Dennis and Judy off 101.5 Called N.J. Attorney General, "Turban Man."

Clips of the show went national.


They said it several times and even joked that it might offend someone.

I hope they get fired.


yahooyahoo said:
They said it several times and even joked that it might offend someone.
I hope they get fired.

 It looks like they are suspended. I would be surprised if they get fired, that's the kind of stuff that Their audience laps up if I remember. I haven't listened to the two of them in over 15 years.

It sounds like neither of them is expressing any kind of remorse, feigned or sincere. Dennis Malloy likened his comments to someone calling him (Malloy) "baseball hat man in a culture where wearing a baseball hat is unusual." 

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/07/nj_1015_hosts_dennis_judi_suspended_for_calling_nj.html

It's either cluelessness or doubling down on the racism.


Dennis & Judi are in the mold of old-school (when I say old-school here, I mean 1990s) shock jocks who aim to be provocative/controversial, but clearly they went too far here. 20 years ago this would have caused a minor stir and passed; in 2018 they're probably finished, as if they're not fired I bet advertisers will bail.  

I think D&J's core constituency is South Jersey Trump voters who probably think this is fine, but the station overall is too big/mainstream to let this slide.   


I'm not sure about the reliability of the statistics but supposedly something like 100,000 Sikhs live in NJ. 

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/sikhs-vaisakhi-new-jersey-faith-20180413.html?mobi=true


Smedley said:
Dennis & Judi are in the mold of old-school (when I say old-school here, I mean 1990s) shock jocks who aim to be provocative/controversial, but clearly they went too far here. 20 years ago this would have caused a minor stir and passed; in 2018 they're probably finished, as if they're not fired I bet advertisers will bail.  
I think D&J's core constituency is South Jersey Trump voters who probably think this is fine, but the station overall is too big/mainstream to let this slide.   

 I certainly think this will be an interesting test case. I'm not sure that the station will be willing to sacrifice a very popular hosting Duo in the face of this, although I hope they would. I imagine that we will see some action around the advertisers for their program, and that's where the dollars come into play.

I feel like every situation like this that arises is another opportunity for people to decide which side of a line we're going to stand on. There will be people who want to shrug off their comments as non offensive or "free speech". There will be people who look at it as blatant racism. 

There will be a lot of people in the middle who have to really try and think about the situation. Should it just be Shrugged off as stupidity, and impulsive comment made simply to try to stir up controversy?

I try to put myself in the position of a man who had to tell us three daughters to turn off the radio because of comments being made about him. But more importantly comments which directly pointed out their family's religion and classified it as "other". And I also wonder now how many listeners feel like it's okay to call a Sikh "turban man". 



sometimes what people criticize as "too PC" is really just being a decent person.  What kind of a jerk demeans a state official on a radio show by not even bothering to learn his name, and instead refers to him with a dismissive reference to his religion.  Anyone who doesn't think this is blatant bigotry should ask themselves if they'd be ok with a Jewish public official being referred to as "yarmulke guy."


I've been thinking about this a lot this morning.  I think straight up firing Malloy stomps on a small fire and does nothing about the bigger problem. There will be plenty of his fans who firmly believe he was treated poorly by an overly PC society which is determined to oppress white people.

It might be better to allow him to return on a couple of conditions.  One is the ubiquitous "sensitivity training" which I think has limited value but one or two points might stick.

The other condition (in my little fantasy world) is that Rutgers hosts a debate between Malloy and Attorney General Grewal.  Malloy would have to defend the position "Why Calling a Sikh 'Turban Man' Is Not Racist" against Grewal's "Calling a Sikh a 'Turban Man' Is Racist".  Let him explain his position, and give Grewal a chance to refute his defense.  Let Grewal state his position and see if Malloy can refute anything he says.

I think I'd rather see this kind of racism dragged out into the light and have it exposed for what it is rather than trying just trying to shove it back further into the dark.  


mrincredible said:
I've been thinking about this a lot this morning.  I think straight up firing Malloy stomps on a small fire and does nothing about the bigger problem. There will be plenty of his fans who firmly believe he was treated poorly by an overly PC society which is determined to oppress white people.
It might be better to allow him to return on a couple of conditions.  One is the ubiquitous "sensitivity training" which I think has limited value but one or two points might stick.
The other condition (in my little fantasy world) is that Rutgers hosts a debate between Malloy and Attorney General Grewal.  Malloy would have to defend the position "Why Calling a Sikh 'Turban Man' Is Not Racist" against Grewal's "Calling a Sikh a 'Turban Man' Is Racist".  Let him explain his position, and give Grewal a chance to refute his defense.  Let Grewal state his position and see if Malloy can refute anything he says.
I think I'd rather see this kind of racism dragged out into the light and have it exposed for what it is rather than trying just trying to shove it back further into the dark.  

And maybe try to explain that being PC means there are difficult or awkward issues some groups prefer to avoid as opposed to the more Trumpian view that being politically correct means that you don't use terms that are explicitly and deliberately offensive.


sometimes "PC" means just not being an *******


ml1 said:
sometimes "PC" means just not being an *******

 True.  One of the fundamental goals of Trumpism is to protect the right to be an *******.


tjohn said:


ml1 said:
sometimes "PC" means just not being an *******
 True.  One of the fundamental goals of Trumpism is to protect the right to be an *******.

 Everyone has the right to be an *******. The rest of us has the right to call her/him out on it.


tjohn said:


ml1 said:
sometimes "PC" means just not being an *******
 True.  One of the fundamental goals of Trumpism is to protect the right to be an *******.

that is a theory


It's on my reading list as soon as I finish the biography of U.S. Grant I am reading.


tjohn said:
It's on my reading list as soon as I finish the biography of U.S. Grant I am reading.

 That is an excellent read.  The best bio of him since his own, which was excellent but circumspect.


FilmCarp said:


tjohn said:
It's on my reading list as soon as I finish the biography of U.S. Grant I am reading.
 That is an excellent read.  The best bio of him since his own, which was excellent but circumspect.

 U.S. Grant by Ron Chernow?


Not surprised in the least. Unless there are advertiser boycotts.


I would love to see a (moderated?) discussion between the DJs and the AG, maybe looking for common ground, a la the professor and the cop hosted by Obama, or one of Brian Lehrer's shows.  I can dream.


tjohn said:


FilmCarp said:

tjohn said:
It's on my reading list as soon as I finish the biography of U.S. Grant I am reading.
 That is an excellent read.  The best bio of him since his own, which was excellent but circumspect.
 U.S. Grant by Ron Chernow?

 Yes.



Have you been getting any coverage of the old Trevor Noah ‘joke’ about Australian Aboriginal women, that he is refusing to apologise for having made? Apparently his line is that he is no longer using such material and that is sufficient to show awareness of the insensitivities it demonstrated. 

I used to be a fan, this has turned me right off. I’m wondering who he’s trying to attract as his audience, who he thinks holds the most useful power for the causes he wants to champion. If he thinks he’s helping any indigenous or feminist or domestic violence causes out here, he’s certainly not. (Set those causes back well over a century, in fact)

And it coincides with the return of Kyle Sandilands to mainstream media - a small-minded ‘celebrity’ of similar ilk to the two mentioned up-thread, and forced off-air sometime ago. 


joanne said:
Have you been getting any coverage of the old Trevor Noah ‘joke’ about Australian Aboriginal women, that he is refusing to apologise for having made? Apparently his line is that he is no longer using such material and that is sufficient to show awareness of the insensitivities it demonstrated. 
I used to be a fan, this has turned me right off. I’m wondering who he’s trying to attract as his audience, who he thinks holds the most useful power for the causes he wants to champion. If he thinks he’s helping any indigenous or feminist or domestic violence causes out here, he’s certainly not. (Set those causes back well over a century, in fact)
And it coincides with the return of Kyle Sandilands to mainstream media - a small-minded ‘celebrity’ of similar ilk to the two mentioned up-thread, and forced off-air sometime ago. 

 Sad to hear this - I was a Noah fan too.  


Aboriginal woman joke -- Trevor apologized.  That he didn't isn't correct.


French win joke -- No apology nor, in my opinion, needs there be.



mjc said:
I would love to see a (moderated?) discussion between the DJs and the AG, maybe looking for common ground, a la the professor and the cop hosted by Obama, or one of Brian Lehrer's shows.  I can dream.

I don't get the have-them-talk-it-out thing.

And what exactly are they going to 'discuss'? What's to debate? What common ground needs to be identified? The DJs are at fault- period. There is no need for the AG to respond or present "his side". He's a Sikh and he wears a turban- end of discussion. There really aren't two sides here.

Pretending that there is some greater truth to tease out by having two ignorant people talk to this man is insulting to him and ultimately gives deference to two knuckleheads. 


flimbro, 

I think it calls the racism on the carpet. Societally it's more constructive than just punishing them by firing them. I think the host's audience needs to hear their racism deconstructed and shown for what it is. 

It denies them the luxury of just retreating behind the defense of "politically correct people did me wrong." 

One of the most dangerous things happening out there is that white people are being convinced we're being oppressed, when the rest of society is just asking for a level playing field. This Dennis and Judi problem is a situation that could easily be twisted to support that belief. I'm worried it's a growing problem and not dying out with an older generation. Look at the tiki-torch chuckleheads who marched in Charlottesville.

Malloy's own initial response was so typical - putting himself in a fictional similar position as he put Grewal and claiming it would be no big deal. As if calling a Sikh "turban man" was just pointing out what kind of hat the guy wears. That's part of a subtler racism that, in my opinion, needs to be addressed.

One parallel I can think of is the strategy of trying to end drug trafficking by locking up as many low level dealers and possessors as we can. It doesn't address the actual problem. Just firing these two wpul d probably be about as effective.

I shouldn't post at 430 a.m. because I ramble. 



Trevor Noah may be many things but he’s not racist. He may be/is ignorant about the plight of Australian Aboriginal women, I’ll accept that. But I’ve watched this man for years, he’s kind, has shown compassion, has been a victim of racism for much of his life, and a champion for rights of minorities. I’ll forgive his highly insensitive and offensive comments for which he did finally publicly apologize, because I know that’s not who he is. 


dave said:
Aboriginal woman joke -- Trevor apologized.  That he didn't isn't correct.


French win joke -- No apology nor, in my opinion, needs there be.




 


As soon as he rescued the baby he’s French. But if he dropped the baby, the African dropped the baby. 

Trevor nailed it. 


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