‘O’Reilly Factor’ Chinatown segment draws accusations of racism

A Fox News segment is stirring outrage over what some see as its racist portrayal of Chinese-Americans.

{mosads}The “O’Reilly Factor” video shows correspondent Jesse Watters interviewing people in Chinatown about the presidential election.

In one clip, Watters asks a woman whether the U.S. and China are friends. When she says they are, Watters asks, “Can you take care of North Korea for us?”

The video goes on to show Watters asking a man if he knows karate, playing with numchucks and getting a foot massage in a massage parlor.

After the segment, Watters discussed it with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.

“They’re such a polite people, they won’t tell me to walk away or get out of here,” Watters said. “They just sit there and say nothing.”

“They’re patient,” O’Reilly responded. “They want you to walk away, because they don’t have anything else to do.”

Both O’Reilly and Watters insisted that the segment was meant to be good-natured. 

“It’s gentle fun, so I know we’re going to get letters — inevitable,” O’Reilly said.

Contacted about the segment, a representative for Fox News referenced an interview Watters gave to Independent Journal Review, in which he says he “doesn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings” with his interviewing style.

The Asian American Journalists Association | AAJC issued a statement on Wednesday blasting the video and demanding that the network apologize.

“It’s 2016,” said Paul Cheung, the group’s president. “We should be far beyond tired, racist stereotypes and targeting an ethnic group for humiliation and objectification on the basis of their race. Sadly, Fox News proves it has a long way to go in reporting on communities of color in a respectful and fair manner.”

“AAJA MediaWatch demands an apology from Fox News to our community and a meeting with the show’s producers to understand how this segment was conceived and greenlit to air,” Cheung added. “More importantly,  we want an explanation for how this type of coverage will be prevented in the future.”

Mee Moua, president of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, also blasted Fox News for the “blatant, racist and offensive stereotypes” depicted in the segment.

“The fact that O’Reilly termed this as ‘gentle fun’ and Watters believed it was ‘all in good fun’ only demonstrates a complete lack of a moral compass,” Moua said in a statement. 

“It is unconscionable that a news organization would sanction a segment that laughs at a community of people, including Watters ridiculing elderly Asian Americans who were limited English proficient.”

Watters on Wednesday afternoon tweeted that the Chinatown segment was supposed to be a “light piece” and said he regretted if anyone took offense to it.

As a political humorist, the Chinatown segment was intended to be a light piece, as all Watters World segments are.

— Jesse Watters (@jessebwatters) October 5, 2016

My man-on-the-street interviews are meant to be taken as tongue-in-cheek and I regret if anyone found offense.

— Jesse Watters (@jessebwatters) October 5, 2016

Journalists took to social media to blast Watters for what they saw as condescending and racist behavior.

An astonishing bit of anti-Chinese racism from Fox: https://t.co/dt3KZFNtje

— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) October 5, 2016

This is beyond words offensive and disgraceful. What year are we in?Seriously?? https://t.co/Nr7iuBwR8W

— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) October 5, 2016

Whoever this reporter is — really? Mocking people for not speaking someone else’s native language? Wouldn’t wish that on you https://t.co/Nr7iuBwR8W

— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) October 5, 2016

How much trolling, anti-Asian racism can you pack into one news segment? More than I ever thought possible: https://t.co/tm0a1ezEky

— Suzy Khimm (@SuzyKhimm) October 5, 2016

This is despicable https://t.co/PbEwiWaekL

— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) October 5, 2016

Bill O’Reilly sent his stooge to Chinatown to make fun of Chinese people and it is as disgusting as you’d expect. https://t.co/jS3y2vLBsK

— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) October 5, 2016

Watters has been criticized before for his confrontational interviewing style. 

In 2009, Amanda Terkel, a journalist at the Huffington Post, wrote an essay for Think Progress about how she was “followed, harassed, and ambushed” by the Fox News reporter, when she criticized comments O’Reilly had made about sexual assault.

Terkel, who is Asian-American, wrote that she “was ambushed by O’Reilly’s top hit man, producer Jesse Watters, who accosted me on the street and told me that because I highlighted O’Reilly’s comments, I was causing ‘pain and suffering’ to rape victims and their families. He of course offered no proof to back up this claim, instead choosing to shout questions at me.”

I see he’s still the same https://t.co/hxTqjQTkvg

— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) October 5, 2016

The incident later led to a fistfight between Watters and another Huffington Post reporter at a White House Correspondents Dinner after-party earlier this year.

– Updated at 5:58 p.m.