CHINESE MAN COSTUME IN BAD TASTE?
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 by x15.boston.juno.com (queuemail) id DRM4ZPQ4; Thu, 15 Oct 1998 21:21:11 EDT
To: arthurhu@halcyon.com
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 21:21:11 EDT
Status:   




________________________________________________________


FYI. I'm forwarding a compiled list of few of the emails from a
discussion on an Asian American Psychologist listserv I'm on that might
interest you all.


Hue-Sun Ahn


________________________________________________________


 Hi All:


 I was taking a leisurely walk home from campus today and passed by
Urban Outfitters.  I looked at the window display and had to do a
double take.  To my surprise and disbelief, I saw a Halloween product
being advertised in the front window and it was a "Chinese Man
costume" - which included glasses, pigtail, cap and all!!!  I was
outraged, however, I decided that before I did anything rash, I was
going to seek the advice of experienced others on how to protest the
sale and advertisement of this horrendous product.  Any suggestions?
Especially from those who are in Austin or those who are familiar
with Urban Outfitters.


 Thanks, Hsin-Tine Tina Liu


_________________________


 to me, it seems fairly irrelevant if the costume was designed
tastefully or not.  the very notion of it being a "costume" ridicules
the culture and race, rather than uplifting either.  at the heart of
this matter is blatant racism.  imagine if urban outfitters sold a
"black man" costume complete with gold chains, handgun, and afro.
many native americans and indians also find offense at "indian"
halloween costumes.  just think of the continuous protests over
sports team mascots (e.g., atlanta braves).  can you imagine kids
dressing up as a chinese man for halloween and making ridiculous,
racist gestures, pretending to speak chinese, and saying stupid
things.


 this type of characterization of chinese and chinese americans
reminds me of the american spectator (correct mag?) magazine cover
with bill and hillary clinton and al gore dressed and depicted as
chinese with slanted eyes and buckteeth.  since i live in austin, i
will make it a point to speak with the manager and lodge a formal
complaint.  i urge others who live in cities where urban outfitters
exists to do likewise (e.g., boston).


 it also reminds me of the recent racism at boston college (sadly, my
alma mater) where ethnic minority student leaders were sent emails
saying that "bc is for white men."  this racist email follows a
series of other racist incidences at bc.


 of course, i encourage dialogue on this issue.  -- rich


___________________________________


 Rich,


 The magazine was the National Review.  Your comments are articulate
and insightful.  These type of derogatory and negative images are
seeds of racism which are being planted in the young minds of the non
Asian-American children.  It may very well have a detrimental impact
on the formation of the sense of self concept of children of Chinese
Americans.


____________________________________


 hsin-tine and i went to speak with the manager of urban outfitters
this afternoon.  as expected, they were not responsive to our
complaint that this type of "costume" and depiction of asian
americans is racist and insulting.  rather, they were "sorry that you
feel this way" and "others do find this to be funny."  sadly, even
the asian american employee justified the "chinese man costume" as
funny and not racist.  it is amazing that we, as asian americans,
must apologize for being offended.  in the end, the manager informed
us that she will speak with the management of urban outfitters to
discuss the situation.  this is an item that is being sold at all
urban outfitters.  she also said that perhaps asian american students
should protest larger racist incidences on campus rather than
something as minor as this costume.  unbelievable.  i informed them
that if these items are not removed from all urban outfitters, then
they can expect a picket of their store.  stay tuned for more...rich


_________________________


 i urge people to call urban outfitters management at 1-888-809-4799.
speak with jay hammer, director of stores.  he was much more
responsive to this issue than the local store manager.  i forgot to
do so, but request that urban outfitters do the following: (a) remove
the costume from all stores, (b) make a formal apology to the public,
(c) create a task force to review offensive merchandise, (d) initiate
a diversity training program, and (e) donate money to local asian
american organizations.


 rich








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