February 15, 2007
When a Band Name Is Also Considered a Slur
Last right, NYU's Asian Heritage Club protested the selection of a Valentine's Day concert band whose name is The Ching Chong Song. NYU junior and AHC member Frederick Wong told the Washington Square News that 20 students had gathered for the protest because "The name, Ching Chong Song, did not really relate to any of the lyrics in their songs. So we thought it was completely unnecessary to have a racist name."
The band apologized to the student group and said they would be called "Church of Lurch." While Ching Chong Song/Church of Lurch band members said they didn't know it was a racist slur, the band had caused a controversy when they were scheduled to play Bryn Mawr last year. Bryn Mawr students protested and their appearance was canceled. Band member Julia LaMendola wrote this letter to the Bryn Mawr's college paper:
If we allow the things that we question to fuel anger, guilt, jealousy, hate, or revenge, then we are dismissing layers of truth. Growing up a child of a gay parent in a tiny town, a poor second-generation Italian girl, I also have experience with the nuances of language. And give me a break you stupid twats.Bi-College News (the paper for Bryn Mawr and Haverford) managing editor Andrea Milne wrote an opinion piece titled "Ching Chong, this Witch is Dead; Or, Why the Bi-Co Had to Publish an Offensive Letter to the Editor," that explained,"I didn’t publish the letter because I agree with Ching Chong Song; I published it because I want that letter it to become the biggest public relations nightmare this band will ever see." Well, even though NYU Program Board chair David Kinniburgh knew of the cancellation, he still booked the band because its music is "full of love." Kinniburgh did meet with the AHC to listen to their complaints.Let’s not use misunderstanding as armor against the complicated nature of life. Don’t polarize shit when there are so many shades of sexuality and ethnicity to appreciate. I am mad that I was asked to back out, just another way the small-scale mirrors the large-scale of “shut-your-mouth-you’re-scaring-me” tactics are infiltrating our f’d up sweet spunky youth. By the way, “ching chang chong” is what people in Germany call the game rock paper scissors, and stupid petty retards is what I’m calling you.
Apparently the band is only changing its name now because of the complaints - we guess they don't watch the View! And a tangential blast from the past: City employee David Langlieb was skewered when he wrote a "satire" about Greenpoint for the Haverford Alumni magazine.
Photograph from the Washington Square News
|
those fuckin chinks ruining it for everyone!
The name for my next band,
The Greasy Wop Dagos.
can't wait till 2012 when all you dumbass racists finally realize you've been OWNED by China.
And if any people are known for their sensitivity towards minorities, it's the Germans!
A poor second generation Italian-American?
Damn, that is sad. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Dumg Guinea.
"can't wait till 2012 when all you dumbass racists finally realize you've been OWNED by China."
It's not that they'll have been owned by China, but rather that they will be owned by China, along with the rest of the country, and the world.
I think it would be legitimate excuse...if they were a German band.
Umm, I think dumb is spelt with a b...
this is all just so stupid. don't people have bigger things to worry about than the name of some joke band?
OK, then that's the name of my new band.
Dumg Guinea.
I feel horrified to know that my university would invite such an unthinking, inconsiderate band!
alright I got money down that super-liu our ethnic identity crusader will have something to say about this in the next few days...
seriously, there are a lot of bad isms out there, and racism isn't going away! supporting bands/movies/tv shows/anything with "funny" or "clever" sounding, but ultimately racist names, isn't funny or clever at all.
if the biggest thing asians have to worry about is a band name then clearly we've solved this whole discriminatin/prejudice thing. Cool.
so what do we call jumping out and running around the car at the stop light before it turns green?
a german rock paper scissors drill.
I'm thinking they wanted attention and free publicity. In that regard, it worked...
huawei- Thanks, I guess we should just accept being model minorities then, huh?
As an aside: Why didn't they name themselves "The Nigger Faced Swing Band", huh?
Oh, that's right...
CHING CHONG SONG is playing at galapagos tonight.
I'm am outraged!!! Get me a grandstand .... where are the television cameras?????
I saw the Nigger Faced Swing band last month at Northsix! Man, they fucking SLAYED.
You did?
who was the warm up band? The Greasy Wop Dagos or Dumg Guineas?
there is nothing about graffitti in this post. I am OUTRAGED.
So outraged I'm gonna go write my name on some stuff.
the comments on this story have been hilarious
Mendola isn't the most artful defender of free speech, and her appeal to identity politics is pitiable, but she has a point: nobody even bothered to listen to whether her band and its name stood for the racist message it was alleged to. They got hounded out of Bryn Mawr without anybody even asking the question of what they really meant. Maybe they did get the name from Germany's version of rock-paper-scissors? And what's to say that the German expression came from a slur? And since when does "Google" decide what a racial slur is? Furthermore, didn't campus speech codes die in the '90's? And Ms. Milne's self-righteousness? Please, let's hope this sophmore signs up for her intended major and gets on with life.
I’d listen to the Ching Chong’s, but I’m more into the Hooknose Money Grubbers and the Spearchucking jungleboyz.
Their music is totally sweet
I heard the Cheap Jews are opening for the Nigger Faced Swing Band, with special guests Dot Head Hindus & Sleazy Spics.
the edge:
Why didn't they name themselves "The Nigger Faced Swing Band", huh?
I don't know ask them. why don't you address my point. Or is police brutality and job discrimination less important than the name of a band. ever wonder why 'whitey' or 'gweilo' isn't a slur to whites? because whites don't give a shit if you call them that. we should stop giving a shit. and your guitar playing by the way really went downhill after unforgettable fire.
rock on, ching chong song... we love you anyway...
Well, the real reason whites don't care about 'whitey' is because caucasians have the most power, control, and privelege in the country. Even the world, some might argue.
But still. Things like this have to be considered in context. Is Ching Chong Song the band in any way making light of or encouraging racial discrimination or violence?
The answer is clearly no.
The problem here is that many liberals are so tightly wound over issues of race and class that they're jumping at shadows. If any of the people who protested the band were genuinely interested in social justice or solving problems of racial discrimination or violence, they'd be way too busy with so many of the real issues and difficulties facing nonwhites and the lower classes in this country to even consider protesting this band and their name.
The protest against this band name is an empty gesture, fighting an enemy where none exists.
rock on, that should be, ching chong song, me love you long time.
Everyting.
Race issues are so fun to talk and shout about. Mostly because no one seems to understand the other.
Non-whites just get too wound up. AND well whities just don't friggin' get it! Because they're white. Oh how rosy and fun all of this is, when you're primary concern is what's for dinner tonight. Yay! Hey, I'm a progressive white guy, I like Chinese take-out, sushi and Indian. Sometimes even Moroccan!
Me love you looooooong time !
dave chapelle as rick james was hella funnier than these guys, "ah welcome to the ching chong china club!"
what is so racist about saying ching chong? if you don't know the language, it sounds kinda like ching chong. who fuckin cares, why would that offend you? if someone spoke the language of my ethnicity in the wrong way why the fuck does that matter?
"But still. Things like this have to be considered in context. Is Ching Chong Song the band in any way making light of or encouraging racial discrimination or violence?
The answer is clearly no. "
Well, the answer isn't clearly no. Just the use of the words stirs up a sort of anger in people who have experienced it being used during childhood or whenever. It lends a legitimacy to those bullies and racists who use it, no matter how small that may be.
It may not be on par with full blown racism, but hell, it's still racist and/or ignorant. That's it. It shouldn't have happened in the first place. Also, we wouldn't have these other people stating how it's useless to fight it or get worked up over it.
Is it in some PR handbook that it's okay to use racism/stereotypes to self promote?
rock on Cracka Ass Saltine Crackas!
I also
And not using the term "ching chong" helps stop racism how?
These comments are precisely why minorities like me don't feel welcome in the indie music scene. It's not going to stop me from going to shows, but it's disgusting and infuriating that people who are supposedly my peers are so dismissive of racism and actively disrespectful, if not just out and out racist. What is so wrong with treating other people with kindness and sensitivity? And I'm sorry, but "grow a pair" is the stupidest response ever.
This white guy is going to jump in his time machine to 1995 and protest the band named Cracker.
Yeah the indie scene sure is such a haven of racism and bigotry.
There's no translation for "ching chong" so the mispronouciation excuse is moot.
Anyway I hope more of you closet racists see this POS band, you deserve each other.
Here's a hint, the chick in the band plays her instrument with her legs wide open. NOW go, post haste to get them tickets. NO you won't get a panty shot, oops, I let the cat out of the bag.
"ching chong" is the way asians pronounce Ping Pong. The problem is due to the fact that there is no "P" sound in chinkinese.
That means that "Chinese" for example is really pronounce "Pinese" in the original.
ching chong was a taunt i got before i got spat at and beaten. besides the usual chink.
anyone moron with some brain cells know it's racist.
Let's make this clear for the non-minorities.
"Ching Chong Song".... "Nigger Song"
Same effect, one is more obvious.
People will get upset and rightfully so.
and re post #30
"But still. Things like this have to be considered in context. Is Ching Chong Song the band in any way making light of or encouraging racial discrimination or violence?
The answer is clearly no."
You don't need any kind of context, replace "Ching Chong Song" with "Nigger song" and the answer is clearly yes.
Geez, it must be great to be white! You can make fun of other people and when they get offended, just say that it was a joke AND complain that they need to chill out, and how there's no respect for freedom anymore.
Ching Chong Song? Never heard of em. You should check out"
"Smelly Ass Monkey Nigger from Africa about to be hanged by Whites Like Me" best band ever.
Forgot to mention this band too, theyre pretty good.
"Racist Imperialist Pasty White people who all died (some burned, some jumped, some choked) when planes hit the twin towers and they still cant get over it"
Call a white woman a fat pig and she will get the picture. Call a white man bald and he will also get the picture.
I wonder how many of the responders here are hypocrites - I'll bet most of you have some misogynistic anti-white gangsta rap music on your ipod right now.
And isn't this comment ethnically insensitive:
"And if any people are known for their sensitivity towards minorities, it's the Germans!"
What if I replaced it with:
"And if any people are known for their tolerance, it's Muslim fundamentalists!"
or
"If any people are known for their appreciation of baby girls, it's the Chinese!"
I bet you'd be angry - and these are quite tame.
==> The whole concept of predjudice is in applying stereotypical ehtnic or racial attributes to individuals soley because of their belonging to said group, instead of judging them on their individual merits or deficiencies.
I hate it how LaMendola is TELLING others how to react to her insensitive, ignorant slander. Hey - listen - people are offended. Stop being defensive and listen for a minute to what people are saying.
If we tell you that we were taunted and ostracized as children, and this language is still deeply painful today, why in the world would you not heed that?
We expected that as adults, we wouldn't have to face this type of language anymore. We don't want to be constantly reminded that people view us as outsiders. Can it be true that things haven't changed since the playground 20 years ago?
Unfortunately, there seems to be an increasing number of people who come to New York and sequester themselves in little circles re-creating their pasty-white communities from PA or WI or whatever. It's a shame because NY has so much more to offer.
"there seems to be an increasing number of people who come to New York and sequester themselves in little circles re-creating their pasty-white communities from PA or WI or whatever. It's a shame because NY has so much more to offer."
Yes, it's called Upper East Side.
I think everyone needs to watch some Sarah Silverman stand-up and calm down. I'm chinese and my first repsonse was to giggle at the fact that a band named themselves ching chong song.
I mean, just think of the usage of 'ching chong' as an actual racial slur:
1) just plain sounds funny
2) oooh, why don't you prove to me how sheltered you are that you don't understand the language pattern of a full 20% of the world population?
3) Is that the best thing that you could come up with? really?
See? Harmless. Language, like knowledge, can only be used to hurt when it is bottled up and made 'taboo'.
perryair at the deli
perryair: hi can i get a ham samwich?
deliman: ching chong chong?
perryair: giggle that sounds funny... can i get my ham samwich?
deliman: ching ching... chong chong?
perryair: dude i'm speaking english
deliman: ching, getthefuckoutofmystore chong?
perryair: Is that the best thing that you could come up with? really?
deliman: sayanora!
perryair: ...
Walks down the street and sees a flyer: "TONIGHT ONLY, CHING CHONG SONG!!"
You're right perryair that was "Harmless. Language, like knowledge, can only be used to hurt when it is bottled up and made 'taboo'".
I can't believe perryair mentioned sarah silverman.
Now I know the Chinese are doomed if they like her.
you're unoriginal and you're not white, mr. perryair. and, for spite, God or whomever will make your offsprings have the tinyest eyes ever.
Ever notice how the one's who shun their heritage get's the tinyest eyes, where the mainlanders have larger eyes. That's kharma. and, if you really do giggle when people call you that, that's pretty sad.
konichiwa perryair.
coincidentally, david langlieb used to be the editor of the bi-co newspaper when he attended haverford.
perryair is absolutely correct. names can only hurt if you asign too much meaning to them. the best way to disarm a racist is to laugh at their stupidity. whining about how much their words hurt you only gives more tools for them to manipulate you.
anyway otomboy, did you really want to give your money to a racist deli? at least you know now.
Wrong, laughing means acceptance. No other race would accept it, why Asians?
sorry ole boy, laughing won't get you into the club.
I believe otomboy was making fun of giggle boy and giggle boy was accepting the slurs given to him like a pig to slop.
Years ago, I remember the Italian community being offended by an ad that showed Italian women to be either very beautiful or very haggardly old and ugly. No inbetweens. As a non-Italian I can see how that ad was offensible. So come-on people, ching chong song IS offensible.
When minorities of color voice discontent over these subtle yet provocative slurs, jokes, mishaps, etc, there's a leaning towards belittling or downright ridiculing their concerns (as is the case here). This is not right, and certainly not something you respond with "a laugh".
garbage man,
"perryair is absolutely correct. names can only hurt if you asign too much meaning to them. the best way to disarm a racist is to laugh at their stupidity."
I can't help assigning a meaning to ching chong, just as black people can't help assigning a meaning to nigger. Would you really tell your black friend to disarm a rascist by laughing? or "stop whining about how much their words hurt you, it only gives more tools for them to manipulate you"
I think your friend would politely say to you "are you a moron?"
perryair is clearly chinese-american and not chinese. Probably born here, probably wore Abercrombie in high school, probably thinks she's white.
Some of the posters on this thread should form a band and call it the Polyphonic Faggots.
Liu should just chill out. sometimes mandarin/cantonese SOUNDS like that to me and i speak mandarin also. is he that insecure of how others may still perceive the asian language ?
crackers are at it again. is it any wonder that the african slave trade, genocide of the native americans, nazi germany, imperialism, aparteid, jim crow, etc etc all happened to be perpetrated by these subhumans?
>>perryair is absolutely correct. names can only hurt if you asign too much meaning to them. the best way to disarm a racist is to laugh at their stupidity. whining about how much their words hurt you only gives more tools for them to manipulate you.
You don't "assign" meaning stupid. Asking someone of a racial group not to be offended by a slur toward his groups is about as stupid as me asking you not to think of a white bear by telling to "not think of a white bear."