Asian-American members challenge Academy on diversity, 'racist stereotypes'

Oscars host Chris Rock's unfunny jibes about Asian Americans at the Academy Awards last month spurred two-dozen Asian-American members of the Academy to an unprecedented demand: No more "racist stereotypes" at future Oscar ceremonies.

Also, says the letter to the Academy signed by 25 members, including two-time Oscar-winning director Ang Lee, the Academy needs to expand its definition of diversity to include other minorities besides African Americans.

"By diversity the black and white powers-that-be at the Academy apparently mean only black and white; they're totally oblivious to Asian, Hispanics, LGBT and a host of other minorities in their definition of diversity," says actor George Takei, a signatory and member of the academy since 2002, who has worked in Hollywood since 1958.

But what really hurt, he said, was the "tone-deaf" use of stereotypes to poke fun at Asians during the Oscars broadcast on Feb. 28.

"The Academy is guilty of stereotyping and they have no idea of the enormous damage stereotyping can do," Takei said.

No A's for effort on H'wood's diversity report card

The Academy conceded the letter-writers had a point in a brief statement to USA TODAY.

"The Academy appreciates the concerns stated, and regrets that any aspect of the Oscar telecast was offensive," the statement said. "We are committed to doing our best to ensure that material in future shows be more culturally sensitive."

The letter Takei signed, addressed to Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, CEO Dawn Hudson and members of the Board of Governors (who are meeting Tuesday to discuss #OscarsSoWhite and diversity issues among other matters), is a cry of "surprise and disappointment with the targeting of Asians at the 88th Oscars telecast and its perpetuation of racist stereotypes."

"In light of criticism over #OscarsSoWhite, we were hopeful that the telecast would provide the Academy a way forward and the chance to present a spectacular example of inclusion and diversity," the letter said. "Instead, the Oscars show was marred by a tone-deaf approach to its portrayal of Asians."

Rock, who made #OscarsSoWhite a major element of his patter throughout the night, also included jokes involving stereotypes about Asian-American children, three of whom — all too young to get the joke — were paraded on the stage.

Never again, the signatories insisted.

"We’d like to know how such tasteless and offensive skits could have happened and what process you have in place to preclude such unconscious or outright bias and racism toward any group in future Oscars telecasts," the letter said.

The letter noted pointedly that Hollywood's audience is global now, and 60% of the potential moviegoers in the planet's population is Asian.

Daniel Mayeda, co-chair of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition, which has been working with other racial and ethnic media groups to press for improved diversity in Hollywood, called the letter "fantastic."  He said the Academy doesn't write any host's routine, but it must have been aware of Rock's plan generally even if it did not vet every line of every joke.

"How could they not have realized that (the show) was an overwhelmingly binary discussion (of diversity)?" Mayeda says. "There was one mention of Hispanics, and two mentions of Asians and both were stereotypical jokes at our expense. It should have been an opportunity for a more general conversation and not just black or white. It was a slap in the face."

Oscar Telecast "Tone-Deaf" Towards Asians, Prominent Academy Members Say In Letter

Those who signed the letter included actors Sandra Oh, Nancy Kwan and Peter Kwong; Oscar-winning documentary filmmakers Freida Lee Mock, Arthur Dong, Jessica Yu and Christine Choy; and Oscar winner Chris Tashima, in the Shorts and Feature Animation branch.

Takei said the signers have been discussing what to do since the Oscar telecast ended and the next few days included coverage of the dismay about the Rock jokes. The letter was sent March 9, and timed to coincide with Tuesday's board meeting.

Speaking as a Japanese American who was locked up with his family in an internment camp during WWII, and as a civil-rights campaigner in the 1960s, and later as a gay-rights activist, Takei said he's "aghast" that #OscarsSoWhite has been defined as strictly a black-or-white issue for Hollywood.

"I campaigned for civil rights, I marched with Dr Martin Luther King Jr., I worked for diversity in the civil rights movement," he said. "The next Oscars ceremony, the Academy has to recognize the mistake they made and present a more accurate visual representation of American diversity.

"We had to get this on the record — we're no longer silent, obsequious servants, we want change."