I learned today that one

I learned today that one of the stations that my company owns, HOT97 – WQHT, has been airing this tasteless, racist song for the past week. They’ve since pulled the song off the airways, but a quick Google search will turn up a number of websites/blogs that have posted responses.

Here’s a sample of some of the lyrics:

All at once you could hear the screaming chinks,
and no one was safe from the wave.
There were africans drowning, little chinamen swept away.
You could hear God laughing, “Swim you bitches swim.”
So now you’re screwed, it’s the Tsunami.
You better run or kiss your ass away, go find your mommy.
I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head.
And now the children will be sold to child slavery…

More info can be found at hiphopmusic.com. Also, check out some of the comments posted at okplayer.com.

I’m really at a loss here, to describe how sad and disappointed I feel about all this. The company I work for, Emmis Communications, is a good place. I work with genuinely good people. Even though I have nothing to do with WQHT’s Morning Show, I feel tied to this somehow, since we’re all part of the same company. I feel guilty through proximity.

It’s weird to me, to write this. Because I’m pointing out this horrifically negative thing that’s tied to the company I work for – a place I really do like and admire. If you were to talk to random employees of Emmis, you’d find that this song from HOT97 is the exact opposite of what the company is all about.

I had a hard time concentrating on work today, and dug around a lot online… trying to see what people were talking about, and how they reacted. Part of me is expecting some big media backlash. It seems like only a matter of time before some major outlet like CNN or the New York Times picks this up. Looking over the lyrics and the online comments, it’s like we painted a target on our heads.

I feel really embarrassed to be affiliated with Emmis right now. Forget the fact that this originally aired on January 17th, the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Forget the fact that it continued to air for almost a week. Forget the fact that the song makes fun of child slavery. Forget the fact that the racial slur of “chinks” is commonly used to refer to people of Chinese origin, and that Indonesia suffered the brunt of the effects from the tsunami. Forget the fact that I’m a chink who happens to work for Emmis.

Forget all of this. This goes far beyond poor taste and poor judgment. As my friend Justin said, this is just plain evil.

I am not an official representative of Emmis Communications. I am not an official representative of HOT97. I am merely an employee of Emmis. But as such, I am embarrassed by the actions of the morning show on WQHT.

As an employee of Emmis, I apologize for this severe lack of human compassion. I apologize for the blatant racism in the song’s lyrics. I apologize for the lack of supervision that allowed this song to be aired more than once over our airwaves.

I am not like this. My coworkers are not like this. Emmis is not like this.

I apologize.