Why is Rick Kamla on my radio right now?
I know it's an off week for the Vikes and KFAN has run out of things to talk about on a Friday during the NFL season but I'm a tad disappointed that Rick Kamla is being given airtime right now after his racist Yi episode. I am not calling for the guy's head but if you are going to interview him or give him air space right now, there should be a single subject he is asked to speak about...and it isn't the possibility of another Lakers/Celtics final.
4 months ago
Stop-n-Pop
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Overreaction
So this guy is racist for using a term that he did not even know was a racial slur to begin with? Maybe he’s a tad ignorant and an apology should probably be given (maybe it already was) but spending actual time discussing such a thing seems really oversensitive and petty.
by TimAllen on Nov 6, 2009 11:03 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Two things:
First, to borrow a line from the link, if he didn’t know that was a racist term he is ignorant and his fitness for a job representing the NBA should be in question. Either he’s stupid or casually bigoted. Either option is no way to go through life, especially as the daily voice of NBA.com/NBAtv.
Second, I’m a big sucker for standards and accountability. If you are in the media and you have access to people who make mistakes and you act like they never happened, that, to me, is the petty action. I don’t care if it’s for entertainment or politics. I think one of our big cultural failings right now is a willingness to look into the tv, open a paper, or turn on a radio and see, read, and hear people say things they know are not true and get away with it. I call bullshit on the not knowing its a racial slur.
Also, It’s not just with things like race. This same lack of basic confrontation is the reason why Kevin McHale and Matt Millen have jobs. If you FUBAR something, you should have to answer for it and then we can all move on. Perhaps I have too high of an opinion of what media outlets like TNT and KFAN should be but I think it is incumbent on everyone with a mic to not allow stuff like this to slip through the cracks.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
by Stop-n-Pop on Nov 6, 2009 11:26 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
To be fair
I didn’t know the term was considered racist myself until I read the attached link. Granted, I’m not in the media and we’re in agreement that Kamala probably should have known better. But I think what is basically a misunderstanding in that sense – there seemed to be no malice behind it at all – should be taken for what it is and not blown out of proportion.
If we’ve become so politically correct as a country that someone should lose their job for this kind of a slip, I would say that is truly one of our big cultural failings. We’re so concerned with never saying anything that could be considered offensive that we lose context and perspective.
I believe Kamala was only trying to describe Yi as a basketball player who happens to be from China. I don’t think he had any intention of degrading Yi, Chinese people or Asians in general. If he says “Frenchman Tony Parker” during a Spurs highlight, would you care about that? I doubt it, because you know the spirit and intention behind the comment.
by TimAllen on Nov 6, 2009 11:56 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I think what...
….you and I are doing right now is what should have happened between Paul Charchian and Rick Kamala on KFAN. I completely understand what you are saying and I think a lot of race-related issues are in need of a simple dialog more than anything else. I think it is besides the point if he was trying to be derogatory or not. It was entered into the collective consciousness and whether certain individuals are offended by it or not it is not something that should be tossed around in casual conversation because of the historical weight of the term. The point I’m trying to make (and which I probably didn’t help myself with the title of this post) is that it is up to everyone in the media to address things like this and I find it irritating to no end to watch TV or listen to the radio and see/hear nothing but people ignoring the elephant in the room or saying things they clearly don’t believe. It’s all infoinfotainment at this point and from sports to comedies to politics, our information is packaged in increasingly diverse ways and there should be nothing wrong with opening up an interview with the guy by saying something along the lines of “With us today is Rick Kamala. Rick, before we get started with talking about the Wolves I want to bring up something that you were involved in recently. Last week you unfortunately referred to Yi Jianlian as a ‘chinaman’. I heard your apology about the incident and frankly I am a bit puzzled about your explanation for using that particular term. Did you really not know that was a racially charged term? If that really is the case, I just want to take a minute to….”
…and so on and so forth. I’m not arguing that he should lose his job. What I am arguing for is for him to be argued with and made uncomfortable. I don’t think that has anything to do with political correctness. It has to do with being able to hold your own and to be able to back up what you say in public.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
by Stop-n-Pop on Nov 6, 2009 12:26 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, that seems reasonable.
I’m all for the media doing their jobs and asking those kinds of meaningful questions. But when people start throwing around stuff like “he needs to be fired” it seems a bit knee-jerk and unreasonable. I also think a lot of the outrage in situations like these is feigned in order to spark more controversy (and generate more viewers) than really exists in the first place.
by TimAllen on Nov 6, 2009 12:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
the link in the original post
… is a good example. It opens up by comparing ‘chinaman’ to the n-word, which I think most people would agree is a bit sensationalist.
by Dib432 on Nov 6, 2009 1:05 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Worst comparison ever
Was in a massive “Hug a Redhead Day” facebook event. The admin actually had a little blurb on the front page about how people should refrain from using the term “firecrotch”, as it is (to paraphrase) analagous to the n-word. As far as I can tell there wasn’t a whiff of irony. Talk about hyperbole.
by nja700 on Nov 6, 2009 2:03 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I agree...
….that it’s probably a bit over the top in terms of American history and I think a more apt analogy could be using the term “redskins” to describe Native Americans. It’s just crass and terrible and it conjures up terrible stereotypes. I still can’t believe the NFL has a franchise with that name.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
by Stop-n-Pop on Nov 6, 2009 2:15 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Redskins aren't even the worst to me
The caricature that the Indians have used for so long as a logo is pretty much the worst representation of Native Americans in any league that I can think of.
by nja700 on Nov 6, 2009 2:20 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
'Zactly.
The NBA could have required that conversation be right up front on Kamla’s appearances for a while, too.
There is a question of degrees to the slur used, obviously, but to come away from it by trying to educate and all would be morally right as well as good PR. You don’t always get a chance to do both those things at the same time. Michael Scott would call that a Win-Win-Win. (And then he’d do one of his racist caricatures from the Dundie awards….)
by feral on Nov 6, 2009 1:17 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Turning on KFAN for anything other than the noon to three is just asking for trouble.
You were a daydreamer, a sass-mouth, and, not infrequently, a bit of a gigglepuss. Somehow I doubt twenty years of amphetamines and failure have done anything to improve that.
by Kevin Loves McHale's Navy on Nov 6, 2009 11:38 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Seriously. The Common Man?
The worst.
I actually kind’ve like Charchian (sp). Paul Allen has his own kind’ve M.O. on air, and has good contacts. Common is painful.
by feral on Nov 6, 2009 1:19 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I only started listening to KFAN recently...
and only really listen to Barreiro, but he entertains me. I don’t think he’s as bad as people in here seem to think.
by TimAllen on Nov 6, 2009 1:21 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Any time anybody is presented as an everyman, “The Common Man” or the like, you have a pretty good chance that it’s BS or that the guy is an idiot. Usually both.
by nja700 on Nov 6, 2009 2:05 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
He's the worst...
… if you think it’s a serious sports talk show. But it’s not. Not in the least.
People take sports too seriously and he goes out of his way to annoy those folks. Listen to the callers on any KFAN show. It’s crazy, brutal, homer stuff that I can’t even stand listening to. Doesn’t help that guys like PA are big homers either. Common’s got a bit and he generally sticks to it. If you don’t like the bit, all the more power to you. If you’re knocking the show because you think he’s serious, then you’re missing the point.
You were a daydreamer, a sass-mouth, and, not infrequently, a bit of a gigglepuss. Somehow I doubt twenty years of amphetamines and failure have done anything to improve that.
by Kevin Loves McHale's Navy on Nov 6, 2009 3:19 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Much Ado About Nothing
To me this isn’t that big of a deal. I am Chinese and I don’t even think it was racist. A lot of stuff like this is taken out of context and overblown. It wasn’t like he was being derogatory with the term and using it in a negative connotation. Go watch South Parks from Wednesday called “The F Word.” It couldn’t explain how I feel about this situation any better.
by Jaughn on Nov 6, 2009 12:03 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
I agree...
…that he wasn’t trying to be derogatory. I’m just saying that he should be argued with for thinking this was a clever turn of a phrase. The number one way to weed out stuff like this is to call bullshit. I don’t want apologies. I want arguments and discussion and may the best opinions win.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
by Stop-n-Pop on Nov 6, 2009 12:28 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I feel a person should be judged by intent
We all make mistakes. If this was truly an honest mistake from lack of knowledge (I also didn’t know it was a slur), then it should be dropped unless he used the term again.
You could look at it from a different angle, isn’t it good that he was unaware this was a slur? It tells me he hangs around with good people and doesn’t use slurs. Isn’t that a good thing?
by Rumblebee on Nov 6, 2009 7:28 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I was glad to hear a knowledgeable NBA guest on the FAN
Kamala’s takes were pretty insightful and I enjoyed hearing a guy with a national perspective able to speak fluently about the Wolves.
The problem Asians have in the US is similar to the problem Native Americans have (see Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians et al). They are largely powerless in our society. They have gone from being brutally stepped on (see WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans) to dismissively ignored (when they are not being patted on the head). That’s where I’d put Kamala’s comment.
by A.K. Agikamik on Nov 6, 2009 1:46 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Well put
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
by Stop-n-Pop on Nov 6, 2009 2:16 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Racist racist racist
C’mon. The guy is just a rube who happens to have a job talking about his favorite sport. That doesn’t make him a sociology genius. I had no idea that “China man” was racist, and it seems like most people on this board didn’t either. Why should the first instinct be to call bullshit? Because when it comes to race nobody is given the benefit of the doubt. It’s guilty until proven innocent.
It was brought to his attention and he answered for it. Why do we have to keep harping on this after the man has apologized? Luckily, you appear to be in the minority, which to answer your question, is why Kamla was on your radio.
by tddubb on Nov 8, 2009 2:41 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Didn't mean to come off sounding so confrontational
I get wound up over talk of false racist claims. To me, it’s one of the worst things you can call someone, and it tends to get thrown around very casually.
by tddubb on Nov 8, 2009 2:44 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Also, Dude...
Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please
by Dib432 on Nov 9, 2009 3:48 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
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