Flashback: Beck forced to apologize for "mocking Asians" in 1995
September 24, 2009 11:37 am ET by Simon Maloy
More and more examples of Glenn Beck's "racial hang-ups" are turning up -- from his "funny 'black guy' character" to the Mexican stereotypes in his newest book -- and yet another one has surfaced from Beck's days at WKCI in New Haven, Connecticut. According to an October 20, 1995, Hartford Courant article headlined, "Station Apologizes for Mocking Asians":
Under pressure from activist groups, a New Haven-area radio station agreed Thursday to apologize for broadcasting a sketch that offended Asian Americans and for ridiculing a man who called to complain.
The agreement with New Haven- based WKCI-FM was called an important victory by a coalition of four Asian-American groups, which represent one of Connecticut's smallest but quickly growing ethnic groups.
The negotiations between the station and the groups began as the result of a call to the station in August from Zhihan Tong, a 28-year- old computer network technician.
Tong was driving from his New Haven-area home to his job in Danbury when he tuned in to the station, commonly known as KC101, for a traffic report.
Instead, he heard Alf Papineau, the morning show's executive producer, pretending to speak Chinese to a bewildered Asian-American owner of a Chinese restaurant supposedly for sale. The piece was a canned segment. Neither the restaurant nor the owner was real; they existed only as taped dialogue from a comedy service subscribed to by the station.
When Tong telephoned WKCI- FM to protest the broadcast as a racial slur, disc jockeys Glenn Beck and Pat Grey made fun of him. The two played a gong in the background several times, and Papineau, the executive producer, mocked a Chinese accent.
Incensed, Tong called human rights organizations from Boston to New York, and eventually tapped into a small but increasingly vocal network of Connecticut Asian- American activist groups.
Under pressure from four of the groups, which formed the "Connecticut Asian American Coalition Against KC101 Racism," the radio station agreed Thursday to extensive remedies, including an apology to air in coming weeks and representation of Asians on a newly formed community advisory committee.
Something to keep in mind the next time Beck attacks someone as a racist or demands to know "who divided us."
When you leave, because I no longer believe it is a question of if you will leave, you will take with you free speech. Perhaps you can pursue it on soapboxes on street corners, but you will no longer poison our airwaves with it. And we will be a better, and hopefully more civil nation because of that.
Also, once the world is rid of things beyond American control-- like natural disasters, suicide bombers, etc.
If you think GLENN BECK is going to make the difference between a better America, you're crazy.
P.S. What have you been doing lately to make America a better place? How about get off your computer, quit worrying about what OTHER PEOPLE are doing-- and go do some good yourself!
"We're going to be a better nation without Glenn Beck?" Well, almost. Your reading comprehension skills are a bit lacking. Once he is off the air, then yes, we will be a better nation because of that.
"How about we are going to be a better nation with the corrupt members of ACORN..." Corruption needs to be brought to light and dealt with. There is much more vile, costly, and despicable corruption to deal with before the .002% of ACORN workers who seem ethically challenged. Besides, they've already been fired, and the government has pulled the tiny amount of funding they were receiving.
"...without White House Czars that are out of control,..." The slang term 'czar' for advisers to the President has been around since Nixon. It's not new, it's not communism, they aren't out of control, and Bush/Cheney created a number of brand new czars, along with an entire new department of government and a cabinet post. Good heavens, don't you read?
"... without a Congress that gets caught up with things of the past,..." Well, I'm guessing you're talking about either torturing, or perhaps domestic spying. Either way, these misdeeds count as the corruption you were railing against just a few short sentences ago. Libya can now point to America and justly say, "But you torture people as well." The people responsible for this blemish on our nation's history need to be brought to justice, else how will we ever move past it?
"... and without a divided Congress over a health care plan." I wouldn't really mind if they were just divided. They're not. The Democrats have a plan, which they seem reluctant to unite behind even though the majority of Americans favor it. The Republicans have the word "No!" and precious little else aside from scandal. They've brought no policy, no suggestion, no plan whatsoever to this debate.
"Also, once the world is rid of things beyond American control-- like natural disasters, suicide bombers, etc." I don't see America as ever being rid of natural disasters. Living in the natural world seems to preclude that. If by suicide bombers you mean people whom the President had adequate warning and description of, and decided to ignore it to play golf, I submit that they are not outside of government control, provided that government gives a hang.
"If you think GLENN BECK is going to make the difference between a better America, you're crazy." Not sure how to interpret this. Between what? I think without Glenn Beck adding his own personal brand of insanity, delusion, fear mongering, and race baiting to the atmosphere, we will all breathe a bit easier. If that's not clear enough, then try this: Glenn Beck is not part of the solution, or indeed any solution, but one of the roots of the problem.
"P.S. What have you been doing lately to make America a better place?" I'm a full time parent, who still finds time to be involved in the schools, and in touch with my representatives at the state and local level, making sure they are aware of my support for things like campaign finance and public option health insurance. I even get off the occasional letter to the editor. Not to mention coming here and adding facts and a measure of calm to sometimes outrageously wild debates. 'Cause it's fun, you know?
"How about get off your computer, quite worrying about what OTHER PEOPLE are doing-- and go do some good yourself!" Got it covered, actually. See above. If you think this is so pointless, janels14, what exactly are you doing here?
Glenn Beck is nothing but an opportunist punk, who is using the rough political for his own advancement...
No, the extent of the anti-Beck arsenal can be found with the "Search MediaMatters.org" button on top. It's really easy to use. Please give it a try.
And once you read all of it, feel free to come back and ask your question again.
This isn't some shocking 5000-word article to be scrolled across the New York Times' front page. It's a reminder that Glenn Beck isn't as pure as the wind-driven snow when it comes to race.
Would you rather this get swept under the rug?
Beck wants to get to the bottom of something out there. Are we to dismiss his lectures as mere entertainment or an attempt at journalism?
In other words, if what we are to see Glenn Beck as is an entertainer, why is he trying to speak with the same sort of guests that would appear on Hannity or The O'Reilly Factor? Are we to see those shows as entertainment too?
If that is the case (and this comes down to my main point), Beck needs to remember that he is an entertainer, not a lecturer. He is not in this business to report the news, create the news, or BE the news. He is in this business to entertain.
He is meant to be a conservative comedian, not an expert on politics.
Then investigative journalism shouldn't be done by Beck. Yes, you can say that Beck doesn't call all this digging into Van Jones, ACORN and SEIU "journalism", but what would you call it then?
Conspiracy theorizing? Fear mongering?
Beck wants to expose something, stark. That's when he's a "journalist".
Glenn Beck isn't obsessed with ACORN. Or Van Jones. Or the SEIU. Or Soros. Or czars. Or Obama. Glenn Beck's not out of control at all.
In your broadside about people having "out-of-control obsessions" you used MMFA as an example but didn't mention Glenn Beck for some reason. Odd, that.
60 sponsors don't like that kind of "entertainment".
This can't be the best you can come up with. It just can't.
This is yet another example of Beck being racist, and it has come up because of his new book. It is relevant and it's not stupid or useless for MMFA to have brought it up, and the troll knows that.
Please stop feeding trolls. Stop letting them derail the conversation.
Glenn is a glorified DISC JOCKEY.
Not to put down all disc jockeys out there, but sometimes you have to say something stupid, outrageous, or scandalous just to get the rush hour traffic to listen to you.
One major reason why I never fixed my car speakers once they blew out.