We all know that “Chinaman” is an “N” word equivalent.
So why did KNBR’s Tom Tolbert use the term “Chinaman” on the air Aug. 12 while relating to his sports-talk audience a story about a man in Hong Kong who used a piece of exercise equipment to masturbate?
I suppose a Midwest farm boy would have found his paramour among some sheep. But in urban Hong Kong, an exercise bench with small holes in it could be seen as a comely device in a pinch. However, when this resourceful guy found himself aroused, he was also stuck. He panicked, called the police, and became the butt of jokes world-wide.
The story is great fodder for a guy like Mr. T. But did he really have to spice up an already bizarre story by using the racist term “Chinaman”?
You’d figure being based in San Francisco, a city that’s more than a third Asian, and in California where there are more Asians than African Americans, the former jock Tolbert would be a little more sensitive to his audience.
Or maybe he just prefers a double standard?
When black athletes do something dumb in the sports world, is Tolbert quick to pull out the “N” word?
Tolbert just isn’t sensitive enough to his Asian American audience.
Fortunately, the utterance was on KNBR’s weak sister, AM 1050, while the Giants were on AM680 with half-Asian Tim Lincecum on the mound (You didn’t hear? He’s not the “Freak,” nor the “Franchise.” He’s “The Filipino.”) On AM1050, it’s likely a small number of people heard Tolbert’s racism. But my reader, a blogger named Derek Wizzle, heard it, wrote about it, and was pretty miffed.
He also didn’t hear an apology and wanted one. I contacted Lee Hammer, the program director at KNBR and got no reply at that point.
On Wednesday, Aug.13, on KNBR 680 around 3:15 pm, Tolbert came back on the air and admitted to his idiocy.
One problem. Tolbert said he apologized on Tuesday immediately after he said the word the first time.
Hmm. When was Tolbert racist and when did he know it?
It matters because if he didn’t say it “immediately after,” he’s lying and covering up.
I e-mailed Hammer a second time and asked if I could hear a taped air-check of the original use of the word on KNBR 1050.
Hammer didn’t mention a tape and only replied tersely that the apology was given immediately as it was said.
Wizzle said he heard nothing that sounded like “I’m sorry for using a stupid word,” or words to that effect when he was listening to AM1050 around 6:30 pm on Aug. 12.
The significance of all this is that Tolbert has a history of supporting racist speech.
A few years back, when Shaquille O’Neal mocked and mimicked Yao’s broken English publicly it was every bit as bad as the Spanish basketball team’s slant-eyed mockery of the Chinese at this year’s Olympics.
Tolbert, who was then a more prominent analyst on ABC, actually defended Shaq’s slur and engaged in a mini on-air debate with fellow commentator, the basketball great Bill Walton. Walton’s position was the correct one. Shaq’s comments were out-of-line and racist. Tolbert’s weak defense was that it was all an obvious joke.
Ha-ha.
How many times have we heard racists excuse their behavior by saying, “Can’t you take a joke”?
Tolbert’s loutish charm has taken him far. But his less than rigorous attitude toward obvious racism and his off-handed display of it on his show actually helps to perpetuate what becomes society’s “acceptable racism”
Is it really OK to say “Chinaman” if you apologize immediately after? It should never have been mentioned in the first place. No one says “Chinaman” unless you’re ignorant or racist.
An apology only applies a nice gauze to the wound.
Don’t forget to read this week’s column at:
http://www.asianweek.com/2008/08/21/desi-obamas-new-race-cards/