In the heart of Lower Manhattan lies a community of vibrant lights and delightful delicacies. A community of people old and young interact with their culture and create a legacy of traditions. Recently, this peaceful Chinatown community comprised primarily of Asian-Americans was visited by a self-proclaimed political humorist by the name of Jesse Watters from Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor.
Now, as with many things associated with Fox News, the segment titled Watters’ World: Chinatown edition was stuffed with racist bigotry and ignorant stereotyping. The premise of the segment was to “sample political opinion” and question the community members about their stance on the presidential election. In reality, the segment turned into baiting reactions of Asian Americans by making stereotypical comments and using elderly folk as the butt of a joke.
Interviews with Chinatown community members involved asking a young man if he knew how to do karate and asking a young woman if she went to parties. These questions are just further proof that Fox News does not take the current American political landscape seriously at all.
Adding to this atrocity of a news segment, video clips from the Karate Kid and Chinatown were dispersed throughout the segment to add cinematic humor. This also proved to be distasteful as Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid clips was portrayed by Pat Morita, a Japanese actor. It is evident that there was no respect for the Chinese culture as another video clip showed Watters attempting to learn karate, a Japanese art, in a Korean Tae-Kwon-Do studio. Please do some cultural research before attempting to interview any American, Mr. Watters.
After the air date, America was in a frenzy as controversy surrounded the segment and more individuals found Watters to be offensive rather than humorous.
“There was nothing gentle or fun about it. It was rude, offensive, mocking, derogatory and damaging. Fox missed a real opportunity to investigate the Asian American vote, a topic not often covered in mainstream news,” the Asian American Journalist Association said.
Adding fuel to the flame, Fox News refused to apologize for their distaste in jokes and the political humorist himself tweeted a less than heartfelt apology.
“My man-on-the-street interviews are meant to be taken tongue-in-cheek and I regret if anyone found offense,” Jesse Watters, The O’Reilly Factor correspondent, said.
I don’t know if you’ve ever heard a genuine apology, Mr. Watters, but that is not what one sounds like. I should be more disappointed, but I expect nothing less from a Fox News reporter embodying racist stereotypes in his work.
Weighing in on the controversy, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah’s Ronny Chieng decided to offer his own commentary deeply angered by the bigotry aimed at the community.
“They say ‘China’ in the debate, so you go to Chinatown? In New York? So when they mention Mexico, you send someone to Taco Bell? Chinatown is nothing like China! They got nothing to do with each other. That’s like if they brought up women’s rights, so I decided to go over to Fox News to get some opinions,” Ronny Chieng, senior Daily Show correspondent, said.
Chieng also took to the streets of Manhattan’s Chinatown to gauge real public opinion on the political debate. His results were far more accurate as interviewees responded in both English and Chinese.
“This election is different because we have an idea that America welcomes and respects immigrants. This is not the America I recognize,” a Chinese-American community member said on Chieng’s segment.
After witnessing this whole debacle unfold, I formed some opinions of my own. First of all, our current political climate is not something to be joked about. The marginalization of minority groups is not a topic of political humor; it is an urgent issue that needs addressing now. Prevalent problems in our society such as implicit bias and police brutality stem from the creation of these false cultural stereotypes perpetuated by ignorant networks such as Fox News. Yes, I am calling out Fox News Network. It is an embarrassment to true media coverage to even acknowledge segments built upon the idea of ridiculing Americans due to a language barrier as legitimate news. Yes, Fox News, Asian Americans treat this election with the same intensity and realistic expectations as any American citizen with a modicum of sense would. Here’s some advice for the future: satirical comedy can be entertaining and informative, but do it right without stigmatizing groups and utilizing racist rhetoric.
Featured image by Max Qubit
