unbelievable
actually, i guess i shouldn't be too surprised at this, but i am still frustrated, angry and disappointed. i found this entry at soong-chan rah's blog yesterday and it ruined the better part of my day.
seriously, give me a break. these "skit guys" are self-proclaimed skit experts and this is the best they could come up with? their "home run" idea to lead off their new book of skits is a played out racist send-up? not only is this kind of "humor" not actually funny - it's degrading, offensive and lazy. it pains me to think of all the kids who've already had a good laugh at our expense.
i'm not much of an activist, but i went into the local family christian bookstore first thing this morning to take a look for myself. sure enough, there was the skit -- the first one in the book. i took it to the front and brought it to the manager's attention. she was also surprised, and immediately took it off the shelf. she said they would pass along the message to corporate. hopefully, they can follow through on this and, just maybe, take this book off all their shelves. a woman who waiting in line behind me overheard what i had brought up, and as i was leaving she actually said, "thank you for saying something about this." it turns out she is a youth drama ministry leader and has encountered these types of things before. and no, she wasn't asian.
i am also planning on writing to these skit guys, zondervan and youth specialties to let them know that this kind of thing is not acceptable. i'm sure their responses will be along the lines of the rickshaw rally "we didn't mean any harm by it" and "you just need to get over it" type of thinking, but i think it's still important to let them know how ugly and wrong this is. i know they run a business and it's expensive to remove/re-edit the book, but they are also representatives of Christ -- and sometimes doing the right thing costs.
i would love to be able to focus all my time & energy on ministry to people. and i know, of course, that in Christ we are called to be one body -- that He destroys all of the ridiculous barriers we set up to divide ourselves. in the end, this skit guys thing isn't that big of a deal -- but there's no reason for those who create, market and push these products to stop unless someone points out why it's wrong.
An excerpt from Zondervan's Skits That Teach by Eddie James and Tommy Woodward published in 2006. A skit book meant to be used by youth groups all over the US features the following:
"Herro, Dis is Wok's Up Restaurant calling to confirm your order. . . . I think that, yes, you total is 14 dollar 95 cent."
"Herro? This is Wok's Up Restaurant again. We have drive and drive, and we can't find you house. We don't find you house soon, you pu pu get cold. Pu pu good when it hot."
(Hostile) "Okay, we drive for long time looking for you house. I tell you, you go outside and I look for you. I am driving a red Rincon (Lincoln) Continental. You pu pu still getting cold. Bye!
"Okay, I drive for long time and I stil not find you house. So I am eating you pu pu! Ruckiry it still warm. I was hungry, so I eat it. Mmmmm . . . this pu pu is good. (Smacks lips a few times) You on my bad rist. You don't call us anymore. Bye!
seriously, give me a break. these "skit guys" are self-proclaimed skit experts and this is the best they could come up with? their "home run" idea to lead off their new book of skits is a played out racist send-up? not only is this kind of "humor" not actually funny - it's degrading, offensive and lazy. it pains me to think of all the kids who've already had a good laugh at our expense.
i'm not much of an activist, but i went into the local family christian bookstore first thing this morning to take a look for myself. sure enough, there was the skit -- the first one in the book. i took it to the front and brought it to the manager's attention. she was also surprised, and immediately took it off the shelf. she said they would pass along the message to corporate. hopefully, they can follow through on this and, just maybe, take this book off all their shelves. a woman who waiting in line behind me overheard what i had brought up, and as i was leaving she actually said, "thank you for saying something about this." it turns out she is a youth drama ministry leader and has encountered these types of things before. and no, she wasn't asian.
i am also planning on writing to these skit guys, zondervan and youth specialties to let them know that this kind of thing is not acceptable. i'm sure their responses will be along the lines of the rickshaw rally "we didn't mean any harm by it" and "you just need to get over it" type of thinking, but i think it's still important to let them know how ugly and wrong this is. i know they run a business and it's expensive to remove/re-edit the book, but they are also representatives of Christ -- and sometimes doing the right thing costs.
i would love to be able to focus all my time & energy on ministry to people. and i know, of course, that in Christ we are called to be one body -- that He destroys all of the ridiculous barriers we set up to divide ourselves. in the end, this skit guys thing isn't that big of a deal -- but there's no reason for those who create, market and push these products to stop unless someone points out why it's wrong.
Labels: church, frustration, race
posted by daniel so at 11:02 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks for pushing back on this. There must have been some huge glitch in the editorial process to let this sort of writing slide by.
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