Rick Quan Fired
May 19, 2008
Just in time for Asian American Heritage Month
Hooray! It’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! Does it still matter?
Once again, the awareness is so low that the first mention I’ve encountered the entire month was when the San Francisco Giants honored Chinese Americans at Pac Bell Park the other day. That’s it. You’d think after years of APA months, I could expect dozens of Hallmark cards. But no. Not even a kind salutation from friends or strangers. May? Just another month, pare.
It seems that most people have adopted the post-affirmative action sensibilities of Barack Obama, who tends to de-emphasize race to such a degree that identity politics has lost its identity.
“Black Power” rhetoric, or corresponding versions in shades of brown or yellow, just don’t have the same resonance as in years past. That kind of fire is gone. Gone are the heated demands of ethnic empowerment. We’ve settled for ethnic pride, the mere highlighting of our presence. These days APA Month is more about sharing our culture in festive displays of food and dance. We’re here. Let’s eat!
Don’t get me wrong. Festivals are great fun. AsianWeek plays a major role in the big one this weekend in San Francisco. It’s a great community event, a form of ethnic PR that showcases our world to the world at large. But as the years go by, a little bit of the fighting spirit of the past is lost.
Rick Quan is Gone
The firing of sports anchor Rick Quan is another example of post-affirmative action sensibilities in action.
Fighting for and getting our share of things used to matter. But no more. How else can you explain the callous handling of Quan by KPIX5-CBS?
Instead of valuing the services of Quan - a sports anchor for more than 20 years at KPIX, and one of the few Asian American males to sit at the marquee anchor desk - the CBS-owned station (in the city with the largest Chinese American population outside of China) dumped Quan on April 1.
“I was shocked,” Quan told me last week by phone. “I was in a daze. I couldn’t believe that after 20-and-a-half years I’d no longer be working at Channel 5.”
I’ve known Rick all that time. He saw himself as a representative of KPIX, a role model to the community, and a public example of an Asian American male to the wider viewing audience. Rick was a stereotype buster.
“I thought I was of value to the station,” said Quan, who added that the station’s VP of news, Dan Rosenheim, told him that the firing was not performance related, but rather a financial issue.
Hmm. Quan was believed to be making far less than average for weekend sports anchors in the Bay Area, and even had more than a year left in his current contract. CBS is honoring that, and replacing Quan as well. Do you still think it was the money and not something else?
Of course, Channel 5 still has nine Asian American women at the station. But the Asian male anchor guy? Expendable.
The station wouldn’t answer my questions on “personnel matters.” A spokesperson would only confirm Quan and others on the hit list like my friend Bill Schechner, who co-anchored the legendary NBC News Overnight program. Schechner also deserved a better exit. Others I knew included Manny Ramos and Tony Russamano. Experience? Hey, it doesn’t matter for the presidency; why should it matter in TV news?
The Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce showed some outrage on Quan’s behalf by offering to picket KPIX. Quan was flattered, but politely declined the offer. “Write and complain, fine. But no picketers in front of the station.”
That’s Quan for you. He was never a sports guy who put bravado and ego ahead of the score. He was true to himself, the station and the community. He knew who won. That was enough.
And when he wasn’t the winner, like when he was passed over for the everyday anchor job a few years back, Quan didn’t pick up his bat and ball and leave. He gutted it out like a company guy, even though people who were promoted ahead of him clearly didn’t deserve it.
Through it all, Quan stayed positive. But finally he admitted to being disappointed and hurt after all these years. “Maybe there’s something inside of me that’s angry, too,” he told me.
Time to go amok? Not his style. But Rick, who has to have been the longest-running Asian American male anchor in Bay Area television history, will bounce back. He’s too good not to.
But those are just historical footnotes this APA Month. KPIX doesn’t care about such things. In the post-affirmative action world, indifference to race is all the rage.
E-mail emil@amok.com.
Comments
9 Responses to “Rick Quan Fired”
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Asian women are not felt to be a threat to the white guys running media outlets and advertising agencies. Alot of the same white guys have this Geisha, cherry blossom image of Asian women.
That is why all you see are Asian women and white guys on the anchor desks, in TV ads, etc.
Accomplished, talented and intelligent Asian males are stuck in chop suey type roles like Long Duk Dong in 16 Candles.
welcome to the real world
now write the book…have m night shamalan
adapt it to the screen and laugh all the way to the bank
scary!
KPIX made a really bad mistake of firing Quan and other people from the station. Their attempt to get more ratings by competing against the king of 10PM news (KTVU) was a terrible idea. It also made a lot of fans of “Family Guy” upset because since KPIX owns the CW44 channel, they cut the back to back episodes down to one episode so that they can compete against KTVU.
Looks like KPIX may turn into the new “KRON,” home of the next low-budget, terrible news channel.
I’m listening to MJ’s beat it.
(not trying to make this sound like a eulogy) I remember Quan as being nothing less than classy and articulate. The kind of quality you would want delivering news (especially at this sports gone crazy juncture).
I don’t want to fuel in the stereo-type fire by saying White male feel intimidation of asian male’s controlled persona and ultimately it negatively effects the community when we stay silence…but you gotta wonder what would happen (in the black community) if Martin Wyatt was all of a sudden dropped. But that might be getting off the point…but than, what is the point of marginalizing an anchor who has worked for 20+ years with a dear john letter? i will not watch ch 5 again.
You have got to be kidding me! I’m reading the news of the layoffs on the kpix website and Rick Quan was only referred to a “reporter” while Schechner or Ramos were considered a “veterans with decades of experience”. I’m not saying they aren’t but at least put Quan in that category too, I mean 20+ years ain’t enough? kpix has lost my viewership.
Rocky et al.:
If it’s any comfort at all, consider the fact that the supposedly “liberal” Village Voice fired the only real reason for their existence, well, okay, they gave voice to unbridled sexuality as well, and free-ranging film critics — James Ridgeway. Wonder how he’s doing.
For Rick, it won’t be the end of the world, and I, for one, hopes he simply rises ABOVE his idiot bosses.
Maybe the Bay Area sports community can find him another comparable spot where he can thumb his nose at his inferiors.
Frank Eng
What a shame! It so wrong, that Rick Quan was hit with corporate tactics he doesn’t even deserve. What has 20 years gotten him? Not much except to be a token Asian male for KPIX5. Who would think that KPIX5 in San Francisco have practices that are unfair and corrupt. Same ol’ corporate politics. So, what now?
he SHOULD make a fuss. I think the problem is that asian americans are too polite and cultured to make a huge fuss and that’s why we’re “expendable”