Brian Damage
02-03-2009, 09:11 AM
(Feb. 3) - Miley Cyrus has had her share of photo scandals in the past couple years, ranging from racy pics on her MySpace page to statements of regret over her mature photo shoot with Annie Leibowitz. Her latest scandal has angered more than parents and fans looking for a good role model - a photo of Miley and her friends pulling back their eyelids to adopt an archaic, racist caricature of Asian people has leaked to the web.
The OCA, an organization "dedicated to advancing the social, political and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans" sent a statement to TMZ in response to the photo. It reads, in part: "The photograph of Miley Cyrus and other individuals slanting their eyes currently circulating the Internet is offensive to the Asian Pacific American community and sets a terrible example for her many young fans. This image falls within a long and unfortunate history of people mocking and denigrating individuals of Asian descent... Not only has Miley Cyrus and the other individuals in the photograph encouraged and legitimized the taunting and mocking of people of Asian descent, she has also insulted her many Asian Pacific American fans... The inclusion of an Asian Pacific American individual in the photo does not make it acceptable." Read the entire statement on TMZ
Karen Narasaki, president of the director for the Asian American Justice Center, tells CELEBUZZ, "It's hard to imagine the context where this would be okay. It's offensive and disappointing. She's such a role model for young women."
An image search for Cyrus on Google still offers an abundance of scantily clad photographs of the young singer, many of them taken and posted by herself. Last year, after a relatively tame but partially unclothed photo shoot with famed photographer Annie Leibowitz, Cyrus released a statement saying, "I took part in a photoshoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed."
http://www.popeater.com/music/article/miley-adds-racist-gag-to-already-long/326727
The OCA, an organization "dedicated to advancing the social, political and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans" sent a statement to TMZ in response to the photo. It reads, in part: "The photograph of Miley Cyrus and other individuals slanting their eyes currently circulating the Internet is offensive to the Asian Pacific American community and sets a terrible example for her many young fans. This image falls within a long and unfortunate history of people mocking and denigrating individuals of Asian descent... Not only has Miley Cyrus and the other individuals in the photograph encouraged and legitimized the taunting and mocking of people of Asian descent, she has also insulted her many Asian Pacific American fans... The inclusion of an Asian Pacific American individual in the photo does not make it acceptable." Read the entire statement on TMZ
Karen Narasaki, president of the director for the Asian American Justice Center, tells CELEBUZZ, "It's hard to imagine the context where this would be okay. It's offensive and disappointing. She's such a role model for young women."
An image search for Cyrus on Google still offers an abundance of scantily clad photographs of the young singer, many of them taken and posted by herself. Last year, after a relatively tame but partially unclothed photo shoot with famed photographer Annie Leibowitz, Cyrus released a statement saying, "I took part in a photoshoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed."
http://www.popeater.com/music/article/miley-adds-racist-gag-to-already-long/326727