exclusive
A
major skateboard company is being accused of putting "racism for sale"
... after selling a shirt featuring two Asian men under the words,
"Gooks of Hazzard."
The company under fire is Baker Skateboards ... which is owned by skating legend Andrew Reynolds ... who's been featured as a character in several of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater video games.
Baker
is currently selling the "Hazzard" shirt on its website. The shirt
features two Asian men in a car named the "General Li." One of the men
is pro skater Don "The Nuge" Nguyen -- who's sponsored by Baker.
The shirt also features a tagline, "Good Orr Boys" ... a play on the stereotype of an Asian accent.
But while it appears The Nuge approves of the shirt, the Asian American Justice Center
feels differently ... a rep for the organization tells us it's
"unacceptable for Baker Skateboards to create a depiction of Asian
Americans which uses racial slurs and perpetuates racist stereotypes.”
The
org. adds, "Baker Skateboards, and the outlets that sell this shirt,
should be aware that use of the term 'gook' on their apparel is
offensive and quite simply amounts to racism for sale. No one should
seek to profit from racism.”
We reached out to Baker Skateboards -- as well as Don “The Nuge” Nguyen -- so far, no word back from either.
i am a resident of USA now since 2007.. i am Nihonjin, i was born and grew up in Sapporo, Hokkaido and i do take offense to the shirt, but only for that one word.
It was 1 big step over the line of parody into actual insult.
Gook
NOUN
1.
a highly offensive term for an East Asian or Southeast Asian person or somebody of East Asian or Southeast Asian descent ( slang ) ( insult )
The term was used most prominently by US soldiers in the Philippines and then later in the Vietnam war.
the word is part of the ugliness of war from the past and just like digging up dung from an ancient sewer.. it seems to be an act that serves no good purpose.