Celebrated Pianist Lang Lang
Unlike many bloggers, reporters and news outlets, I have a great deal of respect for my audience. Thus, instead of paraphrasing or rehashing the story and possibly excluding important facts, I’ve provided you with the link to the article so you can get all of the information and make an informed decision as to whether or not the performer’s actions – and possible involvement on the part of the Chinese government -- should be called into question: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/49822/
The minute the Epoch Times posted this story online, I realized many ignorant Americans would immediately assume Lang Lang used the high profile event as an opportunity to not only embarrass and insult America, but also to give her a good, swift kick in the ass on behalf of the Chinese government and its people. Based on the comments left on many sites that posted the Epoch Times article, I was right.
As a media person, I also realized many of the pain-in-the-ass, reckless, conservative and liberal news organizations would follow their usual protocol and completely talk around this story and ignore many of the facts in order to enrage members the public -- namely those who already fear and loathe President Obama, the fact that China is now recognized as the world’s sole economic powerhouse, and the fact that China “owns” us after absorbing a trillion dollars in U.S. debt.
Until Lang Lang, or President Hu Jintao, sits down with Charlie Rose or a “60 Minutes” correspondent to explain the content of “My Motherland” and what the song means to the people of China, the fools -- from the back hills of Arkansas to the projects of New York City -- yelling “Those goddamn Chinks are taking over this country! America isn’t America anymore, and we’re outta work because of those slanty-eyed bastards!!” run the risk of fueling even greater anti-Chinese sentiment and creating a Jared Loughner prototype…. or legions of them.
President Obama is in the process of fine-tuning his State of the Union address, which will be broadcast on January 25. He’s “de-funked” the White House and added air freshener by inserting a new leadership team. The G-Man has a message for the president and his new posse. Mr. President, strategically placing a few comments into the speech about the Lang Lang incident is not only vital to the interest of Sino-U.S. relations, it is vital to the interest and safety of Americans and Chinese-Americans living, working and worshiping together in this country. It would behoove you to address this incident before the nation.
This commentary is from the heart and…. From The G-Man.
Photo source: Andreas Praefcke
Author: Andreas Praefcke
Permission: Public Domain
Good of you to speak out against the demonizing of China and Chinese and Chinese-American people. It's like the conservatives and liberals share the hate but in different ways -- they just rip into China with absolute glee. With the conservatives it's like "U-S-A! U-S-A!" and with the liberals it's like "oh hey we can be really bigoted and get away with it because their government violates human rights! Yaaay we're progressive yaay!" Ugh.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, great commentary. Although FYI, "idiot" is a slur against people with mental disabilities, and I kinda feel like you said "Chinese" when you might've meant "Chinese-Americans" in the next-to-last sentence.
You might want to google "China's God Bless America" to see what this song is really about.
ReplyDeleteEpoch Times is Well known for it's anti-China slant.
To say the song is anti-American is like saying Star Spangled Banner is anti-British. We play it to the Queen, does it mean we are rubbing her nose in? The Revolutionary War and Korean War are both historical facts, so what does it have to do with respective state visits today?
Lang Lang picked a song for the visiting guest, don't read too much into it. It was also sang during the Olympics, in front of President Bush.