Segment

Protesters Blast Racist Fox News Segment

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• published: 07 Oct 2016
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A crowd of angry protesters gathered outside the headquarters of Fox News in New York City on Thursday afternoon to blast the network for airing a segment on "The O'Reilly Factor" that they believed was racist towards Chinese-Americans. The segment, called "Watters' World," screened an episode in Chinatown with correspondent Jesse Watters conducting street interviews with Chinese-Americans concerning the ongoing U.S. presidential election. Post production of the episode added film clips to generate sarcasm and mirror Asian-American stereotypes, which has angered a large amount of Chinese Americans. Officials including members from the New York State Assembly, City Council and the comptroller attended the protest that took place outside of Fox News headquarters in Manhattan. "'The O'Reilly Factor' early this week was more than just inappropriate. It was offensive and racist," said Ron Kim, a member of the New York State Assembly. "This is a very serious matter. First of all, before I was comptroller, I spent eight years as Manhattan Borough president and spent a lot of time working with the leadership of the Chinatown community. And what is in this disgraceful video in no way reflects the Asian community or the good people of Chinatown. I want to make that very clear -- this video was a fantasy, a figment of a distorted imagination, part of the continuing dialog that speaks to the worst in the American people. That, by the way, is the Trump candidacy and that's what it's all about. And it came through very clear. We reject this. We think this is racist; we think this is wrong; we think this goes against everything America is supposed to believe in," said New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer. With many objections being seen across the internet, Watters tweeted that he regretted if anyone found it offensive and that his street interviews were not planned to offend anyone. However, Fox News and Watters have not made any further response towards the incident, even though the protest gathered a great number proclaiming that the show stereotyped Asian-Americans. "We urge News Corp. to hold their anchors and correspondents accountable. We demand an apology, not regret. And we demand that Bill O'Reilly discontinue the 'Watters' World' segment," said Margaret Chin, member of New York City Council. When officials spoke about people's rights and called for an apology from Fox News, protesters expressed their attitudes towards the incident. "They think that the people who don't speak English, you can make fun of them, because they don't know what you're saying. How would you like it if somebody did that to someone you're related to who happens to be white? It's not humor. Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. It reflects very poorly on Fox," said Amala Lane, a protester. "I think Bill O'Reilly really got it wrong when he said that those people are so patient. Actually, we're not patient. We're almost at 2017 now, and Chinese in America are no longer patient when it comes to this kind of an offense. So, we will speak out and we won't be patient, and we won't be quiet. And that's the reality of the future," said Jan Lee, another protester. The Organization of Chinese Americans in New York is still waiting for a proper explanation from the heads of Fox News. "The O’Reilly Factor" is an American political commentary program on the Fox News channel. Bill O'Reilly is the host of the weekly program. More on: http://www.cctvplus.com/news/20161007/8033817.shtml#!language=1 Subscribe us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CCTVPlus CCTV+ official website: http://www.cctvplus.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cctv-news-content Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewsContent.CCTVPLUS Twitter: https://twitter.com/CCTV_Plus