FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14 July 2014
CONTACT
Kenneth Lee | Acting Chief Executive Officer
202 223 5500 | [email protected]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, a national membership-driven organization of community advocates dedicated to advancing the political, social, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs), demands an apology from Bob Beckel for the racist comment he recently made on Fox News’ “The Five”.
On Thursday’s edition of “The Five”, co-host Bob Beckel made the following statement: “The Chinese are the single biggest threat to the national security of the United States,” Beckel said. “You know what they just did? As usual, we bring them over here, and we teach a bunch of Chinamen– uh, Chinese people how to do computers. They go back to China and they hack into us.”
“Bob Beckel’s comment was racist, xenophobic, and derogatory towards not only Chinese Americans, but all Asian Americans. Asian Pacific Americans are citizens, military personnel, and government officials, yet our communities continue to be viewed by the larger American public as perpetual foreigners and a threat to American national security,” said Sharon M. Wong, OCA National President. “Although these harmful stereotypes have begun to erode over the last decade, Bob Beckel’s comments are a painful reminder of the hate and overt racism that the APA community continues to endure. What he said was unacceptable and would not have been tolerated if said of any other racial minority. OCA and the Asian Pacific American community demand an apology from Bob Beckel for this comment and from Fox News for even allowing Beckel on-air given his history of racist language.”
Beckel has made racist statements in the past regarding APAs. In 2011, he said after he went swimming, he looked “oriental”. He also said that “Chinamen are rednecks” after his usage of the term during an episode of “The Five” that same year.
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