Ted Turner Apologizes for Using ‘Chinaman’
Media mogul Ted Turner apologized Tuesday for dropping “Chinaman” during a speech he gave last week to the Bay Area Council on global warming. According to a San Francisco Chronicle story Wednesday, the panel of Bay Area community leaders asked Turner last Thursday what he suggests America do to gain Chinese support in the global cause to reduce greenhouse gases. At which point the 69-year-old Turner went all senile. He replied, “The Chinese are very smart. Just think: Have you ever met a dumb Chinaman?” Eek. He continued, “Very seldom do you see Chinese restaurants close. I’m in the restaurant business, and it’s very tough. They work very hard.” All racial insensitivity aside, how did that come remotely close to answering the question you were asked, Ted? You were asked about global warming, not about Chinese takeout. In his scripted apology Tuesday, Turner said, “As many people know, I do not believe in any form of prejudice or discrimination and was unaware that the term ‘Chinaman’ was derogatory and hurtful to the Asian Pacific American community.” The term “Chinaman” has been distasteful for about as long as Jane Fonda hasn’t been hot. A while. The term, describing a man of Chinese origin, came from the California Goldrush days when whites would refer to a Chinese worker as a “Chinaman.” This word is in the same class of racial language as the word “oriental”– while it was once common in American usage, political correctness has rendered the word completely unacceptable. And similar to “oriental,” the offensiveness in the word stems not from its meaning, but from the fact that it was primarily used by whites and not the Chinese themselves. In Ted Turner’s defense, old white people still use these words, not because they are bigoted (most of the time) but because these words, in their lifetime, were frequently used and were not considered “racist” or even “hateful,” but just words. And sadly, most of these old people haven’t a Chinaman’s chance of changing.
•SF Chronicle: Ted Turner Apologizes for Remarks on Chinese