So-called 'cool' website makes fun of Chinese Cockle Deaths

sp · Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 218

I am absolutely disgusted by this, The website www.popbitch.com is a popular messageboard that specialises in posting gossip and chit chat about celebrities. As a result of it's subject matter, the web site has quite a high media profile. It is occasionally mentioned in mainstream media and is known to be read by many in the media industries (especially journalists). The people behind Popbitch send out a weekly newsletter with a summary of their latest gossip, funny stories and jokes. This week's mailout includes the following section:

---

"Sum Ting Wong"

Those unpleasant cockler jokes in full

Two sharks are swimming in the Irish Sea.
One says to the other: "God I'm bored of mackerel
...let's swim to Morecambe and pick up a Chinese."

Q: What are a Chinaman's favourite shoes?
A: Winkle pickers.

Morecambe council are spending thousands of
pounds on their sea defences. Apparently there
are a few chinks in it...

Police have solved the Morecambe Bay tragedy:
the pickers were told to come out of the water
when it hit knee high. Unfortunately Nee Hi
was sitting in the van...

----

I have posted the entire mailout here, so people can see the 'jokes' in context:

http://www.stevepang.clara.net/mailout.html

Well we've got everything here. Not only are they are mocking people who died in appalling circumstances, they've thrown in a reference to us as chinks as well.

This is not, I repeat, not, the same as the Paul Hyu case. This is genuine racism. It is not the voice of a Chinese person and it is not making any genuine points about racism. This is not acceptable. There is no doubt that any 'jokes' about pakis or niggers would not have made it in their mailout. That brand of racism, as we know, isn't 'cool'.

I am planning to complain to all appropriate channels and I hope others will join me.

sp

LaoFuZhi · Joined: 09 Jan 2004 Posts: 31 Location: Scotland

These 'jokes' are sick.....

But then, from the few lines of the mailout I could be bothered reading so's the whole mailout... Popbitch is consumed by 'certain' media types.... Generally (IMHO) those who struggle to find any real originality.....

tenpence · Joined: 24 Feb 2003 Posts: 174

I can't see your site (it's blocked at work) Steve, can you post the mail here?

thanks

sp · Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 218

At the moment I plan to write a complaint to the Commission for Racial Equality, as to me this is a racist attack in the form of an email.

http://www.cre.gov.uk/about/offices.html

At this stage I don't know if OFCOM can deal with complaints regarding emails or websites.

This email sent to popbitch subscribers shows a total lack of respect for us as a people, when other races would be accorded at least some dignity in the face of tragedy. If anyone has any other suggestions for further action, please let me know. Thanks.

LaoFuZhi · Joined: 09 Jan 2004 Posts: 31 Location: Scotland

S.P.

Whilst I support your protest and agree with your proposed course of action I would seriously doubt that the list in question WOULD show respect for other races in similar circumstances......

They appear to 'trash' everybody and everything at every opportunity.... It's simply what they do!

Popbitch has never been what you'd call 'intelligent'! It's NEVER been a source of well informed satirical comment. More the bitter ramblings of a particularly disagreeable bunch of spoilt eleven-year-olds. And I'm baffled to learn that is some quarters it's considered 'cool'....

As far as I'm aware it's subscribed to by a few of our NQ level students. These are generally 16-Y/O school leavers with a relatively low level of academic achievement. The NQ year is designed to bring them up to around basic A level standard. By which time they've grown out of it.... I find it incredible that they have ANY sort of adult audience or afforded ANY credibility......

None of that of course excuses or mitigates what they posted. Nor does it mean the matter should go unchecked.

sp · Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 218

This is what i have sent to the CRE

---

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to complain after material of a racist nature was sent to me by the British website www.popbitch.com. I am a subscriber to the website's weekly email 'mailout'. This mailout normally consists of a mixture of celebrity gossip and news stories. However, the last mailout I received included the following text:

"Sum Ting Wong - Those unpleasant cockler jokes in full.

Two sharks are swimming in the Irish Sea. One says to the other: "God I'm bored of mackerel ...let's swim to Morecambe and pick up a Chinese."

Q: What are a Chinaman's favourite shoes? A: Winkle pickers.

Morecambe council are spending thousands of pounds on their sea defences. Apparently there are a few chinks in it...

Police have solved the Morecambe Bay tragedy: the pickers were told to come out of the water when it hit knee high. Unfortunately Nee Hi was sitting in the van... "

Whilst I recognize that the website may seek to justify these 'jokes' as in keeping with its 'irreverent' style, I believe they are offensive, fundamentally racist in nature, are detrimental to race relations, and could even reinforce the racist attitudes that may have brought about the tragic events in Morecambe.

I have no doubt whatsoever that a list of similar jokes using such racist terms as 'nigger' or 'paki' would not have been sent out, yet these blatantly racist comments have been thoughtlessly distributed by the people behind the website.

I have reporoduced the full text of the mailout here: http://www.stevepang.clara.net/mailout.html

and I can forward the original email to the CRE if required.

As a Chinese person, I consider this email from popbitch.com to be racist in nature, and detrimental to the perception of my community. I urge the Commission for Racial Equality to take appropriate action.

Yours faithfully,

Steve Pang
London, UK

sp · Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 218

If you feel the same as me about this matter, I suggest you send an email to the CRE at: info@cre.gov.uk

You can also see a list of regional offices here: http://www.cre.gov.uk/about/offices.html

Below is a sample email you might consider using:

--

Dear Sir/Madam,

It has come to my attention that the British website www.popbitch.com has recently sent out an email to all its subscribers which included a series of racist jokes concerning the Morecambe Bay Cockler deaths. One of the jokes distributed by the website was "Morecambe council are spending thousands of pounds on their sea defences. Apparently there are a few chinks in it."

I wish to express my disgust and abhorrence that any website would consider distributing racist material of his nature to its subscribers. I believe the deliberate attempt to circulate these jokes is not only offensive to the people involved in the tragedy and their families, but is also detrimental to race relations and is likely to reinforce racial prejudice amongst people reading them.

I would like to ask Commission for Racial Equality to fully investigate this matter and prevent it from ever happening again.

Yours faithfully,

sp · Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 218

sp · Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 218

The CRE's response:

Dear Mr Pang

Thank you for your enquiry concerning a website distributing racist material

The Commission for Racial Equality was set up under the Race Relations Act 1976 to work towards the elimination of discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity, and good relations, between persons of different racial groups generally.

The Race Relations Act protects everyone against racial discrimination in employment, housing, education and services. There is no specific provision under the Act which covers the publishing of material which is racist or racially offensive. Anything written, produced or broadcast by the media does not fall within the scope of the Race Relations Act and the CRE therefor does not have any legal powers to take action or investigate matters relating to publication of such material.

The CRE has carried out a great deal of work with various parts of the media over a number of years to encourage a more balanced and sensitive coverage of race relations issues. We continue that work through direct contact with people in those organisations.
If people wish to complain about the media, we would urge them to write to the appropriate bodies:

Information about how to complain about media content can be found on the CRE website at http://www.cre.gov.uk/media/media_comps.html.

You may also want to contact the Internet Watch Federation.
http://www.iwf.org.uk/

Information Services.
........

In the light of this, I have decided to mail the complaint to OFCOM too:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/contact_ofcom/general_complaint[/b]

tenpence · Joined: 24 Feb 2003 Posts: 174

Looks like the tory party have been reading popbitch:

"The Tory MP Ann Winterton was sacked from the Parliamentary Conservative Party today after publicly joking about the deaths of the Chinese cocklers who drowned at Morecambe Bay.

"Just weeks after 20 Chinese cocklers died after getting caught in the tide in Bolton-le-Sands, Mrs Winterton reportedly referred to two sharks who were sick of eating tuna and so one said: "Let's go to Morecambe for a Chinese."

nice. makes me feel really positive about race relations in this country.

Read the wohle article here: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=495186

sp · Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 218

I've decided to bring this out into the open on the Popbitch messageboard. You can read the responses here:

http://www.popbitch.com/newboard/26/18/16/8/

There will be a few more replies before the board shuts for the night. See what you think.

tenpence · Joined: 24 Feb 2003 Posts: 174

good to see mature discussion over this issue on Popbitch...not even worth taking it up with them.

hairy fingers · Joined: 03 Apr 2004 Posts: 17

What is complaining about those jokes really going to do to make your lives better? By writing complaint letters you just give us all a bad image as a bunch of bitchy,stuck-up folk.
Do something more productive in your life(teach some Chinese people you know better English!).
There's a time to fight and stick up for yourself and what you are doing is just wasting your energy and talent on crap (the jokes were nothing but crap). I would've done the same when I was 13 but I know some battles,even if WON, will not make me any better off in the long run or happier.
Whites publishing tasteless jokes-big deal! But how about Chinese extorting Chinese;that's no joke.

GweiLo · Joined: 22 Feb 2004 Posts: 149

hairy fingers.
I agree that it makes sense to think carefully about what you complain about. Phyric victories are no victory at all. I'm also with you completely about doing positive things, it moves things forward better than just complaining.

But I don't agree that complaining gets the Chinese a bad or stuck up image. My guess is that the vast majority of people would consider those jokes to be in appalingly bad taste. We all see these tasteless jokes soon after all sorts of awful events...We had Princess Di jokes, Jokes about Liverpool fans after Hillsborough...etc.. so leaving the race thing aside these jokes should offend anyone who has any kind of decency and compassion for others and that is why we should complain in my view.

On top of that the jokes themselves contain racist terms that do hurt and offend people. I don't see why anyone should have to keep quite about things that hurt and offend them. I may be a white bloke, but even i can see that the Chinese in Britain have kept quite about too much for too long.

Maybe you aren't a complainer, and no doubt you change peoples perceptions and attitudes to the Chinese in more practical and positive ways. But we need some complainers too I think.

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