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St. Louis News Anchor Gets Unhinged Voicemail From Upset Viewer For Being 'Very Asian' On Air
At this point, some racists' complaints about imagined, hypothetical reverse racism are becoming so ridiculous they're starting to seem like they have to be satire.
Like the one a Korean American news anchor recently received.
St. Louis journalist Michelle Li received a voicemail complaint from a White viewer because Li mentioned Koreans traditionally eat dumpling soup on New Year's Day.
Li shared it on Twitter.
I\u2019d love to say something back.pic.twitter.com/zrXgiwQbR9— Michelle (@Michelle) 1641096909
Li's mention of dumpling soup came at the end of a brief segment on foods often eaten in America on New Year's Day—such as black-eyed peas, greens, cornbread and pork—and the traditions behind each one.
It's subtle but people do notice! Something small but representation matters...we are not all eating cornbread, my friends... though it is delicious. https://twitter.com/MBowmanScience/status/1477426477423640579\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/AFBLIgOhX6— Michelle (@Michelle) 1641089761
The viewer found this unacceptable because she claims a White reporter would never be allowed to specify what White people eat on New Year's.
As the caller put it:
“What if one of your White anchors said, ‘Well, White people eat this on New Year’s Day’?"
"I don’t think it was appropriate that she said that and she was being very Asian. And I don’t know, she can keep her Korean to herself.”
It did not seem to register to the woman during her rant the segment was about what many White people eat on New Year's, as Li pointed out on Twitter.
We literally talked about \u201cAmerican\u201d food right before that \u2026 so I threw an Asian American line— Michelle (@Michelle) 1641147388
The woman went on to say she found Li's mention of dumplings annoying and even claimed a White anchor would be fired for making a similar comment.
The woman's complaint is bizarre, but no part of it had quite the shock value of the phrase "she was being very Asian."
Responding to the uproar, Li took the phrase and turned it onto its head, turning it into a statement of pride in her Korean heritage.
2022 is the year to be #veryasian -- in our mixed house, we like to say, "We all Asian!"\n\nSend noods. Keep the dumplings on the stove.\n\nThank you for the love, let's make something out of it. Now I'm thinking...pic.twitter.com/gJIstEroJh— Michelle (@Michelle) 1641141456
And as Li's videos went viral, so too did the hashtag #VeryAsian as people expressed pride in their own Asian identity.
I'm #VeryAsian and proud to stand with you. America needs to embrace it's diversity, and embrace our diversity as Asian people. We can all Nguyen together.https://twitter.com/MichelleLiTV/status/1477553010461003776\u00a0\u2026— "All I do is" Nguyen \u263a\ufe0f (@"All I do is" Nguyen \u263a\ufe0f) 1641151885
On New Year\u2019s day Chinese people eat noodles to celebrate longevity, dumplings for prosperity, and whole fish as a hope for abundance, to name a few. It is a joy to learn about traditions in other cultures. \n\nProud to be #VeryAsian with @MichelleLiTVhttps://twitter.com/michellelitv/status/1477493641732149248\u00a0\u2026— Weijia Jiang (@Weijia Jiang) 1641155036
This viewer is a racist and truly horrible and idiotic person. \n\nEat some very delicious dumplings, whether they are Chinese, Korean or Japanese and learn something new about Asians through food. #veryasianhttps://twitter.com/michellelitv/status/1477493641732149248\u00a0\u2026— Ellen Chang \u5f35 \u5fc3 \u7469 (@Ellen Chang \u5f35 \u5fc3 \u7469) 1641138324
Wishing you all a Very Asian new year- if you think talking about eating dumplings on Jan 1 is "Very Asian" you have a month to get very ready for us to go even more "Very Asian" on Lunar New Year\n\n#VeryAsianhttps://twitter.com/MichelleLiTV/status/1477493641732149248\u00a0\u2026— Flora (Yuan) Wang (@Flora (Yuan) Wang) 1641149955
I intend to continue to be very loudly Korean American in 2022 and beyond. #VeryAsianhttps://twitter.com/michellelitv/status/1477493641732149248\u00a0\u2026— Tanya \uc218\uc815 Tarr (@Tanya \uc218\uc815 Tarr) 1641143913
uh oh me being #VeryAsian caught on camerapic.twitter.com/xUrah95afX— Chenue Her (@Chenue Her) 1641139144
And of course there was plenty of dunking on the woman's complaint.
She\u2019s right though. What you did was very inappropriate. How dare you push delicious food onto people?! I mean what\u2019s next? A Greek anchor telling me I should enjoy some wonderful flaky sweet baklava?!— Steven (@Steven) 1641143812
pic.twitter.com/jXToDYRDRz— kim washington (@kim washington) 1641135646
Hi Twitter support. One of your\u2026um very asian\u2026 twitterers tweeted about eating dumplings. I\u2019m offended. I mean what if a white person just decided to share their dietary opinions? They would probably be blocked or harassed. Right @RadioFreeTom?— Ben Caspi (@Ben Caspi) 1641144820
And let us all know so that we can stream online and boost the ratings!!— Danica \u201cGood Trouble\u201d Starks (@Danica \u201cGood Trouble\u201d Starks) 1641146251
No disrespect to the woman who complained, but it kind of seems like her rant had the opposite effect of what she intended.
Oops!