American sports broadcasters are being criticized for using the word "Chinaman" to describe Chinese sports stars. Last Sunday, Len Dawson of television station KMBC in Kansas City observed that Yao Ming attended the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 auto race. Yao was there to raise awareness about the devastating earthquake in Sichuan province and to urge Americans to donate to relief charities. Instead of pointing out Yao's humanitarian efforts, Dawson, a former professional football quarterback, said "it's not every day you see a seven-foot-four Chinaman working on a car."
The term "Chinaman" is considered derogatory in modern American culture and is defined as an offensive racial slur in current English language dictionaries. It was used in the 1800's to describe men from China in an anonymous dehumanizing way. Chinese men had their names recorded as "John Chinaman" or simply as "Chinaman" suggesting that they were all the same and not important as individuals. Asian American author Maxine Hong Kingston has said the antiquated term is equivalent to the N-word for blacks. The term "Chinaman's chance" is a shortened version of "Chinaman's chance in hell" meaning no chance at all. The expression comes from pre gold rush days in California when Chinese workers were deemed expendable and used for dangerous work such as placing dynamite. The term "Chinaman's chance" refers to the odds of the man surviving.
The comment has American journalists debating among themselves about the severity of the racial slur. The TVSpy Watercooler message board for journalists was a flurry of activity in the days following Dawson's comment. Some suggested it is being taken too seriously. One wrote "Lighten up. If it were done on a continuous basis ... it would be very offensive. But, said once in that context .. a funny line- that's all." In response, another poster wrote "It doesn't matter if it's funny or not. The term "Chinaman" is a racial slur. If he had said 'Look there's an N-word working on his car' this conversation would be about Dawson being fired and whether he'd ever work in TV again."
Just last month, on April 11, CBS announcer Bobby Clampett referred to Chinese golfer Liang Wen-Chong as "the Chinaman" during the Masters golf broadcast. According to CBS spokeswoman Leslie Anne Wade, Clampett later apologized on the Masters web cast. Clampett said, "if I offended anybody please accept my sincere apologies." The apology itself came under fire. On the sports site Fanhouse, writer Michael David Smith said "the style of apology that begins with 'if I offended anybody' always rings a little bit hollow. The word 'Chinaman' is a slur, and it's the slur that should be followed up with an apology, not the reaction of being offended by the slur."
The reaction to the comment is also raising questions about a double standard. Are racial slurs against black athletes taken more seriously than slurs against Chinese athletes? In January, Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman was suspended for two weeks for joking that if young players want to beat golfer Tiger Woods they should "lynch him in a back alley." The "lynch" reference offended African American advocates like Rev. Al Sharpton because of America's painful history of mobs lynching black men. Sharpton led a public campaign urging the Golf Channel to fire Tilghman. There was no such outcry for punishing Clampett for his "Chinaman" comment. Clampett was not suspended like Tilghman. Likewise, Len Dawson has not been suspended by his employer and has issued no apology for his comment about Yao Ming.
Kent Ninomiya
The term "Chinaman" is considered derogatory in modern American culture and is defined as an offensive racial slur in current English language dictionaries. It was used in the 1800's to describe men from China in an anonymous dehumanizing way. Chinese men had their names recorded as "John Chinaman" or simply as "Chinaman" suggesting that they were all the same and not important as individuals. Asian American author Maxine Hong Kingston has said the antiquated term is equivalent to the N-word for blacks. The term "Chinaman's chance" is a shortened version of "Chinaman's chance in hell" meaning no chance at all. The expression comes from pre gold rush days in California when Chinese workers were deemed expendable and used for dangerous work such as placing dynamite. The term "Chinaman's chance" refers to the odds of the man surviving.
The comment has American journalists debating among themselves about the severity of the racial slur. The TVSpy Watercooler message board for journalists was a flurry of activity in the days following Dawson's comment. Some suggested it is being taken too seriously. One wrote "Lighten up. If it were done on a continuous basis ... it would be very offensive. But, said once in that context .. a funny line- that's all." In response, another poster wrote "It doesn't matter if it's funny or not. The term "Chinaman" is a racial slur. If he had said 'Look there's an N-word working on his car' this conversation would be about Dawson being fired and whether he'd ever work in TV again."
Just last month, on April 11, CBS announcer Bobby Clampett referred to Chinese golfer Liang Wen-Chong as "the Chinaman" during the Masters golf broadcast. According to CBS spokeswoman Leslie Anne Wade, Clampett later apologized on the Masters web cast. Clampett said, "if I offended anybody please accept my sincere apologies." The apology itself came under fire. On the sports site Fanhouse, writer Michael David Smith said "the style of apology that begins with 'if I offended anybody' always rings a little bit hollow. The word 'Chinaman' is a slur, and it's the slur that should be followed up with an apology, not the reaction of being offended by the slur."
The reaction to the comment is also raising questions about a double standard. Are racial slurs against black athletes taken more seriously than slurs against Chinese athletes? In January, Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman was suspended for two weeks for joking that if young players want to beat golfer Tiger Woods they should "lynch him in a back alley." The "lynch" reference offended African American advocates like Rev. Al Sharpton because of America's painful history of mobs lynching black men. Sharpton led a public campaign urging the Golf Channel to fire Tilghman. There was no such outcry for punishing Clampett for his "Chinaman" comment. Clampett was not suspended like Tilghman. Likewise, Len Dawson has not been suspended by his employer and has issued no apology for his comment about Yao Ming.
Kent Ninomiya
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