Asians Decry New Adidas Shoe

[kurth]

Asians Decry Adidas Shoe as a Misstep
By Michael Tunison
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 14, 2006; D01

A new, limited-edition shoe from Adidas-Salomon AG, part of the "Yellow Series" and decorated with the face of a character who has buck teeth, a bowl haircut and slanted eyes, has provoked a heated debate about the lines dividing racism, art and commerce. The character on the shoe is the creation of a San Francisco graffiti artist, Barry McGee, who is half Chinese. McGee, who calls the character Ray Fong after an uncle who died, said the image is based on how the artist looked as an 8-year-old.

"You have to look at it as a piece of artwork," said McGee, 40, who used Ray Fong as a graffiti tag in the late 1990s and later in art installations and catalogue covers. "The way we put it all together, it becomes a collectible as art." The shoe was released April 1, with 1,000 pairs on sale at a dozen boutiques in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Tokyo, Hamburg and Denmark. It retails for $250 and comes with a graffiti art fanzine.

Since then, several blogs and message boards have been consumed with fervid debate over the shoe, and Asian American organizations have said it evokes damaging and long-standing stereotypes... McGee's role as an artist and his ethnic background have confused the issue for some.

Still, said Frank H. Wu, dean of the Wayne State University Law School and author of the book, "Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White," the images have an effect that cannot be ignored... "We live in such a cynical, postmodern society that if you are offended by something like this, people say, 'Lighten up, it's ironic, it's a joke.' And that's really nice if you're a student of art history," Wu said. "But how many 10-year-olds talk about irony? When you get teased, it doesn't make it any better to know that they're also calling it ironic. It sends the message that it's hip to make fun of Asians." ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/13/AR2006041301886.html

[rpannier]

1. I live in Korea and I am married to a Korean

My oldest daughters are full blooded Koreans from her first marriage. The girls draw pictures of Koreans (and other Asians) with the slanted eyes, but not the teeth.