California State Senator Ted Lieu is calling on Fox News’ Bob Beckel, co-host of The Five, to resign after he used the slur “Chinaman” on air last week. I recently wrote about how the term “Chinaman” is a derogatory slur with a heinous history.
In an online statement issued over the weekend, Lieu responded to Beckel’s on-air usage of an anti-Asian slur and demanded the co-host’s resignation.
Lieu wrote:
Lieu, a Chinese-American, said he was outraged.
“I am one of those ‘Chinamen’ with ‘Oriental’ eyes that immigrated to America and majored in computer science. I also served on active duty in the United States Air Force and continue to serve my country in the Reserves. And today, as an American and as a California State Senator, I call on Mr. Beckel to resign.
“America is great because anyone can be an American. Our country is the strongest in the world because of our diversity. Unfortunately, Fox News host Bob Beckel does not understand what it means to be an American.
“But Mr. Beckel’s comments are more than just racist and stupid. His ignorant views are dangerous because it is precisely those types of extreme xenophobic and racist views that caused our government to massively violate constitutional rights during World War II and force more than 100,000 Americans into internment camps.
“It is Mr. Beckel’s extreme racist and xenophobic views that are a threat to the American people and he should resign now.”
Lieu made headlines earlier in the year when he withdrew his support for Senate Constitutional Amendment 5 (SCA5), a proposed bill that would have exempted California’s public universities from the anti-affirmative action ban instituted by passage of Proposition 209 in 1995. Proposition 209 has been unequivocally damaging to minority admissions in California’s state school system, yet Lieu caved into pressure from Chinese American constituents in his district and vowed to vote against the SCA5 amendment; this political change of heart cost Lieu six key Democratic endorsements.
While I disagree with Lieu on SCA5, I agree with the senator in regard to Bob Beckel and believe that it should be backed up with community voices as well. So, I’ve created this Change.org petition, calling on Fox News to apologize for its airing of Beckel’s use of an anti-Asian slur on-air and also calling on the network to terminate Beckel’s position as co-host.
