I’m on a bit of a posting-roll.
I had an interview with Emil Guillermo the other day about “Kung Fool” and it was very cool to actually speak with one of the few APA nationally-syndicated columnists out there. Towards the end of the interview, he asked, “So what’s to stop this from happening in the future? What can we do today?”
Deep — or maybe I’ve just been thinking too much lately. Towards the end of that frenetic week, I’ll admit: I was beginning to look ahead, just a little past our immediate goals of getting the costume recalled, and more towards, “What the hell is YW going to do now?”
I haven’t the foggiest notion.
And quite frankly, I don’t think I’d want it any other way.
Okay, I was going to get into the nitty gritty about all of this but now I’m beat. More later.
Well, I spent most of the last week and a half on that little “Kung Fool” incident. You may or may not have heard about it.
On Thursday, October 10, 2002, Yellowworld.org launched Project Anti-Disguise, a grass-roots campaign to raise awareness about the racist, anti-Asian costume “Kung Fool.” A petition was immediately circulated to offer a mechanism by which the frustration, anger and firm resolution of the Asian community could constructively be channeled.
With the generous support of the Organization of Chinese Ameicans, San Diego, Project Anti-Disguise launched a blitzkrieg-style media assault, voicing its message in television, radio, print and online coverage.
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Disguise’s Letter to Retailers:
As you may know, the design of Disguise, Inc.’s (Disguise) “Kung Fool” costume has raised concerns among some Asian American Groups. In direct response to these concerns, Disguise will no long produce, market or ship this product. Furthermore, we have established a Return Authorization number (1115) to accommodate returns of the products. We encourage you to return any of the Kung Fool costumes and/or masks for full credit. Disguise is a culturally sensitive company. Many of our employees are of Asian American descent and we take the complaints that have been received very seriously. No insult or offense was intended against any race, ethnicity, or individual by the sale of this product we have issued the enclosed press release apologizing for the design of the product. Finally, we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause your company. Please contact us directly should you have any questions. Thank you in advance for your understanding and consideration.
Sincerely,
Stephen C. Stanley
Executive Vice President
Joe Anton
Executive Vice President
Wow, what a difference a week can make.
While toiling away, lamenting my own existence, I found out last week that a costume manufacturer was selling this to kids:
And hey! Since I’ve got nothing better to do, I thought, why not try and be productive by starting an online petition? You can check it out at http://petition.yellowworld.org
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