Special Feature
May 3, 2000

Hundreds of Asian Americans have responded to a call by students at the University of Maryland to protest an on-campus appearance by the Bloodhound Gang, a popular music group.  While the success of their song "Bad Touch" has gained the rock-rap-novelty act a broad mainstream audience, another of their songs, "Yellow Fever," has succeeded only in replaying experiences of racial discrimination and reminding Asian Americans of our marginalized status in popular culture.

Yellow Fever Are those numchucks in your pants or are you just happy to see me? Let me take you back to the day that I met my China girl When I landed a 'Pam' like on the San Fran Real World I was sweating like a vegetable inside of a wok I'd never been to Asia Minor but I was gonna Bangkok Like Kristy Yamaguchi I had to break the ice Should I talk about Mothra M*A*S*H or shrimp-fried rice? I was sharp as a Chinese star but it's a line I threw Just thirty seconds over Tokyo and this Johnny would Woo I took a shot like Jeanette Lee put on my moves like Bruce Lee I told he every Soon Yi needs a little Woody She said for all the tea in China my vagina's not free But my love will linger longer than the Ming Dynasty I said I needed her to do and her to do my laundry I knew she needed a way to stay legally within the country She was made in Taiwan I said I'm O.K. with that Just promise me you'll never try to eat my cat Chinky chinky bang bang I love you Chinky chinky bang bang I know you love me too In Japan the hand is used as a knife In Japan a man's wife's hand job than can cost him his life But now this Captain Kirk has his own Sulu I'll shampoo her Foo Man Chu with Lo Hung Wang Goo Cause I ride my slant-eyed slope like a brand new Kawasaki Oh me chinky she's so kinky got me hot like Nagasaki Burnin' up like Napalm burstin' like an A-bomb I think I got that jungle fever but I caught it in 'Nam She's like an oriental rug cause I lay her where I please Then I blindfold her with dental floss and get down on her knees I'm a diving Kamikaze eating out Chinese First I'll have the poo-poo platter than some tuna sushi She'll be screaming like Godzilla and kickin' like Jackie Chan I'll get her redder than China wetter than the Sea of Japan Like the Chinese New Year she's gonna see fireworks Now be a good chinky and press Jimmy's shirts Chinky chinky bang bang I love you Chinky chinky bang bang I know you love me too Sing chinky sing One more time Chinky chinky bang bang I love you Chinky chinky bang bang I know you love me too Chinky chinky bang bang chinky bang Chinky chinky bang biddily biddily biddily bang

Ironically, during the last academic year, the University of Maryland was the site of one of the nation's largest campus movements against racism, following a spate of hate crimes at the school.  This year, an invitation by SEE Productions, the university's performing arts production company, to one of the nation's most popular purveyors of racist music lyrics has gone largely unchallenged beyond the Asian American community.

Asian American students and members of the university's Coalition Against Racism have organized a demonstration and sit-in to begin at noon Thursday, May 4.  By signing an online petition at Dragon5000.com, Asian Americans and supporters around the Web have also united to speak out against the Bloodhound Gang's reckless and destructive abuse of their media power and artistic license.  Even more urgent, however, is the need to challenge the complicity of the mainstream public in accepting "Yellow Fever"'s lyrics as harmless entertainment.  We share here some of those words of challenge.

Updated May 8, 2000:  Post-Protest Report

Ching Lee, Sophomore, University of Maryland:

I have not talked to a single one of my Asian-American friends who wasn’t offended, and I’m outraged! Though these lyrics were meant to be kicked around for fun, words like “chinky” are some of the worst slurs an Asian-American can think of being called.

Anyone who finds these lyrics funny should really stop for a moment and see who it offends. I don’t care in what light these words are uttered. I don’t care what kind of music Bloodhound Gang has made in the past or is making or who they make fun of. No one has the right to use and utter these words in society.

The Asian-American community [at the University of Maryland] is fighting both the playing of very racial lyrics in songs and the apathy and indifference of the majority of the campus and the administration.

If you’re Asian-American and you’ve read the lyrics to “Yellow Fever” by Bloodhound Gang, there is practically no way you can read it with a straight, calm face. It exudes many of the negative, condescending stereotypes that have plagued the Asian-American community since its history in this country. These lyrics uplift the roots of our cultural ethnicity and smashes it like a helpless bug.

Above all, we are not just Asian-Americans, we are Americans and deserve the rights and respect that any and every group deserves.

Judy Tseng, ModelMinority.com:

Incidents like this perpetuate societal divides, where those in the majority continue to degrade minorities and then wonder why those in the minority are upset and "whining." For the supporters of the Bloodhound Gang who dismiss critics as being overly sensitive and say the groups' lyrics are all in good fun, I have only to ask:

Was it just entertainment when two unemployed autoworkers, mad at "Japs," bashed Vincent Chin to death with a baseball bat, leaving him with his brains oozing onto a McDonald's parking lot?

Was it just youthful fratboy exuberance that left Jim Loo dead in an North Carolina poolhall, murdered by men who used the same racist slurs that the Bloodhound gang uses as a chorus?

Was it all in the name of good fun that Roberta Lee was raped and strangled to death in the hills of Berkeley, California?

Was it a laughing matter when Thien Ming Ly was stabbed to death on a tennis court?

Was it just a leisurely release of masculine energy when an angry Vietnam vet took out a rifle and shot at Southeast Asian schoolchildren as they played during recess?

Was it humorous when a Chinese American man was stabbed in the back as he left a grocery store, or when Matthew Shepard was beaten, strung up on a fence, and left to die?

Is it funny to hear that Asian American University of Connecticut students were spat upon and verbally assaulted en route to a school dance, Asian American students were attacked at a Syracuse Denny's, and an Asian American freshman had his skull fractured by racist wrestlers at SUNY-Binghamton?

The list of hate crimes goes on and on. While the Bloodhound Gang does not blatantly advocate such actions, the mere fact that they present racist and homophobic lyrics and images sends a message that condones hate crimes and excuses the perpetrators. An intolerant society results when certain segments of the population are effectively dehumanized and treated as dispensable targets of jeers and, eventually, more tangible threats and manifestations of discrimination. One needs only to look to the lessons of the Holocaust to see the social patterns that slowly brew to result in widespread assaults on targeted populations. The final irony is that the Bloodhound Gang misappropriates rap, an African American music form that has historically been used as an expression of social and political change. Instead, this group commits a fraud on rap music by using it as their medium for social regression.

How the group's supporters and SEE can call these performances "entertainment" is beyond all reason. It has never been a source of entertainment for me to be called a "chink" and all the other degrading references used by the group in "Yellow Fever." I hope that the University of Maryland community will see the Bloodhound Gang for who they really are-- a group of untalented, ignorant yahoos that should be sent shipped back to Pittsburgh with their tails between their legs.

Joshua

Collegiate sponsorship for a group with this kind of harmful lyrics is appalling. Sure everyone is entitled to free speech, but it should be obvious to everyone now that words can hurt as much as actions. I'm tired of everyone using the "it's a joke" excuse. It is that kind of disgusting humor that keeps racism and cruelty alive by separating ourselves from those who may be different. There is no excuse for hurtful remarks towards different races, nor towards women in general. I hope that we as a society can learn to rise above our insecurities and embrace diversity instead of encouraging hate, sexism, and racism.

Sunny

A discussion is one thing. However, lyrics like these don't really give rise to a discussion. Is there anything that the Bloodhound Gang can say to defend their words? Artistic freedom? While there's no way to censor such disgusting conduct, there is certainly reason, and justification, to keep campus doors and university funds off limits to these offensive groups.

If UMD can't draw the line to exclude the Bloodhound Gang, who is next? The Hitler Youth Backstreet Boys?

It's not just an issue concerning Asians. Tomorrow, it could be you.

Raymond

As an Asian American, I am, along with the others, extremely offended by the campus's choice to allow Bloodhound Gang to perform on campus. I don't understand why a campus so concerned with diversity issues would allow an offensive group like bloodhound gang to perform here. Perhaps it is because the campus adheres to the stereotype of the "passive Asian". I believe that as a community, it is our turn to make a statement about the injustices against the APA community. Let's not let this campus ignore our voice.

Wataru

Regardless of issues regarding freedom of expression, the lyrics of "Yellow Fever" by the Bloodhound Gang are quite stereotypic and offensive. Why not hold to higher principles and standards, and find a better choice inspire a college campus community? There are plenty of other choices for the concert.

April

Asian-Americans are still considered an oddity in most of the United States; we are not very visible in national politics, nor in the entertainment and sports arenas. Why is that? Think about it.

Elizabeth

Anyone arguing about freedom of speech rights or freedom of art expression have no grasp of the meaning behind those amendements, nor do they feel any moral responsibility as people in this world, and that is very very sad.

Lauren

[The Bloodhound Gang]'s song "A Lap Dance is so Much Better when the Stripper is Crying" is one enormous piece of evidence that this is not just about racism, but about sheer objectification. I am currently in a lawsuit against my boss who tried to rape me this past weekend, and I will do anything I can to stop this attitude that women are objects to be played with. We are human, and our blood and tears will cry out forever until this injustice is stopped.

Post-Protest Report

By Tanya M. Lee
May 8, 2000

As you know, this past weekend (May 5th) was the University of Maryland's annual Art Attack, featuring the Bloodhound Gang. I am writing to update everyone on our struggles this past week leading up to the event...and for those who weren't present at this weekend's AWESOME protest...I'll update you on that as well.

These past few weeks leading up to the performance of the Bloodhound Gang and the controversy surrounding it, the administration been nothing but indifferent. Thursday, May 4th, approximately 40 concerned students marched to the administration building (where the President's office is located) and held a peaceful sit-in protest in the main lobby. After several hours, President Mote finally came out to address the students. However, questions went unanswered and the two student spokespeople were constantly interrupted, spoken to in a condescending manner, and basically shoved aside by our illustrious President Clayton D. Mote. Last fall, in response to hate letters sent to prominent African American student leaders and faculty, administration was quick to respond with an official stance, set up a task force, and sponsor a rally. When asked for an official stance, Mote failed to answer the question. When asked for a rally or some sort of event that would foster a less threatening climate for the minority students to voice their concerns, Mote responded "I don't think anyone will come. I Don't think it will be effective."

In reference to the fall hate crimes, Mote said that it was a different situation because "they were felonious crimes."  One of the spokespersons, responded that racism is racism, not matter how blatant or subtle. Within 30 minutes of the dialogue with President Mote, all the students walked out on him.

Concerned students, now angry and hurt, could add more fuel to their fire.  Interviews with the media took place throughout the day with the key spokespeople.  Around 30 students met at a central point, ready to march to their protesting site at Art Attack. The 30 soon became 50. 50 turned to 75.  More and more students came. In between the performing bands' sets, students chanted for equality and to erase racism, homophobia, and sexism.

The students were met with chilly stares and screamed at to "shut up" and met with obscenities. The louder the crowd got, the louder the protestors were. Finally, the Bloodhound Gang came on stage. The students, now at more than 100, raised up their signs and their fists and turned their backs to the stage. The raised fists soon turned into linked hands. The crowd soon grew to its high of 200 students, all mixes of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. Our group was not even one-tenth of the size of the crowd of over 5000 students, yet, their impact was far greater than anyone had imagined. Even the Bloodhound Gang led the crowd in a chant "F*** you, Bloodhound Gang".

All in all, the countless number of blood, sweat, and tears put into this controversy were worth the 4 hours of emotional protests.

So, those of you who are expecting the Bloodhound Gang to perform at your campuses, speak up to administration and to programming...voice your concerns.  To those who are not, still, speak to your campus programming before this becomes an issue.

This unfortunately became an issue way beyond the performance of the Bloodhound Gang. It became an issue with indifferent administrations not being willing to foster a less-threatening environment for "silent minorities". It became an issue that has always been an issue. It is time to show that we, the "silent" minority, will no longer remain silent, no longer be apathetic, and no longer allow oppression to occur. Whether it is on our campuses, in our workplaces, or any environment we may be a part of daily, WE WILL BE HEARD!!!

So, now, post-performance, I sit here and challenge you. I challenge those who have been active in your respective communities to go beyond your comfort zone and help other minorities. What affects one community, affects us all...and a coalition speaks is more powerful and speaks much louder (especially in the name of diversity... INTERACTION!!). For those who became active because of this controversy, I challenge you to remain active.  Without you, this fight would not have been so strong without those who came and spoke out. For those who have not responded, I challenge you to think about what is important. Do not rely on others to fight your battles. It is sad to say, but sometimes those in power do not recognize a community's concerns because they see them as "not having the numbers"...apathy is a slow death of a community, but not injustices.