“I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever,” “The Colbert Report” Twitter wrote Thursday.
The joke was taken from a bit on Wednesday night’s “The Colbert Report,” parodying Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder and his launch of the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation in light of controversy over the team name. Taken out of context, however, many Twitter users saw the joke as racist, and launched a #CancelColbert campaign that quickly became a trending topic.
As the controversy started, the tweet was deleted, but Twitter users managed to screenshot the tweet before it disappeared.
Full Article: Variety
Here is the tweet that started it all:
And Stephen’s swift response:
When scrolling through the tweets on the trending topic, #CancelColbert, which, as of this writing, is still a top trending topic, most of the responses are in support of Colbert and upholding the cause of the show’s satire. “#CancelColbert is trending due to outrage about those outraged about Colbert. The man is a genius!” wrote @Serious #Sweet 12.
@ColbertReport is a twitter feed that is managed independently of Stephen Colbert and the show, so he and the show are unfortunately not aware of what is being posted at every moment.
For the record @ColbertReport is not controlled by Stephen Colbert or his show. He is @StephenAtHome Sorry for the confusion #CancelColbert
— The Colbert Report (@ColbertReport) March 28, 2014
This is a Comedy Central account, with no oversight from Stephen/show. Here is quoted line in context http://t.co/UFnaFfOSpn #cancelcolbert
— The Colbert Report (@ColbertReport) March 28, 2014
While twitter is a wonderful communication and promotional tool, things can go awry, and it is not always suitable for explaining The Colbert Report’s nuanced, satirical take on many serious subjects, as witnessed by the “outrage” induced over the harmless “ching-chong” segment. Non-fans of the show can take anything out of context, and start a twitter fire without many of the participants even bothering to watch the clip itself, which clearly makes a parallel between insensitive remarks and attitudes towards Asians and Dan Snyder’s ridiculous Redskins “charitable” organization, an entity (let’s not fool ourselves) which was solely created to placate heavy criticism of his highly lucrative football franchise’s racist namesake. Wrote another twitter user @William T Choomin “I’m just saying Ppl should be angry at the ‘Redskins’ and it’s owner for actual racism. Instead we get fake outrage.”
It may dismay fans of the Report to see #CancelColbert all over twitter, but it is even more dismaying that misinformed people will not even lean in to educate themselves about the actual satirical intent at hand in the piece itself – the importance of respecting people of all colors, creeds, and tribes. That’s the true irony.
Twitter 'Scandal' Erupts Over Alleged Racist Segment on 'The Colbert Report'
Full Article: Variety
Here is the tweet that started it all:
And Stephen’s swift response:
When scrolling through the tweets on the trending topic, #CancelColbert, which, as of this writing, is still a top trending topic, most of the responses are in support of Colbert and upholding the cause of the show’s satire. “#CancelColbert is trending due to outrage about those outraged about Colbert. The man is a genius!” wrote @Serious #Sweet 12.
@ColbertReport is a twitter feed that is managed independently of Stephen Colbert and the show, so he and the show are unfortunately not aware of what is being posted at every moment.
While twitter is a wonderful communication and promotional tool, things can go awry, and it is not always suitable for explaining The Colbert Report’s nuanced, satirical take on many serious subjects, as witnessed by the “outrage” induced over the harmless “ching-chong” segment. Non-fans of the show can take anything out of context, and start a twitter fire without many of the participants even bothering to watch the clip itself, which clearly makes a parallel between insensitive remarks and attitudes towards Asians and Dan Snyder’s ridiculous Redskins “charitable” organization, an entity (let’s not fool ourselves) which was solely created to placate heavy criticism of his highly lucrative football franchise’s racist namesake. Wrote another twitter user @William T Choomin “I’m just saying Ppl should be angry at the ‘Redskins’ and it’s owner for actual racism. Instead we get fake outrage.”
It may dismay fans of the Report to see #CancelColbert all over twitter, but it is even more dismaying that misinformed people will not even lean in to educate themselves about the actual satirical intent at hand in the piece itself – the importance of respecting people of all colors, creeds, and tribes. That’s the true irony.