Asian Americans protest dog-eating racial jokes on top US TV talk show
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Asian American groups asked sponsors of US television's Tonight Show to protest alleged "inflammatory" racial stereotypes that depict Koreans as dog eaters.
A coalition of Asian-American groups was poised send a letter to the nightly to sponsors of the nightly show hosted by comic Jay Leno (news - Y! TV), which is syndicated across the globe, asking them to take action.
The move to crack down on alleged slurs came after the show made a skit showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il apparently eating a dog on a broadcast on February 11.
"We are asking sponsors what they intend to do about this offensive racial characterisation and to pressure producers to stop peddling this misleading image of Koreans," said Peter Choe of the Korean American Coalition (KAC).
Letters were being sent to sponsors, including high-profile corporations such as Citibank, Daimler-Chrysler, Honda, MasterCard, Subway fast food restaurants and Japanese car maker Toyota, asking them to speak out.
The protest was mounted by the KAC , the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium and nine other groups after Leno allegedly refused to meet group representatives to discuss their concerns.
The NBC network's response to the groups' complaints was "inadequate" and disappointing, Choe said, adding that the executives appeared not to take their concerns seriously.
The Asian-American groups said NBC honcho Alan Wurtzel responded by saying the joke fell "well within the broad parameters of what The Tonight Show regularly does."
source: yahoo news
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