Fox News Chinatown reporting: the most degrading thing you will ever watch
October 28, 2016
Due to the chaos in the political world, Fox News had decided to step in and “inform” the nation about the presidential election. However, it was not Donald Trump that had crossed the line (surprisingly), it was Fox News itself. The news station decided to send Jesse Watters, one of the most white and privileged men in news media, to interview Chinese people on their stance for the election. Of course, the news station assumed that Chinatown mirrored the same beliefs as China, so exploiting this town seemed like the next step for Fox News to yet again degrade minorities and strengthen white power in the nation.
As Watters enters Chinatown in New York, the first mistake was is when he asks his interviewee, “Am I supposed to bow to say hello?” Yes, I know, you were only trying to be “respectful,” but most of the time we do not bow. The fact that you assume that we bow hello instead of introducing yourself and what you do makes this coverage a joke already. You were not here to try to make yourself a Chinese man, you were here for political opinions. However, this is not the worst, the worst is when he purposely asks people who are not fluent in English or people who are not knowledgeable about the election. For example, he taunts a man that says he is voting for Hillary’s wife and he asks what her name is. Because he takes a while to think, he inserts a clip from a movie that says, “why don’t you speak?” Are you kidding me? You know that he is not knowledgeable about the situation and you still select people who are ignorant of the election to put Chinese people in a negative light. What made me filled with rage is when he started disrespecting the elders in China Town. Yes, some of them do not speak English, but that does not mean you can make fun of them by inserting more racist clips and audio from different movies. When he interviews a person that does know English, he shoots down her opinion completely. The woman says, “I don’t want to vote for Trump, so Hillary.” Then Watters responds by saying, “So, China can keep ripping us off?” I have never wanted to punch my computer screen so hard in my life. However, he crossed the line when he was getting a foot massage and asked the woman to play “This Little Piggy Went to the Market” as she was massaging him. How degrading. We are not your slaves and servants, and your treatment makes us seem less than a person. One of the last people he “interviews” is a Chinese man and he asks, “How do I say, ‘The World is Mine’ in Chinese.” Yes, we get it Watters, you’re the oppressor and all you do is exploit other minorities. Stop rubbing it in our faces.
Thankfully, this was the end of the coverage but when Watter’s concludes with one of the other broadcasters, he says, “you thought people knew what was going on?” And after that comment, the other broadcaster says, “I know we’re going to get complaints and letters about this, but this is purely fun.” Excuse me? You think degrading other minorities and trying to oppress our opinions is fun? If you originally thought this was offensive DO NOT put it on national news. I honestly have no ending words, I am still appalled by this offensive behavior, but Watters is now a symbol of racism in the nation.
Click here to watch a clip of the segment and here to read a New York Times piece condemning it.