Outrage at Wild 94.9 Hiring in San Francisco
July 29, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO –– A San Francisco radio station decision to hire a disc jockey fired for an anti-Asian song parody has spurred community condemnation and a campaign to fire him.
KYLD-FM, known as Wild 94.9, hired Rick Delgado this month to head up its morning show.
Delgado believed his racial humor was misinterpreted, and added he would not change his act. “It was a matter of bad taste, like a blond joke,” Delgado told the San Jose Mercury News. “My job is to put stuff out there and see what gets a reaction. Hopefully, people will get a kick out of it.”
The song Delgado aired was a parody of the 1980s hit “We Are the World” that included racial slurs mocking tsunami disaster victims on New York’s Hot 97, WQHT-FM in January. Delgado and four other staffers were fired, and the station contributed $1 million toward tsunami relief.
KYLD station manager Kim Bryant said, “His job is to say he won’t be censored, but he will be,” said Bryant.
“I cannot believe that any legitimate radio station would bring such an unapologetic and hateful performer to a city that prides itself on tolerance and diversity.”
– Assemblywoman Judy Chu, chair of Select Committee on Hate Crimes
“We must not be promoting people who fuel the fires of racism. Shame on Wild 94.9 for hiring Rick Delgado.”
– San Francisco Supervisor Fiona Ma
“Grow up, Rick. Your kind of ‘humor’ needs to stay in the preschool playground where the teacher can give you a timeout till you learn to play nice with other kids.”
– Alicia Wang, ESL teacher and S.F. mother of a 13-year-old
“If we don’t do something, if we don’t say something, are we just letting go?”
– Lisa Chun, APA/LGBT activist and parent
“It is irresponsible for Wild 94.9 to be hiring Rick Delgado … they should have consulted the community if they really cared about Asian Americans.”
– Phil Ting, S.F. Assessor-Recorder and former head of Asian Law Caucus, which is sponsoring a letter writing campaign
“‘What the f—-?’ was the first thought that popped into my head when I heard that Delgado had been hired … the station might as well have given the capital of Asian America the finger.”
– Alan Wong, former student delegate to the S.F. Board of Education and 94.9 daily listener
“That’s hella shady. It’s all about KMEL now. … Let me write something and we’ll see who’s going to get washed away.”
– Alvin Tang, Washington High School, a daily 94.9 listener
NEW YORK — Asian American media watchdogs in New York say they are disappointed that Tsunami song producer Rick Delgado found a new job in San Francisco on another shock jock program.
“Even though he was fired, he himself never apologized for the incident,” said Ben Chan, founder of the Coalition Against Hate Media. Chan created the group in response to the airing of the song, and organized protests against Hot 97.
“There was a feeling that he was just offered up,” said Chan. “The rest of the Morning Crew including Miss Jones, the host, weren’t touched.”
Chan said that even though the station apologized for the incident, he still considers it an open issue.
“The parent company, Emmis, still refuses to have a meeting with our group to discuss changes we would like to see made so this doesn’t happen again,” said Chan.
“Kai Yu, Director of Asian Media Watch, a group which tracks how Asians are depicted in the media, said he was “disappointed but not surprised,” that Delgado had quickly found a new job elsewhere in the country.
“I hope the San Francisco community will not tolerate such programming,” said Yu.
Yu added, however, that he does not plan on organizing a protest in San Francisco.
“It’s not our policy to track employees or individuals down,” he said. “Right now we want to inform the Asian American community in San Francisco of what kind of work he’s done. [We are] reaching out to APA organizations and black and Hispanic organizations in the Bay area. It’s up to the San Francisco community to decide what they want to do. … We’re happy to help.”
Yu said his group is busy tackling racism closer to home. He pointed to a recent incident involving a station in Albany, New York, WRCZ, where a pair of shock jock DJs referred to APAs as “slanty-eyed gooks” on its afternoon program.
“After the Tsunami song, it’s shocking to me that this is still happening, but it is,” Yu said.
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[…] isn’t right, to allow Rick Delgado (“Outrage at Wild 94.9 Hiring,”July 28), who still doesn’t feel his actions were wrong and comparing it to a blonde joke. […]