Is anyone who finds the "Sum Ting Wong" / "Wi Tu Lo" joke funny automatically a racist?

[Nye Bevan]

According to Channel 2, the crew was comprised of:

Captain Sun Ting Wong
Wi Tu Lo
Ho Lee Fuk
Bang Ding Ow

&feature=player_embedded#t=0s

40 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes. That joke is not funny, and anyone who sees any humor in it at all is a racist.
	7 (18%)
	Not necessarily. It's OK to privately find it amusing, but if you openly admit it then you are a racist.
	0 (0%)
	No. I found the joke to be funny and I am not a racist.
	29 (73%)
	No. I didn't think it was funny, but those who do are not necessarily racists.
	4 (10%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[treestar]

1. Hard to say

We should get opinions from Koreans who speak English.

Or see if we can put up with the opposite, if English names can sound like something else in another language.

[Nye Bevan]

2. I wonder what Psy thinks? (nt)

[treestar]

5. Would be interesting to know

He might just dance away!

[pintobean]

21. I asked Stu Piddassole

He didn't understand the question.

[NaturalHigh]

3. No, it's not racist. It's a joke.

Apparently, humor is not allowed any more because we are supposed to be outraged about something all the time. Meh.

[PsychoBunny]

22. Are there not racist jokes?

[NaturalHigh]

35. Did you hear the one about the penguin whose truck broke down?

[Iggo]

4. No.

[jessie04]

6. When you walk around with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

no more fun in life.

[winter is coming]

7. To me, it's like "Fifty Yard Dash to the Outhouse" by Willie Makitt,

illustrated by Betty Wont, and published by Andy Diddent.

Sophomoric humor, but not meant to be racist.

[PADemD]

65. or the Closing Credits to the Car Talk radio show

Following the real staff is a lengthy list of pun-filled fictional staffers and sponsors such as statistician Marge Innovera ("margin of error&quot , customer care representative Haywood Jabuzoff ("Hey, would you buzz off&quot , meteorologist Claudio Vernight ("cloudy overnight&quot , optometric firm C.F. Eye Care ("see if I care&quot , Russian chauffeur Pikov Andropov ("pick up and drop off&quot , Leo Tolstoy biographer Warren Peace ("War and Peace&quot , hygiene officer and chief of the Tokyo office Otaka Shawa ("oh take a shower&quot , Swedish snow-board instructor Soren Derkeister ("sore in the keister&quot , and law firm Dewey, Cheetham & Howe ("Do we cheat 'em? And how!&quot , among many, many others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Talk

[MrSlayer]

8. No.

However, there are some people that are particularly dour and will find it so.

I find such people to be tedious in the extreme.

[MineralMan]

9. Only if they all came from Phuket.

Of course it's racist. Playing games with names from another language is a typical racist thing. They call it a joke. It's not funny at all, though.

[Chan790]

23. Not racist, just lame.

It's like the shitty rap-rock band that booked an international tour of 6 US cities and one show in Djibouti just so they could end their tour by announcing from stage at the beginning of their concert "Tonight may be the last show of out tour, but we're going to rock Djibouti!"

[MineralMan]

28. Actually, though, it is. It's on the order of "Ching Chong Chinaman."

We don't understand Korean, so it's easy to make up fake names that sound somehow "oriental," but that have English connotations that are obscene or degrading or whatever. There are many names in Asian languages that sound funny to people who speak only English. That's because English-only speakers have no understanding of the language. It's ugly, in the same way that Americans got the reputation for being "Ugly Americans."

It's a type of racism or culturalism I dislike intensely. It's childish and stupid.

[PoliticAverse]

10. Not any more racist than someone that finds these names funny...

http://wikipedia.atpedia.com/en/articles/g/a/g/Gag_name.html

[jessie04]

15. Now thats racist.

just kidding

[LuckyLib]

60. There are multiple examples here of the same kind of name-pun humor. This is a good

example of the many contexts in which it has appeared.

[arcane1]

11. It reminds me of Bart Simpson's prank calls. Do we know the race of the prankster in this case?

If a Korean person made a joke about Anita Bath or Oliver Klozoff, would it be racist?

[FSogol]

49. What about Abbot and Costello's "Who's on First"?

Jokes making fun of last names are not particularly new or necessarily racist, however the plane crash one is really in bad taste and border-line racist.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

12. i did not think the joke itself was funny

what i did find simultaneously funny and horribly sad is that the 'bubble-headed-bleach-blonde' could be so stupid as to actually read them on-air...

sP

While I am sure most people know this... 'bubble-headed-bleach-blonde'... it's a lyric...

[BeyondGeography]

13. All I will say is the anchorwoman was brilliant

Didn't get flustered in the least and, most important, pronounced Fuk as "Fook."

[Nye Bevan]

19. I kind of got the impression that that's when she realized it was fake.

And pronounced "fuk" that way as a last-ditch effort to salvage the situation.

[BeyondGeography]

24. One of the archer things about the prank is by that point

your brain is screaming "holy fuck." I know mine was. Props for Fook.

[HiPointDem]

90. tells me she knew there was something wrong with the names but went along with it. iow, not

a real 'journalist'.

[Quantess]

14. The funny part is that the joke is on the news station.

They actually went along with it. It passed through so many hands and nobody caught it.

[TheBlackAdder]

51. I know. Even a 5 year-old would have looked at those names and said... Joke Names! nt

[Quantess]

54. Have they never seen The Simpsons?

Moe's Tavern, "I got a call here for Seymour Butts! Seymour Butts!"
"How about I.P. Freely!"

[DefenseLawyer]

78. I have a gwate fwend in Wome named Biggus... Dickus...

[KamaAina]

66. And it's the go-to news station in the Bay Area.

Where maybe 20 percent of the audience is Asian.

If nothing else, how could no one have noticed that most of the names sound Chinese, not Korean??

[Quantess]

71. It's beyond belief, to me, that it made it all the way to the newscaster.

And, that she was totally clueless. I instantly knew it was a put-on. Especially the first 3 on the list.

[Autumn]

16. I thought it was hilarious. A news reader didn't get it but I did

The 3 tines I've seen it I crack up laughing. That's funny.

[alittlelark]

17. How about Long Duck Dong from'Sixteen Candles'?

[hfojvt]

109. finally somebody remembers 16 candles

and what about OK Corallis?

OK should get to speak.

Personally I thought George Pancake was a pretty funny name. And then really surprised to find there was more than one of them in the 1850 census.

And, in the Grant family there was a daughter who married a Mr. Sadd and named one of their daughters Happy. Happy Sadd.

[Cleita]

18. There was a joke told when I worked in a bookstore. We used to title books and authors

in a joking way. One of the "book" title's was: "Riot in the Chinese Brassiere Factory" by Wun Hung Lo.

Now that I think about it, it was not only racist but sexist too. But it seemed funny then after a day of stacking books and unstacking them, and ripping covers off of those to be returned.

[Maximumnegro]

20. It's all about context

For reductionist hair-on-fire extremes like DU and on the other side, there is not much value given to context. Those names certainly could be considered funny - indeed I laughed when I first saw the story - but it's about why you're laughing. Is it funny because it makes fun of asian names, is it funny because some idiot got it on live tv, is it funny because the event was tragic and this happening is so absurd all you can do is laugh? There so many, many ways we process humor. The important thing is what you know to be true in yourself.

Humor is extremely complex. If you stop to think about stand up or films and how and when and why you laugh in an objective way you realize how complicated it is.

Then again, if you're making slant-eyes and repeating the names while watching - you're probably being racist.

[anomiep]

33. I agree

It's really about intent, I think. If someone finds that funny but also finds names like 'Ben Dover', etc, as I saw in one of the other threads here, then hey, the likelihood that they're taking it/intending it in a racist manner drops.

Now, if someone doesn't mean it in a racist way, but someone is actually getting offended by it and asks that it be stopped - it should be stopped, no question, and if someone doesn't stop in that situation - that ups the likelihood that they do in fact mean it in a racist way.

I remember as a little, little kid, the first time I read the joke title "'The Yellow River' by Ye Pee Long", I laughed, a lot. But back then, I literally had no idea there was such a thing as 'race issues' and it would have completely baffled me if someone tried to explain it to me (I was, I think, four or five at the time).

[allin99]

25. i have to wonder if they would find jokes about Sandy Hook amusing..

maybe it would be about the kids toys, or pampers, i mean, those would be about the same relevance. (pardon my example, i wouldn't even be able to think up a joke for either tragedy)

also, growing up around people of every background, many Asian, i never found those jokes very entertaining b/c i was used to asian names. the sounds weren't inherently amusing to me b/c they were normal to me. etc.

[1monster]

26. Perhaps the "funny" in it is in our ethnocentric perception of other languages.

I believe there is a parody web site out there that takes phrases and songs from other languages and posts "lyrics" of what the words sound like in English.

It's done by speakers of languages other than English, who occasionally make up jokes of a similar nature too.

Is it racist to laugh? I think that depends on the mindset of people who hear it. (I've been surprised into a laugh on things that I'd NEVER say and find totally inappropriate...)

Is it racist to make up jokes of this nature? Probably almost always yes.

[zappaman]

27. Dick Hertz found it funny and he's no racist! n/t

[cali]

29. wow. I'm shocked anyone found that piece of crap juvenalia funny

well, I'm actually not shocked that you did.

the joke itself is racist and foul and hurtful.

[Nye Bevan]

39. What makes you think I found it funny?

I typically don't vote in my own polls.

[scheming daemons]

100. lighten up francis

Jeezus

[tularetom]

30. Anybody who can't laugh at that

The stick up their ass has a stick up its ass.

Of course the humor is juvenile and maybe even borderline racist.

But the funny part is somebody got a dumbass TV station to repeat it on the air.

[d_r]

31. whats funny to me

isn't the names - which are obviously racist - but the fact that the news channel reported it.

[olddots]

32. we laugh to protect ourselves from the pains in life

the Asian name jokes are based on the irony of language just like the English language ones are .

[Amaya]

34. It was funny as hell

[bunnies]

36. Whats funny about it is...

that it made it all the way to the teleprompter without a single person catching what some prankster actually wrote. Then the mindless "read whatevers in front of me anchor" doesnt have brain cells enough to catch it before it comes out of her mouth. I think its a good example of what passes for "news" outlets in this country.

Anyone can feed whatever they want into the teleprompter and the good little puppet will read it. Its kinda sad, actually.

[SoCalDem]

64. This is why we need NEWS PEOPLE..not prompter-readers

I have seen them read "This is (NOT THEIR NAME) signing off"..

That "joke" written out and handed to a real news person, would have never made it to air..

[ZombieHorde]

37. I think the fact that those names were read on the air is hilarious.

The racist names wouldn't be funny to me if someone just said them to me.

The joke is racist, but really, what prejudice can you discern from someone who laughs at it?

[taught_me_patience]

38. For what it's worth, my wife is pure Korean

and thought it was funny. She figured it was an asian kid who punked them.

[AsahinaKimi]

61. I AM Asian....

And I found it horribly wrong but funny.. Its tragic that it happened around the deaths of some sweet Chinese girls, but the fact that someone read this on the air, and it got though all the so called scrutiny of a Broadcast station .. to make it on the air just made me laugh.

You know, in the DU lounge people sometimes post those photos of Chinese Menus.or signs, the ENGRISH website..and people laugh at that, because they find it funny. Someone who is totally serious might be very offended by those. I am not. Yes, Engrish can be very funny under the right context.

Yet, why has no one complained about that? I saw that The Asian American Journalists Association posted a proper reply to this, and they said:

"The Asian American Journalists Association also released a statement on the gaffe: "Words cannot adequately express the outrage we ... feel over KTVU’s on-air blunder that made a mockery of the Asiana Airlines tragedy and offended so many loyal viewers of the San Francisco Bay Area station."

They didn't find it so funny. I guess its based on your perspective.

[zappaman]

40. Jack Meoff thought it was funny and he's no racist! n/t

[Arugula Latte]

101. Unfortunately the same can't be said for Ben Dover.

[msongs]

41. its playing with language. so, are I. P. Daley and Harry Bottom racist as well then?

[warrprayer]

42. it might have been funny

... if it did not involve an accident that killed some beautiful kids, pictured right before the "joke"

[PD Turk]

43. I didnt find the joke itself funny

...but after working 13+ years in the television industry I think the fact that the newscaster just reeled it off the TelePrompTer like that is a riot. Every station I've worked at has been full of merry pranksters and my first thought was, "damn, they sure pulled one over on her!!"

[Spirochete]

44. The joke itself wasn't funny

what was funny to me, is the dumb media got suckered into broadcasting it again. I always get a kick out of it when they get fooled into publishing names like Heywood Jablome, etc.

[X_Digger]

45. When I was working tech support, we had a Vietnamese customer named Phuk Boi.

Whenever he called in, the rep would put him on mute and say, "Phuk Boi on line 1!" to much tittering and chortling. Juvenile? Absolutely. Racist? Doubtful.

[distantearlywarning]

46. I admit it, I laughed when I first heard about it

I think it's funny, in the same way that "Seymour Butts" and "Ben Dover" are funny - juvenile, but amusing. I don't think that makes me a racist, but whatever. I guess some people will think that about me if they want to.

I actually think it's more horrible that all the TV people didn't catch it before reading it on air. Bubble headed bleach blondes indeed. And I think the fact that it is making fun of a serious accident where people died is actually more problematic than the "Asian names" aspect. But at the same time dark humor has always been one way in which people reassure themselves about death and uncertainty.

[NoGOPZone]

47. No, but they likely need to get out more nt

[bluedigger]

48. I just fond it juvenile and sophomoric.

Which, given that the blame has been placed on a lowly intern, is not too surprising. People that laughed at it aren't necessarily racist, they just have a different sense of humor than I do. Not that mine is high brow or anything.

[Warpy]

52. The part I found funny is how clueless the Pox anchorette is

Even when she reads the stuff out loud, she doesn't get it at all.

ETA: if the GOP gets in again and finishes off the economy to the point we all have to turn to crime, we have a ready sucker list of people ready to believe any scam, Republicans.

[Happyhippychick]

53. The joke delighted my inner 13 year old

[markiv]

55. anyone who has ever laughed at anything is a racist

because we all know they were thinking racist thoughts when they did it

[Warpy]

58. You get the gold star

It's not whether a parody of names is funny, it's whether you think a whole race of people is inferior enough to keep them under totalitarian control--or just snub at cocktail parties.

[ThoughtCriminal]

56. Context

When people die, I'm not as comfortable about looking for humor in the situation. But that's about taste, not race.

[Whisp]

57. No, not a racist but really insensitive and stupid.

- signed Harry Dick.

[markiv]

59. we've learned that '2 wongs dont make a wright(brother)' nt

[zappaman]

62. Pepe Roni thought it was funny and he's no rascist! n/t

[pipi_k]

63. How about

a choice that says just plain "No", without all the "and I'm not a racist" stuff?

Do people really have to justify themselves?

What are the rules on that, anyway?

I mean, is it really OK to say "I'm not a racist" now? What is it that makes people think they're not racists, while other people are?

And what makes people who accuse others of being racists think it only confirms their belief that the person they accuse really IS a racist when that person says, "I have black friends"?

Does admitting you have black friends really mean you're a racist?

What if we ask the finger-pointers if they have any black friends?

Are people really racists because someone else said they are?

The rules are too complicated to follow.



Anyway, I found the joke hilarious.

But then, I have an extremely warped sense of humor.

PS...not a rant on you personally...just a general observation on how often the term "racism" gets thrown around here

[arely staircase]

67. reminds me of this

[Blaukraut]

68. Juvenile, but not racist. As kids in Germany, we used to make up Russian names as jokes

We thought they were hilarious and dirty, but obviously not racist. I still chuckle at a couple of them.

[MadrasT]

69. I just thought it was juvenile and stupid (n/t)

[DefenseLawyer]

70. Go fuck yourself, San Diego.

[name not needed]

73. Keep fucking that chicken.

[PoliticAverse]

74. You stay classy DefenseLawyer! n/t

[grntuscarora]

75. i should just back away from the keyboard slowly.

But two dearly loved family members are Asian Americans who have had to put up with the slanty eye jokes, the "what's it like to eat cats?" cracks, and the ever popular Asian name games. Imo, racist, but admittedly, I ' m emotionally invested.

Meant as a separate OP comment, not to above posters.

[tarheelsunc]

72. It's funny, just not in this context.

I've seen some of these before, specifically Sum Ting Wong and Ho Lee Fuk, and I've laughed. I don't think it's at all in good taste to use these in connection to this flight though and whoever got this on the air probably deserves a good talking to or suspension.

[MADem]

76. The joke is plainly racist.

It's also funny as hell.

It's one of those Andrew Dice Clay-like horrible things. People who disapprove of racism will, nonetheless, laugh at the prank because it is funny, because it was "put over" on a news organization, and because it has a nice dash of xenophobia-lite.

It makes fun of eastern languages (these guys were Korean, but I've heard that "sum ting wong" thing with Chinese jokes as well) and it sounds, on first inattentive blush, plausible. It is only when one pays attention to the entire list that one sees what is going on.

The reason the joke is funny is that "not too many" people died. If the entire planeload of passengers had been killed, that would be deemed extremely poor taste, for mocking a situation where there was so much death.

Because so many people walked away from what looked like an horrific crash, there's a sense of giddy relief, even from those just watching the events on TV. It's that giddy relief that makes it "almost" OK to laugh at the joke. Also, the names describe what was going in in the cockpit, the pilots realized there was something wrong, that they were too low, Holy Fuck! they crashed, and Owwwww, bang, ding, the plane and passengers were banged up and the plane was dinged.

Not that it makes it any "better," but we're not the only racists, or people who insult others based on their country of origin, in the world. Other cultures make brutal fun of those who aren't like them, too, and they also make fun of Americans because they're Americans (regardless of race). The French have that down to a fine art.

This is a Japanese singing group (the Gosperats) that has been "big" for a long time. Look carefully at the backup singers...no, that's not sketchy lighting...they are wearing BLACKFACE.

They've toned it down a LOT over the years (as if that makes it "better&quot --they used to make it look like Al Jolsen had a light touch.

[blogslut]

77. The fact that it passed so many levels of lax scrutiny is amusing.

However, to me, name/culture jokes are lazy and highlight the ignorance and prejudice of the teller.

[Brooklyns_Finest]

79. Asians get it

I live in the bay, and work with many Asian people. They are not hyper sensitive as so many other groups in this country are. In fact, most Asians immigrants understand hat their names sound odd to the average American so when they come here they acquire an American name and give their children American names.

[grntuscarora]

81. Asians get it?

Get what? "Getting it " and " putting up with it " are two different things.

[dbackjon]

111. We have an American women of Chinese descent on my gay softball team

Last name of Dong.

So you can imagine the humor that arises from that, a good portion of which originates from her.

[mythology]

80. I didn't find it funny, but I don't think it's inherently racist

to play off of cultural or racial differences/stereotypes. It's hard to do that well, but for example I find Blazing Saddles utterly hilarious and it's full of racial stereotypes.

But in this instance, where there's just been a major accident, with lots of injuries and multiple deaths, whoever started this, is at best completely tone deaf. I get the black humor thing, but that's usually best left not broadcast on television.

I think there's a difference between going up to a random individual person of an ethnic group and making a comment and making it among friends. For example, last year for a friend's birthday, I got her a book titled "How to be Black" by Baratunde Thurston which she loved. And I even wrapped it in black and white paper because her mom is white and her dad is black. She found it hilarious, but I know other black people I wouldn't give that gift to because it's not their style of humor.

[PoliticAverse]

82. USA Today Article On Zimmerman Verdict Quotes A “Howie Felterbush”

http://deadspin.com/usa-today-article-on-zimmerman-verdict-quotes-a-howie-774049646

[Inkfreak]

83. It's funny they didn't figure it out and reported it.

But try explaining that to the poutraged.

[morningfog]

84. Not by itself. But when considered in the context

of one's history, finding it funny may just be more evidence of racism.

[Douglas Carpenter]

85. right off hand I found it funny - but I would have to differ to the opinion of Koreans on the matter

What might sound like a good joke to those outside - might not sound so funny to those inside an identifiable group. For example someone might make a comment that might seem to make light of African-Americans or Jews or Muslims or others. Those inside those groups might very well find some such remarks deeply offensive. - But someone outside such a group might not be aware of the sensitivities involved. I thinks its always best to differ to other peoples sensitivities.

[6000eliot]

86. Yes. And i say this as someone who laughed at it.

The fact that we laughed despite knowing better demonstrates just how deeply racism is ingrained in our culture.

[PoliticAverse]

87. Asiana Airlines considers legal action against TV station, NTSB

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/14/travel/asiana-offensive-names/

[Douglas Carpenter]

88. I doubt that they will really want to pursue that too much. It is a very strong possibility that the

accident was caused by gross pilot incompetence which is likely to be confirmed by further investigation. I don't think Asiana Airlines wants to draw more attention to that than the accident already has. If the speculation is correct as to the cause of the Accident - Asiana Airlines will be very lucky if they can remain in business after all the legal actions against them.

[Buns_of_Fire]

89. Sorry, Frank, under the bus you go...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheik_Yerbouti

[Nimean_Tiger]

91. No,

but anyone who gets upset at those that find it funny are overly sensitive PC morons.

[uppityperson]

95. Welcome to DU. May your stay be educational.

[LeftinOH]

92. Not racist, but incredibly insensitive and juvenile -and shockingly

INEPT on the part of the TV station for failing to notice they had been pranked.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

93. There's a long tradition of making fun of Asian languages

and I'd say that the average American is pretty ignorant about Asia and doesn't mind being ignorant (about that or anything else).

I'm reminded of the incident on King of the Hill in which Hank asks his new Asian immigrant neighbor, "Are you Chinese or Japanese?"

"We're from Cambodia."

(Pause). "So are you Chinese or Japanese?"

This sounds like an exaggeration, but I've heard things almost as stupid.

This incident was especially offensive because someone snuck these fake names into reports of an incident in which two (now three) Chinese teenagers (most likely their parents' only children) died and many people were seriously injured. Barrel of laughs.

Imagine a news report in which someone tried to sneak in fake African-American names or fake Jewish names or fake Latino names. How would that go over?

The Asiana pilots had real names:Li Kangguk and Li Jungmin. NOT

[Hosnon]

94. I like to think I'm not racist and try not to be, and I think the answer is "no".

(Didn't feel appropriate to vote claiming I'm not a racist at all.)

[snooper2]

96. This thread is going to be Wi Tu Long

[pokerfan]

97. I don't believe so

It's just wordplay. Like Bart Simpson's prank calls: Al Coholic, Oliver Klozoff, I.P. Freely, Jacques Strap, Seymour Butz, Mike Rotch, Ivana Tinkle, etc.

This, however, is racist (Rush Limpballs warning):

[onenote]

98. Not necessarily racist. But insensitive.

[NCTraveler]

99. This is why you shouldn't piss off an intern. nt.

[Tikki]

102. It was not funny..it was meant to be hurtful..THINK, when was the last time you heard one of those..

stooopid talking heads try to be funny. They are not now nor will any of them ever be The Daily Show.
They are just puppets yakking away wearing a plunging neckline and dyed, styled up hair.


Tikki

[LanternWaste]

103. Other possibilities exist. Idiot. Ignorant. Not very good at speaking English.

Other possibilities exist. Idiot. Ignorant. Not very good at speaking English.

About covers it.

[Glassunion]

104. Colbert summed it up perfectly...

[Bay Boy]

105. The ONLY victim was the news reader!

Hah, I'm kidding, she's an idiot. I mean serious, you read the words Sum Ting Wong in regards to an airplane crash and you don't figure something is amiss? Then she's smart enough to say Ho Lee Fook instead of Ho Lee Fuck but still doesn't catch on? White people are so gullible.

[Vogon_Glory]

106. I Suspect They Have Jokes About Caucasians, Too

I suspect that Koreans (both North and South) have rude jokes about Caucasians and Caucasian names.

I doubt we'll ever hear them; they probably don't translate well.

[zappaman]

107. My friend Dixie Normous thinks its funny and she's no racist! n/t

[Xyzse]

108. I'm Asian and that was funny as all hell

Seriously though, have to learn not to take oneself too seriously.
Life is too short, laugh at everything.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

110. No, but it does mean that you're automatically in the 7th Grade.