadth of people, whatís good for everybody, and its obnoxious to
me, although I understand itís a business, and its how you can get elected, if you say out loud, well if I can simply get the Asian vote I can win the election..

Rossi: Now thatís what it isÖ

Carton: And thatís what problematic to meÖ much as like we give DMV exams in Spanish, and French, and in Swahili, weíre getting away from what our core is and that is America..

Rossi: Which is trueÖ

Carton: And Iím troubled by itÖ and I donít wanna hear a candidate, whether theyíre Chinese, or white, or black, saying oh if I can only get the Chinese vote I can winÖ
well what about me? IímÖ seeÖ Iím the average guy, thatís why weíre successful, Ray and I represent the average guy in NJ, blue collar white peopleÖ

Rossi: There you go.

Carton: And no one gives a damn about us anymoreÖ

Rossi: Thatís right.

Carton: And if we cry about itÖ you know whatís brought up? Slavery... or if we cry about itÖ well you know, ching chong, ching chong [Mimics Chinese accent] you
bombed us [Chinese accent] you know? The fact is, I donít care if whites are a minority, it doesnít matter to me, thereís no voice of the average blue collar white guy anymore, cuz all these politicians are worried about the fringe groups.

Rossi: Well thatís the thingÖ

Carton: God forbid you offend an Asian, really! And I hate itÖ god forbid that a politician was out here and offends Asians, or blacks, or old peopleÖ but at the end of the day, Iím the guy thatís gonna get them electedÖ

Rossi: There you go.

Carton: And they donít give a damn about me!

Rossi: Nope.

Carton: Well the second Thursday in May they willÖ cuz Ray and I are hosting the only in-state debate amongst at least the Republican candidatesÖ

Rossi: Thatís right

Carton: Almost all of them confirmed, is that right , C-dog?

C-Dog: Thatís right.

Carton: Itíll be myself, Ray Rossi and Bob Ingle of the Gannet newspaper chain and every guy running for uh... governor on the Republican side will be here in studio
because you knowÖ we care! And were not gonna let these guys cater to minority groups simply cuz it makes them look good.

Rossi: Exactly

Carton: You have to cater to me, b*tches.
Rossi: Hmmm, thatís it.

Carton: Iím the rain maker.

Rossi: Look at that, the rainmaker

Carton: Well, thatís a little cocky though

Rossi: Well, no, thatís a tad on the cocky tip but thatís alright, thatís okay.

Carton: Itís May 12th by the way, 4pmÖ If youíre running for governor, youíre invited but you have to go through C-dog cuz I donít know want weedman showing upÖ ëNo, you guys said I was invited, Iím runningÖ Typical keeping it brotherÖ No heíll wanna ask some of the questionsÖ [Mimics voice]

Rossi: Right [Laughter]

Carton: All rightÖ hereís Sharon in Edison NJ on 101.5. How you doiní Sharon?

Caller: Hi, I love you

Carton: Thank you.

Caller: You just said it all, the last couple of Ö callers, I guess they donít know that they live in America and weíre being overrun. I had just moved out of Edison because of what has happened in the past 10 yearsÖ Orientals are all along, the whole complete route 27. And Indians have taken over Edison in north and all over.

Carton: Damn Orientals and Indians.

Caller: I..i moved out..36 years Iíve lived in Edison

Carton: And what was the biggest problem you had with the Orientals and the Indians ?

Caller: I canít handle them! Thereís no American people anymore.

Carton: Eh..

Caller: There shoving us the hell out!

Carton: Itís like youíre a foreigner in your own country isnít it?

Caller: You go to own store and you canít even see American people, you donít see our own kids, American kids, working in stores anymoreÖ

Carton: Like the next time you see an American, you think youíll probably hug him or high five him or something?

Caller: Oh, thatís why where I moved too, thatís all I have, thank god for now anyways.

Carton: Yeah Iím with youÖ Sharon, weíre just the voice of the people, and I appreciate your call.

Caller: Keep up the good work.

Carton: All right, you got it babyÖ I think the quote was damn ëOrientals and Indians.í

[Child rendition of American anthem on and fades into background]

Carton: Thatís right baby, who wrote this, a white guy did!

Carton: By the way, did you see the girl singing the national anthem in the Canadian/US hockey game over the weekend?

[Unrelated Topic]

Carton: Listen I love my country, Iíll never make any excuses for thatÖ and I think the majority should be catered to, not the minority

Rossi: Correct
Thatís how I feelÖ
[ìAmerica, The Beautifulî song on and fades into background]

[Commercial Break]

Carton: Alright, in Edison, this is just another example of us losing our own countryÖthe uhÖ Asian American candidate ìJun Choiî [said in fast-paced, highpitched,
squeaky voice] and uhÖ heís capitalizing on the rapid growth of the Asian community in Edison, but so is his uhÖ I guess so is his competitorÖ

Rossi: Well, his competitor is doing the same thing.

Carton: Spadoro says ì Iíve got the Asians on lockdown.î

Rossi: Right exactly

Carton: Now if I was an Asian I guess I donít know Iíd vote for the Asian. Well I mean havenít you done that before?

Rossi: Who knows my needs better thanÖ

Carton: Havenít you?

Rossi: Yeah, I used to vote for the ItalianÖ

Carton: You know what?

Carton: Yeah, thinking that his corrupt ways would benefit me in the long way run.

Rossi: So did I, when I didnít know what the hell they stood for I just say (phh) go Italian.

Carton: Look how good that did us. Look at the hole weíre in now. Nice move jack ass. thanks.

Rossi: Well what do you want me to tell ya, I tried.

Carton: You da one responsible for Florio
[Continued]

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Read the rest of the transcript which is attached to the email.

Email Eric Johnson the Program Director for NJ 101.5 FM and let him know these comments were racist and should not be tolerated!

Eric Johnson ñ ej1015@nj1015.com

Check out their website http://www.nj1015.com/index.shtml

[ric]

NObody else is pissed?

Craig Carton, ????

RICH ROSSI 206 BELLEVUE AVE MONTCLAIR NJ (973) 233-0520

[AcousticDoc]

These Asians they are reffering to...are they american born?

[xian]

NObody else is pissed?

It took me a minute to read through. It's funny, I've been teaching about this very topic in class through a unit that deals with "What makes someone a 'real' American?"

My students are doing a hell of a lot better than those two idiots on the topic.

A tip as people bombard the station with emails: Try not to use a predictable title for the email as the manager will likely start filtering new mail by title.

As we write-up responses, let's post them here, so we can share each other's ideas...

[ric]

These Asians they are reffering to...are they american born?

Why does that matter?
We are lumped into one big far east pile.


Yes, to your question

[ric]

NObody else is pissed?

It took me a minute to read through. It's funny, I've been teaching about this very topic in class through a unit that deals with "What makes someone a 'real' American?"

My students are doing a hell of a lot better than those two idiots on the topic.

A tip as people bombard the station with emails: Try not to use a predictable title for the email as the manager will likely start filtering new mail by title.

As we write-up responses, let's post them here, so we can share each other's ideas...

GOOD ideas

Well Rich will be expecting a call from today. I encourage those who can do same.

[maogirl]

damn, ric, give us some time to respond!


yes, this is fucking racist, and my emails will be sent. anyone else that we can email/contact?

[ric]

damn, ric, give us some time to respond!


yes, this is fucking racist, and my emails will be sent. anyone else that we can email/contact?

http://www.jacl.org/about.html
http://www.naaap.org/
http://www.perilmovement.com/
http://www.naatanet.org/index.html
http://www.manaa.org/
http://www.80-20initiative.net/
http://www.asianmediawatch.net/
www.asianmediawatchdog.com



Eric Johnson ñ ej1015@nj1015.com

Check out their website http://www.nj1015.com/index.shtml

__________________________________________________ ____________
RICH ROSSI 206 BELLEVUE AVE MONTCLAIR NJ (973) 233-0520........

Yea am twisted like that.
This fvck is gonna get something in mail, phone, and plenty of other things

[King_Kai]

http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-0/111458008975470.xml?starledger?nmx

Johnson, the station's general manager, defended Carton and Rossi's show.

"Our talk show hosts give strong opinions, and we've been doing it for 15 years," Johnson said.

"I've heard them do Italian accents, Jewish accents," he continued. "Carton has made fun of his heritage, it's all tongue-in-cheek."

:roll:

[cattygurl]

You know, I think they're fucking idiots. By all means, there are people that will vote based simply on race. If that was the majority, Alan Keyes would have gotten a lot more votes during his last campaign.

I would love to vote for an Asian-American candidate but ONLY if they have a voting record that I can feel comfortable with. If Eleain Chao decided to run for office tomorrow, I don't care if she's Asian-American, she wouldn't be getting my vote.

Edited to add:
Yeah, I'll forgive these fuckers once they do several shows about dumb, white, racist, Americans and how they're a bunch of whining crybabies that deserve to get their ass pooted to the middle of nowhere, with a nice rendition of the southern hick accent. I'd love to hear them rant about the expansion of trailer parks and how it's cramping their style. Make fun of all the Nascar watching assholes. Make fun of the hoity-toity golf-playing motherfuckers. Get pissed off about white CEO's robbing the people blind-i.e. enron-style. Motherfuckers.

[cattygurl]

OH- and as for asians taking up the poker tables in Atlantic City- WTF is their problem? People have the right to play poker badly and people have the right to wear pocket protectors and dress badly, too.

I go to Vegas every now and then (not recently, tho-), and I'm sick of the obese, cigar-smokin', stinky white guys that take up more room on the table because of their fat, I'm-about-to-have-a-coronary-any-moment asses that drink too much, bet too little, and sexually harrass the poor cocktail waitresses that have to put up with their shit.

[xian]

You know, I think they're fucking idiots. By all means, there are people that will vote based simply on race. If that was the majority, Alan Keyes would have gotten a lot more votes during his last campaign.

I would love to vote for an Asian-American candidate but ONLY if they have a voting record that I can feel comfortable with. If Eleain Chao decided to run for office tomorrow, I don't care if she's Asian-American, she wouldn't be getting my vote.

Yeah, I'll forgive these fuckers once they do several shows about dumb, white, racist, Americans and how they're a bunch of whining crybabies that deserve to get their ass pooted to the middle of nowhere, with a nice rendition of the southern hick accent. Motherfuckers.

I agree 100%. I just wanted to point out that Keyes got his ass beat by Obama, so they could still argue, that people of color did vote based on race and then used the fact that Keyes was UTTERLY FUCKING CRAZY as the tiebreaker.

[cattygurl]

True, but remember- he also ran for Presidency back in '00. I didn't see droves of black people supporting the guy back then, either.

The thing is, I find it offensive that these guys would assume that asians vote based on race and white people don't... That's bullshit. White people vote based on race as much as any other race, so I hate the pseudo "we vote for the best candidate" Bullshit that they're using as a smokescreen to make inane, racist commentary.

Again, motherfuckers.

[cattygurl]

when we start focusing our campaigns on the minority of people and not the majority of people, I find that to be problematicÖ anybody running for office, whether itís the Mayor of Edison or the Governor of New jersey, the focus should be whatís good for the breadth of people, whatís good for everybody, and its obnoxious to
me, although I understand itís a business, and its how you can get elected, if you say out loud, well if I can simply get the Asian vote I can win the election..

...when we start focusing our campaigns on the minority of people and not the majority of people, I find that to be problematicÖ

Ooooh does that seem familiar with the most recent election? let's replace "Asian" with the Religious right (and they ain't the fucking majority. motherfuckers.) and let's see which president we come up with...!

Oh and yes, the majority of Americans were soooooo concerned about gays having the right to marry. :roll: :roll: That's not focusing the campaign on the minority... oh no. Not at all.

AND BTW, the American Consititution has its roots in the Iroquois Consititution.

[cattygurl]

"I've heard them do Italian accents, Jewish accents," he continued. "Carton has made fun of his heritage, it's all tongue-in-cheek."

Oh, and one more...

I DARE them. Yes, I DARE them to make fun of the ghetto and make fun of black candidates and accuse black people of voting based on race, and make stereotypical, racist remarks against black people on their show, and make fun of how they speak. I DARE them. See if their manager can stand up to that bullshit.

Just because you make fun of one group doesn't make you "strongly opinionated" and "not racist." In fact, what they said makes them a strongly opinionated RACIST. It's one thing to make a brief, mocking accent in context and another to go on a lengthy rant that's essentially against asian-americans, especially saying " Damn Orientals and Indians." I DARE him to say "Damn N**gers" and encourage a caller that talked about "N**gers are running us out of town" on the radio and get away with it.

I do have an issue with people assuming that making derogatory comments about one race is "just being strongly opinionated" while making fun of another race is "racist."

[xian]

My response:

http://yellowcontent.blogspot.com/2005/04/real-americans.html

I'll try to put together something less thoughtful and shorter for the language challenged at that particular radio station later.

[toml]

This just pisses me off!

However this is also the perfect example to show those colorblind, white people as well.

(And to the sellout-Asians who think everything is honky-dory)

[toml]

My response:

http://yellowcontent.blogspot.com/2005/04/real-americans.html

I'll try to put together something less thoughtful and shorter for the language challenged at that particular radio station later.


Good response!

[xian]

I added this pic to the end:
http://img135.echo.cx/img135/7919/whiteimage152fc.th.jpg (http://img135.echo.cx/my.php?image=whiteimage152fc.jpg)

[ellencho]

Ok I just read through the transcript and are these guys just Rush Limbaugh/Sean Hannity types or are they Opie and Anthony/Howard stern type shock jocks?

I've never heard of this station but honestly, they might as well change their call letters to WKKK.

[Taliesin Stormheller]

I think that this shit is to be expected from ghetto-ass radio stations. We all know about the Hot 97 incident. It's just amazing that no Asian listeners called in to call them out. WTF? There were undoubtably Asian people listening to that radio station 'cos it's up in Edison. Why the hell didn't they speak up? Our people need to mobilize.

[General Grievous]

Once again, if they were making fun of blacks than the whole country would be up in arms about it. But because they are slamming Asians, who give a damn?
Where's Nightline?
Where's Matt Drudge?
Where's CNN?
I thought we were the model minority, and the white folks loved us.
We should get a bus load of Asians throughout this country and stage a protest at that raido station.

[xian]

Once again, if they were making fun of blacks than the whole country would be up in arms about it. But because they are slamming Asians, who give a damn?
Where's Nightline?
Where's Matt Drudge?
Where's CNN?
I thought we were the model minority, and the white folks loved us.
We should get a bus load of Asians throughout this country and stage a protest at that raido station.

Probably not. The news and conservatives attack blacks all the time. Mayor Daley just made a statement this morning about how "Blacks, Mexicans and Asian kids are in gangs causing trouble".

Instead of determining which group gets made fun of more with less consequences, why don't we work together to create some consequences?

[cattygurl]

Instead of determining which group gets made fun of more with less consequences, why don't we work together to create some consequences?

Excellent point. I agree completely. It's just that I know so many people that don't consider themselves racists simply because they "don't think badly of black people." If you judge Mexicans, Arabs, Asians, or other non-Caucasian, non-African people by their nationality, you are STILL racist.

[xian]

Instead of determining which group gets made fun of more with less consequences, why don't we work together to create some consequences?

Excellent point. I agree completely. It's just that I know so many people that don't consider themselves racists simply because they "don't think badly of black people." If you judge Mexicans, Arabs, Asians, or other non-Caucasian, non-African people by their nationality, you are STILL racist.

Absolutely, or if you "don't think badly" of any of those groups, but still soak in ethnic privilege, you are STILL racist.

But don't worry, I'm not racist against Asians because I dated an Oriental woman once and have 3 or 4 Oriental childrens.

[Taliesin Stormheller]

General Grievous wrote:
Once again, if they were making fun of blacks than the whole country would be up in arms about it. But because they are slamming Asians, who give a damn?
Where's Nightline?
Where's Matt Drudge?
Where's CNN?
I thought we were the model minority, and the white folks loved us.
We should get a bus load of Asians throughout this country and stage a protest at that raido station.
There's actually a website, vdare.com, which is dedicated to dissing Latino-Americans, immigration, and Latin American culture. At least that's what it sounds like. That's why all we minorities need to band together to fight the white man.

[powerislife]

So the summary of these guys arguement is that society is ruled by the minority and we're all out to oppress the white man. Funny, last time I checked, 95% of people in government, law enforcement, entertainment, media, and the richest elitists in this country were white.

Or could it be they are upset that immigrant communities where they live are doing well while their crack smoking mother is on welfare and their son cant pass the 4th grade?

[Scowl]

More likely that, as hosts of a radio show, they're trying to hold the attention of listeners by taking cheap shots at an easy target. It's a method that's worked for a long time.

There may very well be some genuine "working class blues" present; that always gets turned into a race issue.

[ric]

FORWARD:

Thanks to one of AMWD supporters, we found out that N.J. Gubernatorial Candidates Doug Forrester, Brett Schundler and Jon Corzine are scheduled to participate in a debate hosted by the radio show "The Jersey Guys", on 101.5 FM on May 12th.

If you're not from NJ area, you must know that these three are political heavyweights in the State. You already know what happened on April 25th. We cannot afford to let "The Jersey Guys" gain legitimacy by just sitting and watching these three participating in their show.

The chance is, these three probably are not even fully aware what that means for NJ's Asian American constituency. So it's time for us to show them know how bad their decision is. Having a debate is one thing. But it doesn't have to be done by "The Jersey Guys," especially after they mocked Jun Choi or Asian Americans in general on air.

You have to urge these three NOT to help "The Jersey Guys" any more.

You must send them the message loud and clear, starting today, right now, until hopefully they will withdraw from the program.

Therefore, here's another Citizenspeak campaign.

"Please withdraw from The Jersey Guys Show!"
http://www.citizenspeak.org/campaign/2425.php

As always, you can add your comment, your info (at least, city, state and zip code), click to send and forward it to your friends. They will each receive your letter as if they were sent from your own e-mail address. You don't have to be from NJ to participate in this. However, if you're from there, please sign on this letter. If you know someone from NJ, please forward this to him/her.

Meanwhile, our first campaign "Kick The Jersey Guys Off The Air" (http://www.citizenspeak.org/campaign/5366.php) is still going strong, after we collected thousands of signature already. Thanks for participation. Please keep forwarding this link as well. We added FCC as one of recipients as well.

Here's the direct contact info. If you have time, please call/write them directly as well.

Forrester for Governer
29 Emmons Drive C-10
Princeton, NJ 08540
609-452-0101
609-452-0008 fax
info@doug2005.com


Bret Schundler for Governor Campaign Headquarters
187 Mill Lane
Mountainside, NJ 07092
Tel: (908) 379-BRET (2738)
Fax: (908) 379-2434
Email: info@bret2005.com

US Senator Jon S. Corzine
One Gateway Center, 11th Floor
Newark, New Jersey 07102
(973) 645-3030
FAX:(973) 645-0502

US Senator Jon S. Corzine
208 White Horse Pike, Suite 18
Barrington, New Jersey 08007
(856) 757-5353
FAX: (856) 546-1526

US Senator Jon S. Corzine
Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4744
FAX: (202) 228-2197
(TDD/TTY) (202) 2241984

The hosts: cartonandrossi@nj1015.com (Craig Carton and Ray Rossi)

Eric Johnson, Station Manager
New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio
P.O. Box 5698
Trenton, NJ 08618
(609) 530-0478
ej1015@nj1015.com

Andy Santoro, Group Vice-President and General Manager
Millennium Radio New Jersey 101.5 FM
P.O. Box 5698
Trenton, NJ 08638
(609) 771-8181
andys@nj1015.com

Jim Donahoe, Chief Executive Officer
Millennium Radio New Jersey
109 Walters Avenue
Trenton, New Jersey 08638
Phone: (800) 678-9599

Federal Communications Commission
Enforcement Bureau, Investigations and Hearings Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554
Phone: 1-888-CALL-FCC
E-mail: fccinfo@fcc.gov
Web: www.fcc.gov/parents/content.html


Thank you. Please let us know if you receive any response.

James
_________________
Asian Media Watchdog
676 A Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10036
Visit our website at www.asianmediawatchdog.com

[ric]

Radio station loses ads after racial slurs
Asians cheer Hyundai and Cingular for dropping NJ 101.5

Hyundai Motor America has suspended advertising on NJ 101.5 in response to complaints that a recent broadcast of "The Jersey Guys" afternoon drive-time show was offensive to Asian-Americans.

Cingular Wireless has also pulled advertising from "The Jersey Guys" show after hosts Craig Carton and Ray Rossi ridiculed Edison mayoral candidate Jun Choi, who is a Korean-American. Carton also mimicked Asian accents, complained about too many Asians at Atlantic City's gaming tables and said Americans should vote for Americans.

Asian-American activists, who have been putting pressure on the station's advertisers, hailed the decisions to pull the advertising, saying it signals a newfound maturity and strength in the community.

"Asian-Americans have always been seen as a passive group that won't speak up too loudly," said Veronica Jung, executive director of the Korean American League for Civic Action. "This flies in the face of that. The message is that we will no longer be the voiceless model minority. We represent significant buying power and a large consumer base, and we'll use that weight."

Earlier this year, Asian groups pressured advertisers to pull ads from New York radio station Hot 97 FM after a show played a song that mocked the Asian victims of the December tsunami. A Philadelphia radio station was also pressured to suspend two hosts for racial slurs made on the air against Asian-Indians.

Jung's group is one of 32 organizations that have formed a coalition to demand radio station WKXW-FM take a number of steps to address the matter, including personal apologies by Carton and Rossi, and to pressure the station's advertisers.

Andrew Santoro, group vice president and general manager of Millennium Radio, the parent company of New Jersey 101.5, said company policy did not allow him to discuss the station's advertising losses.

He said those upset at the station "were taking things out of context."

Santoro said the station has received hundreds of threats and has contacted local and state police and the FBI.

The wave of protests caught the radio station off guard, Santoro said. The station has a meeting with Asian-American activists scheduled for May 19.

"We have no option in this; they started their press releases and Web campaigns before we even sat down," he said. "I was really surprised that happened."

Asian-American activists have also found support from elected officials. U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9th Dist.) fired off a letter yesterday to the Federal Communications Commission calling for the agency to examine the broadcast and "take any and all actions consistent with applicable rules and regulations."

"It is my profound wish that those entrusted with the power to broadcast their speech to thousands of listeners earn that trust by policing themselves and by refraining from engaging in hate speech," Rothman said in the letter.

Lora Fong, an Edison attorney and past president of the Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey, said the response from corporations and politicians shows the Asian-American community is organized and willing to speak out.

"Twenty years ago, this wouldn't have happened," Fong said.

Fong said Asians have also reached out to representatives of other historically persecuted minority groups, such as the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League, both of which have denounced the broadcast.

Considering the Asian-American experience with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the internment of Japanese in World War II, and most recently with racial profiling after Sept. 11, there always has been "a feeling that you're not good enough to be an American," said Deepa Iyer, executive director of South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow.

"Asian-Americans have always been perceived as the perpetual foreigner," Iyer said. "No matter how long you have lived here, people still perceive you as the other, not Americans."

Hyundai spokesman Chris Hosford said that as a result of Carton and Rossi's comments, the Korean automaker has indefinitely suspended advertising on the radio station.

"Hyundai Motor America shares the outrage of many in the Asian and general communities about the racial slurs made on radio station WKXW on 'The Jersey Guys' show on April 25," the company said in a statement.

"Because of those statements, Hyundai Motor America has suspended its advertising on WKXW. The company has communicated its extreme dissatisfaction to the radio station and asked for assurances these offensive comments not be repeated."

Cingular Wireless pulled its advertising from "The Jersey Guys" immediately after the incident, company spokeswoman Ellen Webner said.

The company still is maintaining its advertising on the radio station's other daytime broadcasts, but if there is no appropriate response to the concerns of community organizations, Webner said, Cingular will pull all its advertising.

"Of course, we do not condone any disparaging remarks made about any segment of the population," Webner said.

Neither Hyundai nor Cingular would say how much their decision to pull advertising would cost the station.

Local Hyundai car dealers were trying to figure out what the automaker's decision meant for their businesses.

Brad Benson, owner of Brad Benson Hyundai and Mitsubishi in South Brunswick, said his dealership depends on the radio advertisements to reach buyers, and wanted some clarification from the automaker.

Benson said the motor car company hasn't asked him to stop advertising on the radio station. He said he disagreed with what Carton and Rossi said on the air.

"I cannot condone what they said," Benson said. "If my children made those statements, they'd be severely reprimanded.

[AngryEthiopian]

Another issue... do you see how Station owners protect white racists, but will easily hang out a gangbang to stations with black jocks and listenership?

[powerislife]

You know what would really fuck these kind of assholes over? If asians abroad and asian companies abroad got involved. Imagine if Sony or Hitachi or whomever said they're refusing to let any of their business sell equipment to the station or companies that do business with the station, that'll get their attention real quick.

Kind of bad for business, but hell, this is bad for us. Dumbasses actually listen to shit like that, and then start shooting delivery boys or raping foreign students.

VINCENT CHIN

[rising7]

Another issue... do you see how Station owners protect white racists, but will easily hang out a gangbang to stations with black jocks and listenership?

I've been thinking about that too. It'll be disappointing if the jersey guys are let off easy.

[Catatonic]

Probably not. The news and conservatives attack blacks all the time. Mayor Daley just made a statement this morning about how "Blacks, Mexicans and Asian kids are in gangs causing trouble".

Instead of determining which group gets made fun of more with less consequences, why don't we work together to create some consequences?

Yeah - but it is important to find out where the differences are. Not all minority groups face the same issues and even in the areas where we do share issues, we often experience them in different degrees.

The news media, in general, has been much quicker to react to instances of racism (or perceived racism) when it has involved blacks than say - hispanics or asians.

We need to acknowledge that first - in order to find out why that is and to search for possible solutions.

[Catatonic]

Another issue... do you see how Station owners protect white racists, but will easily hang out a gangbang to stations with black jocks and listenership?

Hot 97's ratings are up and they are the 2nd or 3rd highest-rated station in NYC.

[Catatonic]

Carton : And here’s the bottom line... no specific MINORITY group or foreign group should ever ever dictate the outcome of an American election. I don’t care if the Chinese population in Edison has quadrupled in the last year, Chinese should never dictate the outcome of an election, Americans should.

Carton: We’re bending over backwards to cater to FRINGE groups of people and I don’t like it!

Carton: … my problem is this: when we start focusing our campaigns on the MINORITY of people and not the majority of people...

Carton is engaging in DOUBLE-SPEAK - if he is so incensed about the minority dictating the election and is so concerned about the majority "losing out" - then he should bitching about the white folk since THEY are the MINORITY in Edison (what a frickin' dumbass - no surprise there).

[xian]

Probably not. The news and conservatives attack blacks all the time. Mayor Daley just made a statement this morning about how "Blacks, Mexicans and Asian kids are in gangs causing trouble".

Instead of determining which group gets made fun of more with less consequences, why don't we work together to create some consequences?

Yeah - but it is important to find out where the differences are. Not all minority groups face the same issues and even in the areas where we do share issues, we often experience them in different degrees.

The news media, in general, has been much quicker to react to instances of racism (or perceived racism) when it has involved blacks than say - hispanics or asians.

We need to acknowledge that first - in order to find out why that is and to search for possible solutions.

That's true, but the answer is simpler than people make it out to be. It's basically what I said before--African Americans have worked for a long time to create counter systems of power which deal with these types of issues. Instead of placing blame on African Americans for these innovations, we should be happy to see progress (albeit minor) in fighting systematic media stereotyping and implement the same. If the energy used to bemoan the fact that "if the station said the same thing about blacks, they wouldn't get away with it" was used to actually make build systems to make sure there were consequences for all racist stereotyping, especially stereotyping's concrete negative effects (beyond just the words), we'd be a lot better off.

[Catatonic]

That's true, but the answer is simpler than people make it out to be. It's basically what I said before--African Americans have worked for a long time to create counter systems of power which deal with these types of issues. Instead of placing blame on African Americans for these innovations, we should be happy to see progress (albeit minor) in fighting systematic media stereotyping and implement the same. If the energy used to bemoan the fact that "if the station said the same thing about blacks, they wouldn't get away with it" was used to actually make build systems to make sure there were consequences for all racist stereotyping, especially stereotyping's concrete negative effects (beyond just the words), we'd be a lot better off.

I don't think he was blaming blacks (for the disparity in treatment) as opposed to "bemoaning" the fact that the disparity exists - after all, how can blacks be blamed for the reaction of whites?

Maybe he didn't phrase it in the best way - but he did have a legitimate point.

[bluejives]

Ever since one of our supporters alerted us that Applebee might have
pulled ads from NJ 101.5FM, we have been conducting our own
investigation.

As a result, we are pleased to inform you that we were able to confirm
the report this morning. Applebee indeed pulled ads voluntarily
immediately after the Jersey Guys incident.

We spoke with Noel Jorgensen, Vice President of Marketing at Doherty
Enterprises, Inc (Applebee's franchise in NJ area), who stated, "We
were horrified to learn about the incident... we don't condone nor
accept this type of rhetoric and as a company, we believed that the
right thing to do is to pull the advertisement. The station needs to
put their act together."

We are currently in the process of getting the written confirmation.
The copy will be available by writing contact@asianmediawatchdog.com

If you want to thank Applebee, they can be contacted at the following.

Applebee’s International, Inc.
4551 W. 107th Street
Overland Park, KS 66207
Phone: 888-59APPLE

We thank all those who are involved with this campaign, especially the
one who wrote us about Applebee first and let's keep up the great work.

James
--
Asian Media Watchdog
676 A Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212-560-5683
Fax: 212-957-9191
Visit our website at www.asianmediawatchdog.com

[bluejives]

80-20 New Jersey Chapter, who is also a member of New Jersey Coalition for Asian American Civil Rights announced that 101.5FM agreed in writing to the following.

o Issue an on air, formal & blanket apology by the "Jersey Guys,"
o Invite Jun Choi (the KoreanAm candidate who was attacked) to be a
guest by "Jersey Guys." [The acceptance by Choi is unknown.]
o Cultural sensitivity training for all 101.5 FM employees,
o Public access programming focused on promoting awareness of the
contributions of Asian Americans, and
o Diversity committee established at 101.5 FM with community
members to foster cross-cultural understanding

Also their members ran e-mail campaigns targeting Comcast, Verizon and Dish Network, urging them to pull ads from the station. As a result, Comcast and Verizon agreed to suspend their radio ads.

We would like to thank 80-20 and everyone else who worked very hard on this issue. As always, AMWD will follow up closely on any new development in regards to this NJ 101.5 FM campaign just like we did with any other major campaigns.

Our e-mail campaign, http://www.citizenspeak.org/campaign/5366.php ("Kick The Jersey Guys Off The Air!") collected the largest amount of signatures in the shortest amount of time, even more so than our last major campaign, Hot 97. We would like to thank everyone who participated in this campaign through AMWD and other APIA organizations as well.

James Fujikawa
Co-Founder/Campaign Director
--
Asian Media Watchdog
676 A Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212-560-5683
Fax: 212-957-9191
Visit our website at www.asianmediawatchdog.com

[cattygurl]

:D

Good news.

Frankly, I think those assholes should be FIRED.

[AngryEthiopian]

:D

Good news.

Frankly, I think those assholes should be FIRED.
I think they should be fired too. They fired the assholes on Hot 97 right? What is the difference?

[xian]

:D

Good news.

Frankly, I think those assholes should be FIRED.
I think they should be fired too. They fired the assholes on Hot 97 right? What is the difference?

What color are the Jersey Guys?

But anyway, good activism work with concrete returns. Good stuff.

[Catatonic]

:D

Good news.

Frankly, I think those assholes should be FIRED.
I think they should be fired too. They fired the assholes on Hot 97 right? What is the difference?

The morons definitely should be fired - but the difference is that the Hot 97 DJs were not fired as much for making racist statements towards Asians (foreign Asians btw) but rather for making fun of the multitudes of dead from the tsunami (some news reports totally did not even refer to the racist comments).

In this case - the assholes were making racist statements towards AA (which is worse than making racist statements towards foreigners) and there was no poking fun at hundreds of thousands of dead.

[eskimo]

That's true, but the answer is simpler than people make it out to be. It's basically what I said before--African Americans have worked for a long time to create counter systems of power which deal with these types of issues. Instead of placing blame on African Americans for these innovations, we should be happy to see progress (albeit minor) in fighting systematic media stereotyping and implement the same. If the energy used to bemoan the fact that "if the station said the same thing about blacks, they wouldn't get away with it" was used to actually make build systems to make sure there were consequences for all racist stereotyping, especially stereotyping's concrete negative effects (beyond just the words), we'd be a lot better off.

Just wanted to emphasize an excerpt of xian's post for those who are still perplexed as to why insensitive comments about blacks in the media are considered inappropriate or quickly vilified whereas similiar comments about AAs seem to be acceptable -- it's absolutely true, blacks have been working for a long time to counter racially insensitive remarks and this sentiment has permeated in the media and mainstream society. It's social training or conditioning -- you're training others on what you will and will not tolerate from them and the perception is that blacks will not quietly accept negative comments about them.

We AAs have been slow to do the same as a community but with the Hot 97 incident and now this -- look out! But the key is to keep the ball rolling since we've got it started and keep training other Americans on what we will and will not accept, whether in the media or on an interpersonal level. Remember, it's just like training a dog or raising a child -- if they do something you like, lavish them with positivity; if they do something you don't like, stern negative reinforcement. Do it consistently enough times and they'll get the message.

I was very impressed with how quickly this issue was handled and with solid results, especially compared to the Hot 97 incident. If we keep this up, I think we AAs will make media-related social activism an art form... Or should I say, a science. Hmm... Did someone order a precision-guided counterstrike?

Who knows, Asian Media Watchdog just might develop into the most feared/respected organization in this land of ours.

[KeJia Sista]

The news media, in general, has been much quicker to react to instances of racism (or perceived racism) when it has involved blacks than say - hispanics or asians.

We need to acknowledge that first - in order to find out why that is and to search for possible solutions.

In NYC blackorlatino is almost one word. Police shoot unarmed Blacks or Latinos at just about the same rate.

Ke Jia

[AngryEthiopian]

We AAs have been slow to do the same as a community but with the Hot 97 incident and now this -- look out! But the key is to keep the ball rolling since we've got it started and keep training other Americans on what we will and will not accept, whether in the media or on an interpersonal level. Remember, it's just like training a dog or raising a child -- if they do something you like, lavish them with positivity; if they do something you don't like, stern negative reinforcement. Do it consistently enough times and they'll get the message.
Right on, you guys need to keep the ball rolling.
I mean, you don't have a lot of racial minorities who will make a big stink like the stink made during the Rodney king verdict. These things stick in the media's mind forever. When the president issues tanks because police brutalized a BLACK man and blacks wouldn't stand for it, it sends a message that says "blacks won't accept this." They were afraid that the OJ trial would cause riots if they issued a guilty verdict. Because OJ was black and black people had his back. When something happens to an asian... asian people don't make a stink, and don't want to pull the race card cause they want to mix into american society too much. At least that's the way I always saw it. Same with latinos. Illegal immigrants will accept less than legal wages and inhuman treatment because they are just glad they arn't in mexico. And other latins won't rock the boat because they know these lillegal immigrants just don't want to be deported. So the race stays quiet as a whole. BLACK DON'T STAY QUIET!

[Catatonic]

The news media, in general, has been much quicker to react to instances of racism (or perceived racism) when it has involved blacks than say - hispanics or asians.

We need to acknowledge that first - in order to find out why that is and to search for possible solutions.

In NYC blackorlatino is almost one word. Police shoot unarmed Blacks or Latinos at just about the same rate.

Ke Jia

That may be true (but all the high profile cases of police shootings seem to involve BM) - but when it comes to covering the use of slurs, etc. against a particular minority - the media seems to cover such instances with more "airtime" and editorial criticism of the "racists" when it pertains to blacks.

[xian]

The news media, in general, has been much quicker to react to instances of racism (or perceived racism) when it has involved blacks than say - hispanics or asians.

We need to acknowledge that first - in order to find out why that is and to search for possible solutions.

In NYC blackorlatino is almost one word. Police shoot unarmed Blacks or Latinos at just about the same rate.

Ke Jia

That may be true (but all the high profile cases of police shootings seem to involve BM) - but when it comes to covering the use of slurs, etc. against a particular minority - the media seems to cover such instances with more "airtime" and editorial criticism of the "racists" when it pertains to blacks.

I haven't seen any conclusive data on this, but I imagine it's true.

But it's important to not act like it's something that's just materialized.

What's happened is that through years of struggle, blacks have now managed to make the white mainstream accept that it is "racist" to say certain things about blacks.

The deep problem is that "acceptance" and "understanding" are completely different things. If the white mainstream understood WHY such acts and statements are racist, that would be universal and would actually prevent incidents against other groups.

But most people, liberal or conservative, have no idea what it's cool or not cool to say something, and furthermore they don't care in the slightest. They just want to be able to see themselves and be perceives as non-racist. They don't want to learn how to be non-racist.

As a result, they avoid certain slurs, especially against blacks, and crucify those that use them (especially if they are minority since whites feel no empathy for them) because that makes them feel especially good about themselves.

Since there's not a critical mass of opposition to slurs against other groups, people feel free to use them. They don't care whether they are racist or not, just that they don't get any benefit from the mainstream by avoiding them.

Our short-term response is to change the perception of those slurs.

But the only long-term solution is to actually educate people how to perceive racism.

[minbo]

Our short-term response is to change the perception of those slurs.

But the only long-term solution is to actually educate people how to perceive racism.

Reminds me of a [passage from the book "the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" where a teacher is explaining why they call the children at his school "specal needs". Where other children used to taunt his schoolmates as "Mong", "Spaz" or "Crip" the "special needs" label was a different positive term due to it's disassociation with past slurs. The main character noted that this was silly because the other children simply taunted his schoolmates by screaming "Special Needs" or simply "Special".

Changing vocabulary is indeed only a short term solution. Very short term if the root cause is not corrected.

[Catatonic]

I'm surprised that no one else posted this.

Jun Choi won the election!!!

[kalbi]

8)

[Liang]

Heh it's Jersey. What else is expected?