hinese-Americans and others rallied outside CNN's Hollywood office in Los Angeles Saturday, April 19, 2008 to demand the firing of commentator Jack Cafferty for calling China's goods "junk" and its leaders a "bunch of goons and thugs". A crowd estimated by police at 2,000 to 5,000 gathered, chanting "Cafferty, Fire," and singing Chinese songs. The crowd was peaceful and no arrests were made, said police Sgt. David Torres.
(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
In response to the Chinese government's demands for an apology CNN issued a statement that Cafferty had not meant to imply that "goons and thugs" referred to the Chinese people as they were intended only to apply to its leaders.
Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans have protested past anti-Chinese media coverage for being tainted by racism. The most famous of the past decade occurred in connection with the 9-month detention of Taiwanese-American Wen Ho Lee, a physicist at UC Berkeley's Los Alamos National Laboratory. In December 1999 a federal grand jury accused Lee of stealing secrets about the U.S. nuclear arsenal for transmission to China. The original charges were later dropped for lack of evidence, but Lee was later charged with improper handling of restricted data.
Lee ultimately pleaded guilty to that charge as part of a plea bargain deal, but sued the FBI and five media organizations for violating his civil rights with racially motivated defamation. In June 2006 Lee received a $1.6 million settlement.
Protesters tape a letter to CNN's Hollywood office door demanding the firing of commentator Jack Cafferty. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)