YouTube is a power that can be for both good and evil. This racist, idiotic rap song, "Chinese Freestyle" by Brandon Dicamillo (of Jackass fame), has been making the rounds. I hadn't actually heard about it until yesterday. Basically, it's a laundry list of racist Asian stereotypes, rapped in the mock accent of a Chinese food deliveryman. I listened to the song on YouTube, and it's pretty vile. (Do a search, and you'll get the original as well as scores of variations.) Read the lyrics here.

What's worse is the legion of fans on YouTube and elsewhere that the song has generated—fans who vehemently defend and praise the song for whatever reason. I know people just want say, hey, can't you take a joke? But it's crap like this that continues to caricature and dehumanize Chinese food deliverymen and other similar laborers who are just trying to make an honest living. It perpetuates the notion that they're somehow less than human. Don't tell me there's no connection with this sentiment and the high rate of crime and violence directed towards Chinese food deliverymen. That's racist!

A blog has been set up specifically to create awareness and action against this song: CKY=KKK: Against the Chinese Freestyle Racist Rap. Learn more and follow the controversy there. (Thanks, Ekachai)