Mocking of Tsunami Tragedy
Friday, January 28, 2005 by AtlanticCanadianScot | Discussion: Websites
Recently in New York City, a popular hip hop station, Hot 97 & ranked # 2 in ratings for that market, improvised a parody of Quincy Jones’ 1985 single “We Are The World” which was produced at that time to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. The result was an unbelievably reckless racist mocking of said tragedy....below are the web links of an on-going On-Line Petition posted by a member of the Asian Community in New York; Kevin Chung. as well as an article explaining the outrage by the Asian & Black communities of New York: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?endhate&1 Background Info: http://www.thuglifearmy.com/news/articles/50747/
Community Reaction: http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/ny-ethot0129,0,8025.story?coll=ny-homepage-promo I want as many people as possible aware of this sad incidence of arrogant disregard for human suffering & disrespect of other nationalities
Community Reaction: http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/ny-ethot0129,0,8025.story?coll=ny-homepage-promo I want as many people as possible aware of this sad incidence of arrogant disregard for human suffering & disrespect of other nationalities
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Gene Nash
Reply #2 Friday, January 28, 2005 12:04 PM
I hope you never become a Supreme Court Justice.
Reply #2 Friday, January 28, 2005 12:04 PM
| Sure, the US Constitution protects free speech, but it does not protect hate speech. |
I hope you never become a Supreme Court Justice.
AtlanticCanadianScot
Reply #3 Friday, January 28, 2005 12:27 PM
Reply #3 Friday, January 28, 2005 12:27 PM
thx Mike....I want as many people as possible to sign the On-Line petition posted by Kevin Chung....at present it is just short of 40,ooo signatures & comments...your support & understanding are greatly appreciated....cool you, one of my most admired Interface Designers feels this way
Fond Regards From Atlantic Canada
Fond Regards From Atlantic Canada
Alternate Setting
Reply #4 Friday, January 28, 2005 12:40 PM
Reply #4 Friday, January 28, 2005 12:40 PM
The Constitution does indeed seem to protect, for the most part, those who partake in 'hate speech'.
It doesn't make these people any less contemptable.
It doesn't make these people any less contemptable.
MikeB314
Reply #5 Friday, January 28, 2005 2:08 PM
Reply #5 Friday, January 28, 2005 2:08 PM
I'll be the first to admit you shouldn't take legal advice from me. The topic just had me a bit hot under the coller. If there's one thing I won't tolerate, it's intolerance. 
I'm not completely off the mark though. There are many types of speech that are not protected by the Constitution. The courts have been debating it for decades. Feel free to read up on it if you're interested. http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/constitution/amendment01/18.html#f106
Essencay
Reply #6 Friday, January 28, 2005 2:42 PM
Reply #6 Friday, January 28, 2005 2:42 PM
Unfortunately I've read lyrics and/or heard worse lyrics in hip-hop, not related to the tsunami though. This however is repulsive indignity to the victims and their families. 
Gideon MacLeish
Reply #7 Friday, January 28, 2005 2:51 PM
Reply #7 Friday, January 28, 2005 2:51 PM
The clip I read was, indeed, offensive. But I will not be a part of any petition, online or otherwise. I have written many pieces myself deemed "offensive"; all of them have been submitted with thought and were stated as they were to express a point.
But the larger point remains. How would anyone expect a radio station that specializes in the most offensive genre of music ever produced (try LISTENING to eminem and 50 cent; though I will defend their rights as artists, they get pretty offensive in their music) expect them to "tone it down" when it comes to a subject such as this?
Put simply, I don't consider it harmless humor, but I don't think it's the same thing as dragging a black man to death in Jasper, Texas. If you don't like it, alerting others to this station's brand of *humor* and personally boycotting the station may be enough
(on the other hand, are you aware of how many folks may be drawn to the station not from the original song but from your drawing attention to it? Sometimes, the best response is silence).
AtlanticCanadianScot
Reply #8 Friday, January 28, 2005 2:57 PM
Reply #8 Friday, January 28, 2005 2:57 PM
well Scribe.....it would seem that Hip Hop is having a reality check.....yes, gangsta rap has been misogynistic & devoid of value for life for years....& we just chocked it up to a view from the Ghetto....but the parody on Hot 97, which I am sure Quincy Jones, the producer/arranger of star studded"We Are The World" that Hot 97 ripped from Christmas '84, which WAS a charity single to raise money for the Ethiopian famine, & Quincy incidentally being a man of color who is vastly talented as an artist, producer, arranger & a TOTAL gentleman, must be outraged to see his charitable work perverted in the manner. But the glib racism & coldness of the Hot 97 "parody" was finally too much for the greater public to stomach....it WAS heartless, cold & anethema to any thinking, feeling person
MorghainenCorae
Reply #9 Friday, January 28, 2005 3:09 PM
Reply #9 Friday, January 28, 2005 3:09 PM
Though I don't support any form of censorship it really is an awfull statement about the condition of humanity... the fact that someone would have thought is was even darkly funny to porduce such a track, it makes me shiver with cold disgust. To some degree I am glad people like this jump up and shout thier sickness to the world as it makes them easy to identify and both AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE as well as use an example of what is to be considered DEEPLY INHUMAN... I don't think people like that should be jailed... but laughed at and ridiculed wherever the choose to go... in cases like this I find social punishment to be the most effective method of telling someone... "YOU CROSSED THE LINE"
AtlanticCanadianScot
Reply #10 Friday, January 28, 2005 3:22 PM
Reply #10 Friday, January 28, 2005 3:22 PM
nicely stated MorghainenCorae.....thx for your input....yes, there is going to be fur flying socially & financially this time
AtlanticCanadianScot
Reply #11 Friday, January 28, 2005 4:11 PM
Reply #11 Friday, January 28, 2005 4:11 PM
thx for taking the time for feedback Gideon, but racist, cold hearted treatment of any race is not tolerable in this day & age....this sad incident is a reality check for the Hip Hop industry & proves most of us have learned from history & are determined not to have the evil past repeat itself echoed in verse, "entertainment" or any social venue
_02
Reply #12 Friday, January 28, 2005 10:17 PM
Reply #12 Friday, January 28, 2005 10:17 PM
You know when John Wayne Gacey killed all those little boys and buried them in his crawl space, a radio DJ named Steve Dahl changed the words to Brick in a Wall to "All in all it's just another kid in the crawl". It was so discusting and sick. I was hoping the world had moved ahead a little bit more by now. 
AtlanticCanadianScot
Reply #13 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:04 PM
Reply #13 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:04 PM
excellent point CL....thx for responding
paxx
Reply #14 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:20 PM
Reply #14 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:20 PM
This is disgusting.
As much as I am in favor of free speech when it comes to individual rights, I think that when you are in a position where a mass of people listen to you, you have a responsability. What you say on the air doesn't have the same kind of impact as what a single person can say to a friend in a bar for example. When you have thousands, or millions of people listening to what you say, you have a certain power. And with power come responsabilities. I AM in favor of censorship when it comes to broadcasting. Hate speech cannot be tolerated. For every person that may find your "joke" funny another (or more) will be hurt.
There was recently a case in Quebec about a radio station that got its license revoked because it ignored the many warnings they received. When they continued to air racist and bigot comments on the air, they finally got cut off. Problem is that it was the most popular radio station in Quebec city, and it made a big wave. Bumper stickers about free speech everywhere. Sorry, but that station closed and deserved it. The freedom of your fist ends at the tip of my nose. Sorry but you can't, as a radio station host say that blacks are apes and that the holocaust was a good thing (just saying this as an example).
As an individual, you are free to be the idiot you want to be, but a radio (or TV or newspaper) should not be allowed to be.
kona0197
Reply #15 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:33 PM
I disagree. Free Speech means exactly that: We can say whatever we like in the US. But in this case some things should not have been said.
The minute the US Govenrment says we can't say anything we want to is the day the Consituition is just scrap paper.
Reply #15 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:33 PM
| Sure, the US Constitution protects free speech, but it does not protect hate speech. |
I disagree. Free Speech means exactly that: We can say whatever we like in the US. But in this case some things should not have been said.
The minute the US Govenrment says we can't say anything we want to is the day the Consituition is just scrap paper.
AtlanticCanadianScot
Reply #16 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:45 PM
Reply #16 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:45 PM
Hey Paxx:
Thx for your contribution.....I remember that situation in Quebec this fall very well, & yes, there was the typical agonizings about free speech, but in the wash, it was concluded that it wasn't really "free speech" as in a valid & balanced debate of ideas & ideals, but rather, a piss & vinegar rot of "Hate Propaganda", which in the letter of the law is not deemed in the best interest of the community, which is what common law is based on
Thx for your contribution.....I remember that situation in Quebec this fall very well, & yes, there was the typical agonizings about free speech, but in the wash, it was concluded that it wasn't really "free speech" as in a valid & balanced debate of ideas & ideals, but rather, a piss & vinegar rot of "Hate Propaganda", which in the letter of the law is not deemed in the best interest of the community, which is what common law is based on
AtlanticCanadianScot
Reply #17 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:53 PM
Reply #17 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:53 PM
Hey Kona:
Your point is absolutely valid....it is a fine line between censorship & regulation, BUT in this case the collective value system of the community was offended, SO, it would seem your FCC should step in & evaluate a broadcaster that offends the community standard for decency, much like our Canadian Regulatory Television Commission did with a recent case in one of our provinces....we Canadians are as outspoken as our fellow Americans, & value that civil liberty as much as yourselves....BUT when that civil liberty is exercised at the expense of the greater good, the Feds do intervene & the public is pleased...democracy in action....the will of the majority. Thx for taking the time to consider this sad reality check in NY & contributing
Your point is absolutely valid....it is a fine line between censorship & regulation, BUT in this case the collective value system of the community was offended, SO, it would seem your FCC should step in & evaluate a broadcaster that offends the community standard for decency, much like our Canadian Regulatory Television Commission did with a recent case in one of our provinces....we Canadians are as outspoken as our fellow Americans, & value that civil liberty as much as yourselves....BUT when that civil liberty is exercised at the expense of the greater good, the Feds do intervene & the public is pleased...democracy in action....the will of the majority. Thx for taking the time to consider this sad reality check in NY & contributing
_02
Reply #18 Saturday, January 29, 2005 8:06 AM
Reply #18 Saturday, January 29, 2005 8:06 AM
Anytime Sean441. I read the article and words used. Man it's horrid. I sent all links an email. I beleieve in free speech too, but I also believe more in compassion and getting along. Free Speech does'nt mean our tongues and brains should fall out of our heads. As an American I am ashamed this was allowed to happen. No wonder other Countries look down on us. It just takes one bad apple. Keep up the good work.
joeKnowledge
Reply #19 Saturday, January 29, 2005 1:18 PM
Reply #19 Saturday, January 29, 2005 1:18 PM
I wrote about this on eSM. I didn't here the song, but I saw a link to it, if anyone want to actually hear it.
AtlanticCanadianScot
Reply #20 Saturday, January 29, 2005 5:19 PM
Reply #20 Saturday, January 29, 2005 5:19 PM
thx CL....you are correct to point out that this sad incident was caused by uneducated sociopathic trash....I know most Americans are hard working, decent, kind hearted souls with a core of decency....believe me. we have had similar in Canada with Nazi sympathizers & red neck inbreds attacking our French Canadians...& Bravo! honey for sending e-mails to the Advertisers & Management of Emmis Communications....it breaks my heart to read the comments in the On-Line petition with the horrid early history of the Orientals who essentially built the Western Railroad in your country & the treatment they received then & in the 2 Great Wars....the Asians are a very proud, highly educated, hard working people & believe me, Emmis is in for one reality check as witnessed by the protest yesterday....
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Reply #1 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:53 AM
I read about this on CNN and I was truly disgusted. It was the kind of thing that engraged me to the point that I wanted to go down to New York and crack some skulls myself. From what I read, I got the impression that this morning show has a history of racism and bigotry. It's incredibly shameful. Sure, the US Constitution protects free speech, but it does not protect hate speech. Those involved should be punished to the fullest extent of the law and not a single one of them should be given the opportunity to perpetuate intolerance on our airwaves again. As far as I'm concerned, their broadcasting careers should end here. Their disregard for human life is inexcusable.