Chris Rock took a stand against racism in Hollywood, but his call for diversity in the industry may not have stretched beyond his fellow African-American colleagues. Asians were at the butt of several jokes during the broadcast of the 88th Academy Awards on Sunday night, and Asian celebrities made sure to point out the inconsistencies of Rock's message.
Rock brought on three young Asian-American children to represent PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants, who tally the votes for the Oscars. He then joked that anyone offended by the joke should tweet about it on their phones "also made by these kids."
Jeremy Lin, NBA player for the Charlotte Hornets, tweeted on Monday, "Seriously though, when is this going to change?!? Tired of it being "cool" and "ok" to bash Asians."
Seriously though, when is this going to change?!? Tired of it being "cool" and "ok" to bash Asians smh #Oscars https://t.co/1nBvAd3V0q
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) February 29, 2016
Actors Jeffrey Wright ("The Hunger Games"), Harry Shum Jr. ("Shadowhunters") and Constance Wu ("Fresh Off the Boat") echoed Lin's thoughts on Twitter during the show.
Half-assed Asian joke, #Oscars, and then preach about diversity? #LoseMe — Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) February 29, 2016
Lazy, uncreative joke after a brilliant monologue @chrisrock #DiversityMyAss #ISomehowMissedThisPart https://t.co/fDZMcCLHdo
— Harry Shum Jr (@HarryShumJr) February 29, 2016
To parade little kids on stage w/no speaking lines merely to be the butt of a racist joke is reductive & gross. Antithesis of progress. — Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) February 29, 2016
Wu also shared a text from a friend who highlighted the hypocrisy of Rock's diversity message and the jokes about Asians.
@angryasianman this text from a friend sums up so much pic.twitter.com/2BbJDPAsAv
— Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) February 29, 2016
Rock started the night off strong with his opening monologue that pulled no punches when it came to the controversy surrounding the lack of non-white Oscar nominations for the second year in a row.
He recognized that many people wanted him to quit as host in protest. He also compared this year's outrage over Oscar nominees to the more relevant outrage people of color felt in the '50s and '60s over lynchings and lack of civil rights.
