Asian-American group decries North remark
Teddy Greenstein
ON SPORTS MEDIA AND COLLEGES

June 2, 2006

Mike North's detractors are split.

Many advocate ignoring the WSCR-AM 670 morning man, while others wish to see him reprimanded for the occasionally insensitive things that roll off his tongue.

North said something Tuesday that drew the ire of the Organization of Chinese Americans of Greater Chicago.

Two days after Cubs rookie right-hander Jae Kuk Ryu gave up four home runs and six earned runs in 1 1/3 innings, North, by his own recollection, said on the air: "Who was the Chinaman on the mound the other day? Whoever it was shouldn't wear a major-league uniform ever again. He was dreadful."

The fact Ryu hails from South Korea is part of what offended Woon-Wah Siu, the president of the Chinese-American organization, who e-mailed a letter of complaint to North.

"One issue faced by Asian-Americans is that, although we are a diverse group, we are often treated as a homogeneous group," Siu wrote. "We don't believe it's too much to ask a veteran sportscaster like you to know the player's name and racial background of one of [the players on] your home teams."

Siu and organization member Steve Lake both called for a public apology.

"This comment is insulting, insensitive and inflammatory to the Asian community," wrote Lake, whose late wife was Asian. "It is the equivalent of using the 'N' word to identify an African-American."

North said Thursday he didn't know the term "Chinaman" was offensive.

"I don't get it," he said. "I grew up in the streets, and we used to say that all the time. I've got buddies living in Chinatown who are Italian. Wait, can I say 'Chinatown'?

"I don't mean any ill will and I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, but every five years it's something different. You used to be able to say 'Oriental.' Can you say Oriental Theater anymore?"

North said he wouldn't apologize because he said the remark wasn't meant to be offensive. He said he would like to invite those who e-mailed him to come to the studio so they can discuss the issue on the air and "they can educate me."

Officials at WSCR are taking the matter seriously.

"Mike's comments were disrespectful and inappropriate," general manager Paul Agase said. "We apologize for the insensitivity of the remarks. We've reached out to the leaders in the Asian-American community to further discuss the issue to ensure this doesn't happen again."

Agase would not say whether North would be disciplined.

I have no idea what's in that contract, but I wonder how bad he has to screw up before they can fire his ass and get out from under that awful deal.

North calls everyone of Asian decent a "Chinaman." It's yet another thing about the ignorant hot dog peddler that just gets swept under the rug by the higher ups at WSCR and CBS.

Just because Mike and his buddies said that word when they were kids tramping around the streets, that makes it okay? I'd bet my bottom dollar that "Chinaman" may have been the least offensive slur tossed around by the 1950s version of the Dead End Kids that Mike probably ran with.

Doesn't this ignorant uneducated asshole realize that calling a Korean a Chinaman is like calling a German a Swede?

I remember the first time I turned North's show on. He was talking about the Cubs/Expos tilt the night before. He also mentioned the Expos' "Chinaman" pitcher, Tomo Ohka. My eyes almost bugged out of my head for 2 reasons: 1) I couldn't believe North (or anyone on the radio) would use that term and 2) Tomo Ohka is JAPANESE.

North's ignorance and insensitivity is the thing of legend and I can't believe he continues to get a pass after all these years.

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Nothing clever or witty to put here.....

Pappy's been saying this for years. Only when an organized group complains does a management member apologize. If its just an individual complaint then its "thanks for listening"

Notice how Pappy does the usual "Ive got buddies in Chinatown". Then he asks "Is it wrong to say Chinatown". A totally wrong comparrison.

The one thing he never adressed was the fact that the Cubs pitcher wasn't even Chinese.

I think the fact that management made a public apology might be the sign that they are working their way to release Pappy. They used to defend him because they thought his stupid style would draw listeners. This might mark the beginning of the end.

No.

It wasn't Ok to say chinaman when Pappy was a kid. America was just more excepting of racial slurs back then. Plus what kind of rationale is saying "When we were kids we said it" Since when do kids set the barometer on right and wrong. Do you guys think Bebe will explain this to Pappy tonight?

I'm surprised it has taken this long for someone to complain, but then again, maybe there aren't that many Asian Americans listening to this racist pig.

Whether he meant it as an insult or not, it is offensive and Mike North should apologize!

Like I said people have complained but it took an organized group for Score management to apologize. Some guy brought it up in a letter to Feder a week or so ago. All of the parody's we do here don't compare to the humor and stupidity of the actual Pappy quotes in the above Tribune article.

I still think he's pulling this stuff in an attempt to get fired. He's been soo over the top lately, like the kid who acts overly bad just to get attention from his parents. He must know he's out the door and trying to get as much pub as possible before the door hits him in the ass.

I think this is bullshit. I've been listening to the score for 6 years and I've heard Mike say Chinaman about a 1000 times without management having a problem with it. Why won't they speak out about all the other racist comments he makes? Only when one of the comments makes a headline do you hear from management. I don't blame North, I would continue to do the same thing because those spineless fucks in management won't do anything.

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Experience is like drawing without an eraser

I like how Pappy wants to invite the people who emailed him so they can "educate him on the air". The son of a bitch is trying to make a radio bit out of it. I can just see him on the air.

Pappy- Next up is da bookie priest. Den at 9:20 chinamen are live in da studio to explain to me why da word chinaman is wrong. Den Freds movie review.

Mike will no doubt invoke Sterns name, but the big difference is Stern made millions for CBS and was syndicated in many markets, beating Mikes ass here and Stern was also intelligent so his rudest remarks were jokes while Mikes remarks are pure ignorance

QFT. It will happen just like this. "Up now are my GOOD BUDDIES, the CHINAMEN!!! Hey, chinamen how you been lately..."

The Stern comparrison is a joke as you stated. Stern does racial humor in a parody style. It's funny and smart people get it. Pappy doesn't even realize Chinaman is wrong. So its not a joke and he is just stupid.

It amazes me that this is the first "organized" complaint that's 1) been brought to Score (mis)management; or 2) is the first "organized" complaint to garner media attention. I'm not sure which applies.

Steve Lake? Murph will have a major boner reading that name...

It's actually quite simple, Mike. Yes, you can say Chinatown if you're referring to the place of that name populated mainly by people of Chinese descent and containing mainly Chinese restaurants and businesses. No, you should not say Chinatown if you're referring to some different, primarily Korean neighborhood.

I'm also really tired of the "grew up in the streets" thing as a justification for all the crap he says and does, as well as the excuse that "we did that when we were kids." When I was a very little kid, I used to shit in my pants, too, but I stopped.

Yeah I hate when people use things like that as an excuse. It reminds me of "I have five........... friends so I can't be racist."

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Experience is like drawing without an eraser

Right. He thinks he can use the "I grew up in da streets" and "I dropped out of highschool" and people will accept his stupid comments. There are alot of people who didn't graduate from high school and grew up "in the streets" yet they know how to act and the proper way to conduct themselves as adults.

One does not need a high school diploma to realize that "Chinaman" is an insensitive racial slur. It seems like he gets a pass because he is not educated. Its the dumbest thing in the world.

It's funny because Pappy was up in arms when the Sox didn't make the trip to the white house. He said to Reinsdorf "people won't like this a certain percentage of people will stay away from the park". The white house snub offended Pappy. Yet he plays ignorant to those who find "Chinaman" offensive. The guy is an absolute walking, hypocritical, ignorant asswipe.

None of our media critics have ever called him on it until Greenstein in a couple of his recent columns. Greenstein has hinted to people's critisisms written on this board in his last two columns on Pappy.

Where did you read that at?

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Experience is like drawing without an eraser

It wasn't outright. Chinaman has been discussed here forever. Plus in the last article about Dempster he referenced Pappy using the "flawed rating system" and a couple of other subtle things that have been brought up here.

Ok. I thought it was something else that I missed.

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Experience is like drawing without an eraser

The bottom line is because Pappy dropped out of highscool, grew up on the mean North side streets in the 60's, ran a hot dog stand, he gets a pass to be an ignorant, racist, stupid blow hole.

"Oh he doesn't know any better because he didn't graduate high school, plus he ran a hot dog stand so its OK to be a racist."

That has been the reason why his management and the media don't say a word about his stupidity. It really is amazing. People in media have been fired for way less then him through the years. The mildo he's making is also a part of it. But they were banking that the racist idiotic comments would draw listeners. But Chicago is way to smart to listen to that idiot.

Hawkeye wrote

What would be the advantage of getting fired? Other than getting paid to stay off the air (I would assume that the Score would end up eating the rest of his contract, unless they could void it based on some sort of misconduct or code of ethics), would there be another station in town that would hire him after seeing his ratings and seeing all the bad pub?

Any chance he knows that oriental describes anything from the east with no reference to a country or ethnicity and that the oriental theatre is more middle eastern themed than east asian. Bringing up the word occidental is probably not even worth the effort.

Was that former Cub catcher Steve Lake?

95% joking, for some strange reason I think his parents had been Asian??? but only a 5% chance of that, easily could be wrong

Anyways, not defending North, but 15 years on the Air, using the term 'chinaman' 100's of times, (although in a derogatory way) and nothing has happened?

Hard for anyone to in Managment to say anything more than Mike, Apologize and don't do it again. However, if it happens again?

Then who knows.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

For those that think that only this board complains about the village idiot, read these comments on the Trib blog:

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribu ... l#comments

Is North going to have "Hug A Chinaman Day" similar to his "Hug A Black Man Day" to prove he's not a racist ignoramous?

"I grew up in the streets, and we used to say that all the time."

I grew up in the streets an we used to refer to blacks with the "n-word."

Does that mean it's okay to say it now.

Please Mike, let me know.

I hate that "used to" mentality. I've gone through several mergers and the biggest pain in the asses are these people. "Used to" doesn't mean that idea, process, or word was RIGHT, CORRECT, or PROPER. I unfortunately had to once address issue with whiny a co-worker like this, "You 'used to' shit your pants when you were 6 months old, are you telling me you still shit your pants?" The person quit whining and amazingly started acting like a grown up. I figure North still does shit his pants from time to time so...

Send him a copy of Who Moved my Cheese?. It'll take him 3 weeks to read. Hopefully he'll comprehend it's meaning. Probably not, "Dat book is o_K, but I ain't a mouse and what tif I wuz LACKTOES INCONTINENT?"

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Homer: "Asleep at the switch"? I wasn't asleep, I was drunk!
Bart: I believe you, Dad.