The following letter was sent by AAJA national president Esther Wu to Joel Hollander, chairman and chief executive officer of CBS Radio, and Dana McClintock, senior vice president of CBS Communications, on January 27, 2006:
Dear Mr. Hollander and Mr. McClintock:
I am writing to complain about the racist segment that aired on Adam Carolla's radio show on Jan. 24.The show was aired through CBS Radio's 97.1 Free FM (KLSX-FM) in Los Angeles. During the broadcast, Carolla made derogatory remarks about the Asian Excellence Awards, a program that paid tribute to Asian Americans in the media who have made a difference, including the late actor Pat Morita.
Carolla and his radio crew mocked the awards presentation, which was conducted in English. They repeated chants of "ching chong, ching chong" as part of a pretend interview of the Asian American presenters and honorees. The attempt at humor was crude, offensive and inexcusable.
Carolla's childish actions not only demean the work of Asian American actors, directors and producers, but they also insult a large segment of the American population - many of whom listen to your network, sponsor your programs and work for your company. His broadcast perpetuates the stereotype of Asians as non-English speaking foreigners. It belittles all Americans of foreign descent. Carolla has done your company a great disservice.
As president of the Asian American Journalists Association, an organization representing more than 2,000 print, online, television and radio journalists in the United States and in Asia, I have had to deal with many cases of racism in the media. This happens to be one of the most blatant.
Adam Carolla owes everyone associated with the Asian Excellence Awards and the public an apology.
Esther Wu
AAJA National President
