Guy Aoki anoints Adam Carolla as an honorary Asian?
by Carmen Van Kerckhove
Huh interesting… Guy Aoki, co-founder and president of the media watchdog group Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) practically anointed Adam Carolla as an honorary Asian when he appeared on his show on Thursday to discuss the Rosie O’Donnell ching chong incident.
From Angry Asian Man:
Guy Aoki was the Adam Carolla Show yesterday to talk about the incident. Yeah, you read that right—Guy Aoki and Adam Carolla. They’re like buddies now. Carolla considers himself “in” with Asians, having gone through fire, and somehow now a better man. Yeah, some of us aren’t so forgiving. Listen to the show segment here. Please. Did Guy Aoki give Carolla a Yellow Pass or something? Because it’s obvious to me that Carolla, who’s smug and patronizing throughout this clip (granted, he’s always like that), still doesn’t get it or give a damn. He’s just going through the motions and still doing penance for his own “ching chong” bit gone wrong. Please, stop.
Click the play button below to listen to the interview yourself or click here to download the MP3:
As activists, it’s important for us to keep good relationships with media people. But I think that can be done without quite so much sycophancy, especially when the person you’re fawning over himself used the ching chong routine just 8 months ago to mock the Asian Excellence Awards.
Is 8 months the statute of limitations on being offended by racial mockery? I guess I didn’t get the memo.
I have a lot of respect for the work Guy Aoki has done over the years in speaking out harmful media depictions of Asian-Americans. But I’d like to see him take a harder line against people like Carolla from now on.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Y. Carrington wrote:
I heard that interview yesterday, and it was painful. Carolla was mocking Aoki the whole damn time. At one point, he actually asked Aoki to leave him alone and focus on Rosie’s transgressions. Smug, smug hypocrisy.
I remember screaming to myself—”Brotha, what are you doing!” Obviously, as a Black woman, I can’t tell an Asian activist what to do. That’s not my place. But as a person of color in this country, damn. You can’t be giving anybody passes on their racism, but especially not white folks in the media. The US media has a lot of power—over the economy, and over people’s minds. It’s the same situation with Jesse Jackson and Michael Richards: While the opportunity to have a political influence on big stars is very tempting, at some point, well-known leaders have got to stop getting in bed with these public figures. You’re compromising your integrity and your dignity.
At the end of the day, men of color (again) are positioning themselves as the healers and educators of screwed-up white people. We’ve been doing this shit forever. When are we gonna stop playing Mammy and start making white folks do their own damn work?
Posted 10 Dec 2006 at 2:27 am ¶
merq wrote:
You’re compromising your integrity and your dignity.
This is, of course, contingent on the assumption that Jackson ever had any integrity.
Posted 10 Dec 2006 at 12:43 pm ¶
Y. Carrington wrote:
Merq…I know, I know.
Posted 10 Dec 2006 at 4:48 pm ¶
MizuWari wrote:
Was Aoki serious about this “honorary Asian” thing or did he/was he attempting a backhanded compliment/pseudo-meta-joke against Corolla that got lost in the sauce?
Posted 10 Dec 2006 at 7:14 pm ¶
Rob wrote:
Aoki has finally lost it.
Posted 10 Dec 2006 at 8:40 pm ¶
SocKrit2Em wrote:
Personally, I think given his various (often failed but noticeable) attempts to re-route the conversation, Guy is probably rethinking his decision to be on the show in the first place. Given the unsubtle genre, diplomacy and irony were insufficient tools
Posted 13 Dec 2006 at 8:02 pm ¶
Minter wrote:
You guys need new leaders, asian americans certainly don’t want an ass licker like Aoki representing them.
Posted 15 Dec 2006 at 3:05 am ¶
danny wrote:
Guy Aoki is a total idiot, plain and simple. He makes my skin crawl.
Posted 22 Aug 2007 at 11:06 am ¶