On September 26th, approximately 250 people gathered in Saint Paul MN to protest the racist radio broadcasts which are being directed at the Hmong people by station KQRS. People from diverse origins were drawn together in a united demonstration against racism & bigotry. The Hmong speakers were visibly moved by this support and thanked everyone. The theme of unity was repeated throughout the rally. Chris Spotted Eagle said, “When I look around, I see my family.”

The protest began with a lively march from the Martin Luther King Center to Kellogg Mall Park in downtown St. Paul where the rally took place. People cheered as the marchers went by, and cars honked their horns in a show of support. Drums and other instruments accompanied chants such as: “No More Tricks, No More Lies, KQ Must Apologize!” “Hey Hey Ho Ho, Racism has got to go!”.

The protest was organized by Community Action Against Racism (CAAR). This group was formed several months ago in response to the June 9th broadcast of the KQRS morning show. Host Tom Barnard made racist comments as he read the newspaper report of a 13 year old Hmong girl accused of killing her newborn baby and hiding the corpse. Here’s a sample of his remarks.

Among the penalties is a $10,000 fine to which he reacted, “That’s a lot of egg rolls.” Barnard told listeners that Hmong women traditionally eat boiled chicken (as part of a special diet) after giving birth. He then said “I think that when you stuff a baby in the garbage can, you forfeit some of these rituals.” More than once during the program, Barnard voiced his intolerance by saying “Assimilate, or hit the g. d. road!” For those who are interested, CAAR has made excerpts of the show available by calling (651) 603-8368.

The radio station has defended itself by saying that things have been taken out of context. It’s only a joke and that the critics need to get a sense of humor. But there’s nothing funny about using a tragedy to denigrate another person’s culture. It can only breed more hatred and intolerance. Just a couple of weeks ago, a 13 year old Hmong girl from Saint Paul was raped and murdered. Neal Thao, a member of the Saint Paul School Board, believes that racism played a role in this murder. In an effort to stop these messages of hate and intolerance, CAAR has asked four things of KQRS:

1) Stop using the fictional Asian character named “Tak”.
2) Apologize on the air, and in the two main local newspapers.
3) Provide airtime in order to answer these attacks.
4) Create a policy that will discipline those who make racist remarks on the air.

KQRS has failed to do any of these things. Instead, what they offered CAAR on September 25th were the following four proposals:

1) Public service announcements.
2) A brief appearance on a public affairs program.
3) Sponsor events (give the KQRS logo to display at Hmong events).
4) Help write grants.

Many in the audience scoffed at these proposals. Several shouted, “We never asked for money!” When the speaker asked “Are we for sale?” the crowd roared “ NO!”. In fact, one of the chants during the march was “Can’t be bought. We aren’t for sale. United people will prevail!” On the other hand, the behavior of KQRS (and corporate parent ABC/Disney) might be a little more responsive when it’s a question of money. CAAR has been asking advertisers to pull their ads from the morning show and just announced their first two successes: Norwest Bank and Perkins Restaurants.

The Hmong lived in the hills of Laos (primarily). The CIA secretly organized and trained the them to fight against the communist Laotian government during the Vietnam War. After the war, the Hmong were targeted by the communists causing many to flee to refugee camps in Thailand. Since 1975, about 100,000 Hmong have come to the United States. The following was spoken in Hmong and English at the rally on Saturday.

We have lived through so much.
We will live through this too.

It hurts our hearts to lose our loved ones.

When you leave your home, it hurts.
When you lose your possessions, it hurts.
When no one understands you, it hurts.

We have our hands to work with.
We have our feet to carry us.
We have our hearts to love each other with.
We have each other, always.
(source: Pom Siab Hmoob Theater)

This article by Steven Meyer appeared in the October 1998 issue of Socialist Action newspaper.


Twin Cities Socialist Action
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Dinkeytown Station
Minneapolis, MN 55414

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Twin Cities Socialist Action

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