Posted on Saturday, April 04, 2009 10:56 AM
Rock is till dangerous in Oregon. The Slants are dropped from the bill by The Oregon Commission on Asian Affairs:
The Oregon Commission on Asian Affairs, a committee put together by Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski, recently pulled funding from the non-profit organization Asian American Youth Leadership Conference (AAYLC) for involvement with founder and bassist of The Slants, Simon Young. The AAYLC committee had originally chosen Young to be the keynote speaker for this year's leadership conference, with this year's theme "Aspire to Inspire".
The AAYLC is an annual summit that allows youth to learn leadership skills, to provide career guidance and opportunities, and to foster a sense of culture and self-pride among students. The goal for this year¹s theme was to inspire students to rise above any obstacles they might face when trying to fulfill their dreams, especially those related to their ethnicity.
Paul Van Mai, Chairman of the AAYLC, stated that "I think Simon and groups like The Slants represents a new generation of Asian Americans who are more assertive, media driven and not afraid to face-up on the typical stereo-typing that many AA/API go through."
However, the OCAA withdrew support of the event because they found The Slants' name to be offensive towards the Asian community. Fearing that the action would trigger similar responses with other supporters, the AAYLC had no choice but to select an alternate speaker and cancel the band's appearance.
MP3: The Slants - Kokoro (I Fall To Pieces)
» theslants.com
» myspace.com/theslants
HCTF review of Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts.