A CALL TO ACTION discrimination

WHAT: Protest Fox at the annual Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour.

WHERE: The Renaissance Hotel at Hollywood and Highland, 1755 North Highland. Hollywood.
For directions: http://www.renaissancehollywood.com/directions.asp

WHEN: Thursday, July 17, from 8-10 a.m.

WHY: Express your disapproval at the new Fox Television Show, "Banzai."

Background: In March of 2003, when the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) learned that Fox was acquiring the rights to the British gameshow "BANZAI," we wrote letters and made phone calls to Fox executives expressing a serious concern over the blatantly racial stereotypes portrayed in the show.
Our communications were ignored until the following month when Fox agreed to sponsor a Comedy Night for Lodestone (a Los Angeles Asian American theatre organization), where they showed clips of "Banzai" between comedy acts at their fundraising event on May 10th.

The clips were met with resounding boos from the 300 or so attendees and Fox executives were on hand to see the negative reaction to "Banzai." Most agreed that the offbeat game show, while perhaps humorous for its quirky contests (e.g. how many helium balloons does it take to get a chicken airborne?), also included unnecessary racial elements. The cast includes a heavily Japanese accented voice-over host along with a geeky Asian man in business attire and A bald martial arts character named "Cheeky Chappy." The two appear on screen to mock and goad viewers into playing the games while repeatedly shouting "Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!" See for yourself at Fox’s website:

http://www.fox.com/banzai/, and then go to http://www.fox.com/community/askfox/index.htm

and tell them what you think.

Despite the obvious disappointment over "Banzai," Fox has decided to ignore the wishes of the Asian American community and will begin airing this summer replacement series on Sunday, July 13th after "The Simpsons" at 8:30 p.m./7C. In an attempt to modify the offensive elements of this program, the chair of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition, Karen Narasaki, and the President of MANAA, Aki Aleong, met separately with Fox officials, but none of the minuscule changes the network made to"Banzai" had changed its basic nature.

MANAA, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), Search to Involve Pilpino Americans (SIPA) Korean Immigrants Workers Advocates (KIWA), Korean Resource Center (KRC), Northwest Asian American Students United, East Coast Asian American Students Union (ECAASU), Midwest Asian American Students Union (MAASU), and National Asian American Student Conference (NAASCON) are asking you to show your disapproval at Fox’s program by joining US Thursday, July 17th, at a protest outside the Renaissance Hotel--- where media from around the world will be gathered to hear FOX network’s hype about their upcoming television season.

If you are interested in joining our cause, please contact us for further information at manaaletters@hotmail.com or call us at (213) 486-4433 or 1-888-90-MANAA.

We will be holding an informational meeting on Tuesday, July 15th at 7 p.m. at the JACL offices located at 244 S. San Pedro Street, Room 406, in Downtown Los Angeles. Anyone interested in the protest is urged to join us to help plan and send the message out to Fox that we will not tolerate this kind of programming.

Please spread the word. And make your voice count.

Since 1992, MANAA has been the only organization solely dedicated to monitoring the media and advocating balanced, sensitive, and positive depiction and coverage of Asian Americans.

PLEASE REDISTRIBUTE WIDELY!

Asian Americans have had a long history of suffering discrimination and persecution because of the widespread misperception that all ethnic Asians are socially and culturally un-American. Stereotypical media portrayals of manic, socially awkward Asian men with thick glasses and thicker accents reinforce this misperception, as does the near-total absence of countervailing portrayals of Asian Americans functioning as recognizable members of American society.

The FOX television network's decision to broadcast and promote the TV show "Banzai" shows a blatant disregard for the consequences and power of racial media stereotypes. Asian American children are especially susceptible to the taunts and ostracism of their peers, who are likely to be entertained by the show's simplistic comedy premises and fast pace, but are unlikely to have developed the critical facilities necessary to reject the stereotypes presented.

More generally, to date there has been no indication that FOX ever intended the viewers of "Banzai" to question the portrayals of Asian men that constitute the show's signature images. To the contrary, as a patently mindless entertainment vehicle, "Banzai" is not intended for viewing with a socially critical eye.

Some defenders of "Banzai" have suggested that the show doesn't promote stereotypes, but rather makes fun of them. The cartoon at http://www.modelminority.com/images/postcards/banzai.gif illustrates the absurdity of this premise.

Still other supporters of the show point out that it is based on game shows that were created in Japan. Of course, the show's creative history does not alter the fact that the portrayals in FOX's show are demeaning stereotypes when seen from an American audience's perspective. Nor does it mitigate the consequences of the widespread viewing of these portrayals for Asian Americans, especially our children. Finally, it does not disqualify Asian Americans from criticizing the show, because Asian Americans are no more responsible for Japanese television productions than the Japanese American World War II internees were responsible for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Other defenders of "Banzai" have expressed outrage that Asian Americans should find cause for complaint about anything having to do with race relations in the United States. The voices of Asian Americans are so rarely heard in the mainstream media, and the history of Asian Americans in the United States is so rarely taught, that the relevance of race to the experiences of Asian Americans comes as a surprise to many people.

Many Americans are heavily invested in the stereotype of Asian Americans as "honorary whites" for whom race no longer creates a social stigma. They desperately cling to any anecdotal evidence they can find that will support this investment: the complicity of a few Asian actors in the production of "Banzai" or a few Asian friends who don't find the show offensive. As we bear witness in contradiction of these views, we expect to reap a whirlwind of outrage from those we have surprised with our rejection of the title of "honorary white."

We, the Undersigned, will boycott all FOX Broadcasting Company properties, including FOX, FX, FOX News Channel, FOX Movie Channel, National Geographic Channel, Fox Sports Net, Fox Sports World, and Speed Channel, for a period of two (2) months for each week that "Banzai" remains on the air. We will also support a boycott of prominent sponsors of FOX and Banzai.

For more information on the boycott, visit

http://www.modelminority.com/article464.html