Jack Cafferty’s ‘Dark Mentality’

Has CNN host Jack Cafferty and others criticizing China over Tibet and its human right record betrayed a “sense of superiority” and an often dormant “anti-Chinese racism?” Such is the conclusion of this article penned by Ding Gang, senior desk editor at China’s strictly-controlled state run People’s Daily.

Dang writes, “Harboring hatred for China’s development, the Caffertys of the world have assaulted, slandered, framed and spread rumors over recent years, and now they have finally – nakedly – come to the fore.” Beijing’s assault on the Western media shows no sign of abating.

By Ding Gang*

April 17, 2008

People’s Republic of China – People’s Daily – Original Article (English)

On April 9, when CNN broadcast the news on the Olympic torch relay in San Francisco, its host Jack Catterty remarked that Chinese products are “junk” and that the Chinese people are “basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years WATCH .” These abuses by Cafferty are by no means accidental, revealing as they do the dark mentality of racial discrimination.

With its distorted reportage of the riots in Lhasa since March 14, CNN has brought shame on itself. If it had apologized and admitted fault, people in China wouldn’t “grasp its braid and not let go.” Up until now, CNN host Jack Cafferty has regularly lashed out at China and has seemed anxious to appear as a daring vanguard in the anti-China wave.

Chinese nationals, out of sincere, heartfelt love for their native land and for the Olympic spirit, have welcomed the arrival of the Olympic torch and oppose the sabotage by “Tibet independence” elements. This also represents the fond feelings of humanity and mirrors the sentiments of other races in the United States. Nevertheless, Jack Cafferty took a personal stand and has shouted publicly abuses as if he had been personally stung.

It seems that the CNN host is really annoyed. And once he turns irrational, he betrays his true “colors.” Whereas Chinese netizens use the word “naked run” to denounce CNN’s distorted reporting, I believe using that very word to describe Cafferty is most appropriate.

In fact, whether it’s U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi exploiting the “Tibet issue” to safeguard her “moral authority,” Jack Cafferty vilifying Chinese or certain media organs assaulting China over the so-called human rights issue, those who oppose anything related to China betray an intrinsic sense of moral superiority which has led them to discriminate against China.

Cafferty’s vile remarks have reminded me of an account in the book The Chinese in America by Iris Chang , the late Chinese-American author. During the in the 1870s, a large-scale anti-China wave erupted in the western part of the United States. In 1882, the U.S. federal government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act , outlawing Chinese immigration to the United States. Chinese Americans were then described as demons and ghosts, “octopuses” from the east and evil creatures from Asia. In its editorial, a California newspaper in 1979 went so far as to smear Chinese as the half-human-half demon who eat rats, wear rags and who know nothing about law or Christian culture … The U.S. Congress didn’t annul the act until 1943. But despite irrational Act’s abrogation by the U.S. Congress, the idea of racial discrimination remains deeply-rooted in the inner worlds of Cafferty and his ilk.

READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing foreign press coverage of the unfolding crisis surrounding China and the Olympics.