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Politically Incorrect Joe Tait

C

cxn28

Guest
I'm against political correctness as much as the next guy but how many times did Joe Tait call Yao Ming a Chinaman tonight? I mean, sure Joe's an old dude who probably grew up with people calling minorities darkies and spics but he must know that Chinaman is a generally unaccepted slur, right?
 
> I'm against political correctness as much as the next guy
> but how many times did Joe Tait call Yao Ming a Chinaman
> tonight? I mean, sure Joe's an old dude who probably grew
> up with people calling minorities darkies and spics but he
> must know that Chinaman is a generally unaccepted slur,
> right?
>


Hoo boy. Joe does not know any Asians? These old, dated terms never usually come out if you personally hang with all kinds of people. Very revealing.....
 
It doesn't look like Joe has missed too many Chinese meals...<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by OCBRadio on 03/27/06 10:39 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> It doesn't look like Joe has missed too many Chinese
> meals...
>
Joe has a history ...after Magic Johnson admited to having aids Tait said he had the morals of a dog and deserved to die. ..Tait never backed off the comments
 
> I'm against political correctness as much as the next guy
> but how many times did Joe Tait call Yao Ming a Chinaman
> tonight? I mean, sure Joe's an old dude who probably grew
> up with people calling minorities darkies and spics but he
> must know that Chinaman is a generally unaccepted slur,
> right?

The Chinaman is not the issue here, Dude. And also, Dude - Chinaman is not the preferred...uh...Asian-American. Please.
 
> > I'm against political correctness as much as the next guy
> > but how many times did Joe Tait call Yao Ming a Chinaman
> > tonight? I mean, sure Joe's an old dude who probably grew
>
> > up with people calling minorities darkies and spics but he
>
> > must know that Chinaman is a generally unaccepted slur,
> > right?
>
> The Chinaman is not the issue here, Dude. And also, Dude -
> Chinaman is not the preferred...uh...Asian-American.
> Please.
>


Big Lebowski!! YES! I didn't hear the broadcast, but I'd find it hard to belive that someone who has worked so closely with professional sports would be so maliciously racist....then again Yao has been in the league so long that I'm surprised this hasn't been an issue already. Just an all around odd situation. <P ID="signature">______________
Ben Toplek
DJ/WBWC</P>
 
I'm not going to say what Joe said was o.k., but I don't know if I'd go so far to say that he intended it as a racist remark. Politically incorrect, sure. I just don't think he was being intentionally offensive.

Do stations give a second thought to playing Bowie's 'Chinagirl'(if anyone ever plays it anymore..)?


> > > I'm against political correctness as much as the next
> guy
> > > but how many times did Joe Tait call Yao Ming a Chinaman
>
> > > tonight? I mean, sure Joe's an old dude who probably
> grew
> >
> > > up with people calling minorities darkies and spics but
> he
> >
> > > must know that Chinaman is a generally unaccepted slur,
> > > right?
> >
> > The Chinaman is not the issue here, Dude. And also, Dude
> -
> > Chinaman is not the preferred...uh...Asian-American.
> > Please.
> >
>
>
> Big Lebowski!! YES! I didn't hear the broadcast, but I'd
> find it hard to belive that someone who has worked so
> closely with professional sports would be so maliciously
> racist....then again Yao has been in the league so long that
> I'm surprised this hasn't been an issue already. Just an
> all around odd situation.
>
 
Chinagirl doesn't appear on Wikipedia's (don't know where else to look) list of ethnic slurs.
I don't think I'm going on a limb by saying that Joe meant no harm. A friend's grandpa once called me a slur in passing like it was no biggie. The friend apologized and all I could say was that I hope he doesn't say that to the wrong person one day.

> I'm not going to say what Joe said was o.k., but I don't
> know if I'd go so far to say that he intended it as a racist
> remark. Politically incorrect, sure. I just don't think he
> was being intentionally offensive.
>
> Do stations give a second thought to playing Bowie's
> 'Chinagirl'(if anyone ever plays it anymore..)?
>
>
> > > > I'm against political correctness as much as the next
> > guy
> > > > but how many times did Joe Tait call Yao Ming a
> Chinaman
> >
> > > > tonight? I mean, sure Joe's an old dude who probably
> > grew
> > >
> > > > up with people calling minorities darkies and spics
> but
> > he
> > >
> > > > must know that Chinaman is a generally unaccepted
> slur,
> > > > right?
> > >
> > > The Chinaman is not the issue here, Dude. And also,
> Dude
> > -
> > > Chinaman is not the preferred...uh...Asian-American.
> > > Please.
> > >
> >
> >
> > Big Lebowski!! YES! I didn't hear the broadcast, but I'd
>
> > find it hard to belive that someone who has worked so
> > closely with professional sports would be so maliciously
> > racist....then again Yao has been in the league so long
> that
> > I'm surprised this hasn't been an issue already. Just an
> > all around odd situation.
> >
>
 
> Chinagirl doesn't appear on Wikipedia's (don't know where
> else to look) list of ethnic slurs.
> I don't think I'm going on a limb by saying that Joe meant
> no harm. A friend's grandpa once called me a slur in
> passing like it was no biggie. The friend apologized and
> all I could say was that I hope he doesn't say that to the
> wrong person one day.


Brings to mind the Howard Cosell "Little Monkey" statement. It was said that he called his grandchildren little monkeys. So what was more than likely a slip of the tongue helped bring Cosell's career to a quicker end.

I am in agreement in the thought that Joe meant no harm.
 
> I am in agreement in the thought that Joe meant no harm.


Oh for sure, Joe meant no harm.

But Cleveland is not a big Asian-American center, so Joe (and unfortunatly many around here) will sometimes use phrases for certain groups which they--believe me--would learn to NEVER use if they actually had daily contact.

For example, Joe would probably never say "Polack" on the air in Cleveland.
Yet, I remember that some Senator from Arizona or something used the word in an interview. He quickly apologized after his handlers wised him up.

Goes to show how we really don't think about the words which we use half the time.
 
> > It doesn't look like Joe has missed too many Chinese
> > meals...
> >
> Joe has a history ...after Magic Johnson admited to having
> aids Tait said he had the morals of a dog and deserved to
> die. ..Tait never backed off the comments
>
Some closure as this topic moves down the boards. I got the following email from Dave Dombrowski which was also cc'd to Scott Zurilla for some reason.

Thank you for contacting us with your concerns.



We brought your comments to Joe’s attention and he meant no harm in his two references to “Chinaman.” If you were offended, please consider this an apology from Joe who assures us it won’t happen again.



Thanks for bringing this matter to our attention and we hope you continue to support the Cavs!
 
Some old guy in Sacramento, CA -I think it was KFBK - got fired for exactly the same thing...he referred to a Chinese-American as a "Chinaman." This was back in the 80s. He meant no harm; he had no idea it was considered a racial slur. He was just an old-timer. I felt bad for him.
>
> We brought your comments to Joe’s attention and he meant no
> harm in his two references to “Chinaman.” If you were
> offended, please consider this an apology from Joe who
> assures us it won’t happen again.
>
>
>
> Thanks for bringing this matter to our attention and we hope
> you continue to support the Cavs!
>
 
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