Calling someone a communist isn’t exactly like launching the F-Bomb— unless you are a member of the local Vietnamese diaspora. That’s probably why KBLX, the San Francisco–based radio station, recently received some complaints from listeners who say they were offended when a programmer on a 1430 AM Vietnamese radio talk show used “profanity” when talking about Madison Nguyen, the embattled San Jose councilwoman who is facing a March 3 recall election. It all depends on what one deems profanity, according to the radio station directors. They say that the complaints they are receiving (primarily from Nguyen supporters) claim that the programmers called Nguyen a commie, as well as other nasty names, while on the air. Sources from the station say they have reviewed the logs of the program and didn’t specifically hear the word “communist” come up in conversations about the councilwoman on the air. “They are harsh, and there is criticism, and she is a public official, but they do not go over the boundaries of the FCC,” said one source from the station, who asked to remain anonymous—apparently afraid of the sticks and stones that might be hurled her way if she were identified.
San Jose Inside
San Jose Inside (https://www.sanjoseinside.com)
People are loosing their jobs, they are loosing their homes, school lunches are in danger of being cut, companies are closing down every where, crime is up, people are homeless, kids are starving, and you write about something as stupid as this? How very sad~
I seem to remember the term “communist” being bandied about at the last election, and not by Vietnamese either. Not only that, but I seem to remember seeing it on this very forum a few days ago.
I think it has a particular usage in the Vietnamese community due to their history, but I don’t quite understand the subtle points of this. Outside of that context, it seems to have lost its former meaning as a supporter of the view of Marx, Lenin, etc., and to have become a generalized term of abuse for anyone who has opinions leftwards of the speaker.
For example, if they were both around today on AM radio, Tamerlane might call Attila the Hun a “communist” for limiting the height of his pyramids of skulls to only 25 feet.
I am always saddened by the flat partisanism in the Vietnamese community, but come on: if we notified the FCC every time Rush Limbaugh called someone a bleeding heart liberal socialist, he’d have a legal bill bigger than the debt load at AIG.