Hundreds in US protest against ABC's offensive skit

Chinese Americans and students attend a protest against the "kill everyone in China" skit on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show on the ABC network in front of the ABC's building in Houston, the United States, Nov 1, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

HOUSTON - Hundreds of demonstrators, mainly from a large Chinese community living in Houston, the fourth largest US city, gathered Friday outside ABC's local office building to protest the offensive skit the company aired, in which a kid suggested Americans should "kill everyone in China" as a way to solve US debt problem.

More than 500 people gathered Friday noon outside ABC's locally-operated TV station KTRK near downtown Houston. Many wore red T-shirts reading "Teach Kids to Love, not to Kill." The crowds shouted slogans like "Shame on ABC", "Boycott ABC", "Fire Kimmel", referring to comedian Jimmy Kimmel, the host of the improper talk show skit.

Many protesters held banners reading "Killing Chinese is No Joke", "Kill Debts, Not People", "Teach Kids Killing Today, School Shooting Tomorrow", "No Fake Apology", the latter alluding to Kimmel's recent apology on his show, which "lacked substance or sincerity" in critics' view.

Before a 30-minute march, representatives of the protesters handed a letter to KTRK's Vice President Tom Ash to demand a formal apology from ABC and Kimmel's dismissal.

The one-page long letter read: "We are extremely disappointed and upset on the fact that such an inappropriate program was broadcasted on the media network with worldwide viewers. ABC is obviously preaching mass slaughter and genocide. This skit is sending a horrible and irresponsible message to the young generation..."

One of the protesters, Lu Jun, originally from Shanghai and now a US resident, told Xinhua that people could not afford to treat the "kill everyone in China" skit too lightly.

"With such a big viewership, ABC is an influential TV network. This offensive skit may appear trifling, but it could have worrisome impact if not dealt with seriously. I hope our protest can send a message not only to ABC but also to the US media as a whole," he said.  

In the ABC's show "Jimmy Kimmel Live", aired on October 16, Kimmel asked children on how the United States should deal with the government shutdown and the debt owed to China. One of the children commented that the United States should "kill everyone in China." Critics said that Kimmel was wrong for not stopping the comment and failing to explain to the children that it was not the right idea, and even worse the ABC failed to remove the comment from the show.  

The offensive comment has sparked indignation and protests from the Chinese community. New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas and other cities have seen rounds of protests.