PROTEST: CALL TO ACTION!!!!

JEFF ZUCKER AND NBC GIVE ASIAN AMERICANS VERY LITTLE RECOURSE BUT TO PROTEST JAY LENO & THE TONGHT SHOW FOR THEIR CONTINUED BASHING AGAINST ASIAN AMERICANS AND LACK OF REPRESENTATION ON THEIR SHOW.

WHO

Korean American Coalition, Korean Resource Center, East Coast Asian American Student Union, Japanese American Citizens League, Kabataang maka-Bayan (KmB), Korean Churches for Community Development, Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates (KIWA), Midwest Asian American Student Union (MAASU), National Asian American Student Conference (NAASCON), Northwestern Asian American Students United, Pulahari Clear Light for Wisdom Culture Center, in alliance with The Media Action Network for Asian American

WHAT

A protest in front of the Tonight Show studio for Asian Americans to show displeasure over the following:

• Overall, the Tonight Show's history of showcasing Asian American talent has been poor.
  
  
• February 13, 2003, in a Tonight Show monologue, Jay Leno loosely compares changing dogs and cats from "pets" to "companions" is like North Korea changing dogs and cats from "appetizers" to "entree!"
  
  
• A few days later, the Tonight Show hires a Jewish actor to portray North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, enjoying a plate of dog.
  
  
• All this after Jay promised not to make jokes about Asian eating dogs after a meeting a year ago with the Korean American coalition and NAPALC.
  
  
• And after several phone calls from MANAA and other organizations, after letters from MANAA, KAC, NAPALC, and others. NBC replied back with a letter saying, "we at NBC are not only cognizant of-- but attempt to be- sensitive to the concerns of individuals and groups within our widely heterogeneous audience. In this instance we believe that the program's satirical sketch was completely within the bounds of appropriateness and consistent with our standards"
  
  
• Then on May 20th, comedian Albert Brooks had a message to the people of China, "Stop eating dogs and maybe you would not get SAR's!!!
  
  
• Finally things boiled to a point during NBC's annual diversity coalition meeting when Jeff Zucker dared Karen Narasaki and NAPALC to approach their sponsors, claiming if any pulls out they have other sponsors lined up to take their place.
  

WHEN

Thursday, August 21, 2003

TIME

Protest starts promptly at 12:00 noon.

WHERE

In front of the NBC/Tonight Show studios, 3000 Alameda Blvd (Cross Street - Bob Hope Dr), Burbank, CA.

WHY

This is a delicate issue for MANAA and Asian Americans in general. To most Americans - including Asian Americans, making fun of North Koreans and Kim Jong Il is not only a way to show displeasure towards the North Koreans but also a way to show your patriotism. MANAA always defends and promote the fact that Asian Americans ARE Americans so we want to make clear we are not defending North Koreans and promote what Kim Jong Il is doing. What we are shedding light to is the fact that Jay Leno did not make fun of Kim Jong Il and anything specific about him as a person - instead he resounded a tired old racist stereotype that "all Asians eat Dogs". On previous shows, he pokes fun of Jesse Jackson, Johnny Cochran, and Al Sharpton but it was specific attacks based on information on their lives and persona. Imagine the outrage if he just made a generic racist comment about their black heritage.

Making fun of Kim Jong Il as a political figure has a different connotation than making fun of him eating dogs, which reinforces a general negative stereotype for Asian Americans. The latter leaves the impression that all Asians (in this case Korean Americans because they are the community that resides in America) should be perceived as the same, including the ones that have been in this country for generations.

Coupled with the fact that Jay Leno and The Tonight Show do very little to showcase Asian American talent, and Jeff Zucker & NBC's lack of respect towards Asian Americans, we have reached a point where all other options other than pretest are ineffective and have been exhausted.

CONTACTS

PROTEST COORDINATOR: Charles Chang - 213 (393) -8514
MANAA: 1-888-90 MANAA, Attn: Aki or Charles
KAC: 213/365-5999, ATTN: Deborah
KRC: (Number), ATTN: Christina