A UCLA STUDENT POSTS AN OFFENSIVE VIDEO AND GETS A HARSH LESSON IN REALITY.

By Alexandra Cuerdo
From HUSTLER MAGAZINE September 2011

Hot. Fucking. Mess. That’s what Alexandra Wallace is. She’s the University of California, Los Angeles, student-turned-dropout behind the videotaped racist rant “Asians in the Library,” which she ignorantly posted on YouTube. What followed was a media explosion—including 6 million views, a dozen death threats and countless headlines.

We’ve seen this before. Celebrity misspeaks fill a weekly quota in the tabloids. Fanatical rage posts flood YouTube on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. But the viral “it” factor is an elusive bug. It took the perfect storm—of poor timing and even poorer judgment—to stoke Wallace’s 15 seconds of fame to a sky-high fever.

On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan—claiming thousands of lives and triggering a nuclear disaster. On that same day, Wallace trash-talked Asians’ supposed inability to teach their children to “fend for themselves.” In the video she called herself a political science student with “American manners.” Versus, of course, the “hordes of Asian people that UCLA accepts into our school every single year.”

Wallace went on to declare, “In America we do not talk on our cell phones in the library! I swear, they’re going through their whole families, just checking on everybody from the tsunami thing.” Then, as the cherry on top of the shit-show sundae, the perturbed blonde imitated an “Asian” language. Her disparaging line “Ohhh! Ching chong ling long ting tong?! Ohhh!” inspired a Web site, aptly named Ohhhching chonglinglongtingtong.com, and T-shirts, all proceeds of which were donated to Japanese relief funds. Wallace’s tirade also turned the limelight to Jimmy Wong, who racked up a zillion YouTube views with his tune “Asians in the Library.” Wong’s catchy refrain “Ching Chong/It means I love you” made it to iTunes and recently earned him an interview with National Public Radio.

So why did Wallace do it? LA Weekly suggested a classic con: the publicity stunt. Some sleuthing revealed that Wallace sought fame. She aspired to model professionally, she loved Jersey Shore, and a month before her cause célèbre she’d planned a series of “comedic videos” similar to “Asians in the Library.” The Sacramento Bee found her father’s Facebook profile, which let slip that Wallace was even searching for domain names for a future blog—maybe AsiansInTheLibrary.com?

But those dreams changed once she became a YouTube sensation. Hackers on forum giant 4chan posted Wallace’s e-mail, phone number and address the day after her infamous rant. Her Model Mayhem profile—an online portfolio to attract employment opportunities—was so flooded with outraged spam that it was taken down. Multiple Facebook groups reposted Wallace’s personal information and encouraged viewers to respond directly to the outspoken student.

In a formal apology published in UCLA’s Daily Bruin, Wallace explained how she wanted to “produce a humorous YouTube video” but in stead offended “the entire Asian culture.” She made a “mistake” that caused “the harassment of my family, the publishing of my personal information, death threats and being ostracized from an entire community.”

Guess no one told Wallace that the Asians she offended are everywhere these days. And that they—along with UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and many others worldwide—would see the derogatory clip and counterattack.

Today Wallace reigns as the new face of institutionalized, not-so-secret racism. She’s the living, breathing flaw of the Internet Age: the video we can’t stop sharing, the wreck we can’t stop watching, the bitch we can’t stop shaming. In two minutes and 52 seconds—the running time of “Asians in the Library”—Wallace flung her college career down a black hole.

But we’re missing the bigger picture. We live in a culture that’s at once sensitive and desensitized. We’ve taken her words person ally. We’ve gotten angry. And although it’s okay—and understandable—to be pissed off, there’s a limit to the madness. There’s righteously annoyed, and then there’s calling Alexandra Wallace a “slut that deserves to die.” Let’s face it: Not many of us would be so forward in person. Online raging is so much easier to do, but it doesn’t make it any better or the words any nicer.

Maybe when we can own our rage, we can find a better way to express it. Beau, an original cast member of the Tony award-winning Def Poetry Jamon Broadway, gave it a shot. Imitating Wallace’s emotional voice, he examined the reasons for her racism in a posted video of his own. “If only these Asians would learn English,” Beau said. “If only they understood that I’m here too. That I share this place with them, that I belong here, that the hordes and swarms invading the system I’ve learned remember who I am as the world changes.”

And then Beau—looking right into the camera, like Wallace did the fateful day she aired her dirtiest laundry online— concluded, “I’m so afraid I’ll have to fend for myself, without what I’ve been told was mine.”

Beau got to the heart of Wallace’s anxiety—that the Asian hordes, whether at UCLA or anywhere else, are the bad guys and that they all want a piece of the pie she rightfully owns, the one we call America. But we know better. America is for everyone. And if you want a piece, you’ve just got to shut up and take it.
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Alexandra Cuerdo, the daughter of Filipino immigrants, attends UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. “I’m a writer, director and decent cook,” she says. “And really, I don’t even go to the library.” Attention college reporters: If you have an idea for a story involving your school— streaking, stripping, partying, pranks, protests, political or censorship issues, etc.— please contact us at Features@LFP.com. If you get the green light, Larry Flynt will send you a check with his name on it. Besides the financial windfall, a HUSTLER story will look good on your résumé.

WITH THE HIGHEST INCARCERATION RATE IN THE WORLD, AMERICA HAS STILL MANAGED TO LOSE THE WAR ON DRUGS, DESTROY MILLIONS OF INNOCENT LIVES, RIP FAMILIES APART, WASTE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND BUILD A RACIST CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM SECOND TO NONE.

by Debbie Epstein
for HUSTLER Magazine – May 2010

In April 1993, 23-year-old Clinton Matthew was staying at a friend’s house in Norfolk, Virginia, with his girlfriend when the police burst in. A small amount of drugs, belonging to others, was discovered in the house, and Matthew ultimately received a sentence of life with no chance of parole even though he basically was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Under a federal law passed in the 1980s, dealers’ friends, lovers and family members who possessed little or no illegal substances could be charged with “conspiracy,” potentially a life sentence.

Clinton Matthew (right) at brother Ian’s college graduation in May 1992. One year later he would receive a life sentence with no chance of parole.

To establish conspiracy for Matthew, the police paid known criminals to testify against him, according to court records. For some reason (probably a previous bust that pissed off the police because he’d been found not guilty), police decided Matthew was the “kingpin” even though he couldn’t afford a lawyer. One paid snitch was allegedly Bernard Vick, a close relative of Michael Vick, the pro football player busted for running dog fights. Others got better deals if they named Matthew, although some refused and were deported. He will turn 40 in prison this year. Under his sentence, he’ll die behind bars.

“When I was young, I was an angry kid trying to find my way,” he says. “I got into some minor trouble before the bust. But I’ve grown out of my anger. Sitting in this place all these years has made me learn to value the small things. Still, it seems shameful that so many men are locked away like this.”

Matthew continues, “I’ve been sent to so many different penitentiaries, places where you walk a straight line and give people the highest respect because if you don’t, it may cost you your life. Predators prey on the weak. The strong survive, and the weak lay down and die. I’ve lost my mother, my grandmother, my grandfather and countless friends while I’ve been here. And every time, a part of me is ripped out.”

Matthew’s father, a veteran who lives in Florida, tries to stay positive. “I can’t believe my son is going to spend his entire life in jail,” he says. Every request for an appeal has been refused. Because “the kingpin” had to rely on a public defender, he’s had basically no hope from day one.

A GROWING INDUSTRY
Matthew is just one of a million or so Americans wasting away in jails for victimless, nonviolent drug violations. Since the 1970s the number of imprisoned drug offenders has increased 1,200%! America jails five times more people—most of them for drugs—than any other countryAnnually, about 800,000 people are arrested for marijuana crimes alone. Four out of five are for possession. There are 2 million drug busts in the U.S. each year.

What’s behind the madness? “In the ’80s, President Reagan and the Republican Congress were trying to prove who could be the toughest on drugs,” says Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. The result was more busts, longer sentences and mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws. Now about half a million men and women are wasting away in prisons for drugonly crimes. No guns, no violence or other crimes—just drugs. The number doubles when you include those in jail for violating parole by failing or refusing drug tests. In Alabama, for example, about half the prison population falls into this latter category.

The cost of arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating a million or so drug offenders each year is huge, with taxpayers footing the bill. California (a groundbreaking state in drugpolicy reform) saved more than $1.5 billion in a year by softening its drug policy.

“There’s a lot of money involved,” says Piper. “Grass is the bread and butter for lots of law officers and prison workers.” Some of the main supporters for mandatory minimum sentencing are the prison guard unions. They are also some of the largest donators to lawmakers who want to ensure that prisons stay filled to the bursting point.

RACISM AND REPUBLICANS
Every war has casualties, and this one hits the poor, the young, and blacks and Latinos the hardest. Although blacks, for example, make up only 12% of the population and use only slightly more drugs than whites, 75% of all drug sentences are handed out to minorities. “All the offenders busted in my case were black,” Matthew says, “and it was well known on the street that the town was trying to clear us out of that area of Norfolk.”

“It was the rise of crack and its racial undertones that bred mandatory minimum drug sentences,” says Monica Pratt Raffanel, communications director for Families Against Mandatory Minimums. (When you’re black, it’s crack; when you’re white, it’s coke. The difference can mean life in prison.)

These new sentencing laws took all discretion away from the courts. “The judges and parole officers often express their horror at the cruel sentences,” says Pratt Raffanel. One judge commented he wished the defendant standing before him had been a congressman; he was forced by law to sentence a 23-yearold man to 20 years for possessing cocaine and an unloaded rifle under his bed. Another judge said it was with a heavy heart that he sentenced a 22-year-old man to 20 years for coke possession. Neither defendant was white.

“There should be consequences for offenders, but the punishment should fit the crime,” says Pratt Raffanel. “Mandatory laws require a five-year sentence for 5 grams of coke. In Indiana one man with a minor prior record was sentenced to life in prison for marijuana possession,” she says. “The lower-level offenders get the highest sentences because they have no information to trade with the police.” Piper agrees: “The high-ups avoid possessing the drug by using low-level couriers.”

LEGALIZE IT!
Given the growing inequality that borders on ethnic cleansing and apartheid, the time has come to stop this national disgrace. Surveys show that 65% to 75% of Americans oppose jail time for pot. And President Obama almost immediately stopped the raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in states where they are legal, such as California. His predecessor, George W. Bush, aggressively busted legal medical marijuana stores.

Obama also called for a repeal of the federal syringe exchange ban to control AIDS and other diseases, and he has requested changes in the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing. Additionally, the President named Seattle police chief Gil Kerlikowske, a cop who has a fairly liberal record on drug policy, as the drug czar. Kerlikowske declared that the war on drugs is over.

Like California, Washington state has been at the cutting edge of drug policy reform, legalizing medical marijuana in 1998. (Today, 13 states have legalized marijuana or medical marijuana.)

Senator Jim Webb (D-Virginia) has told the Senate that this country is locking up far too many people who do not belong in jail. “Drug offenders are swamping our prisons,” according to the senator, who introduced the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009. It calls for an 18-month commission to review the entire criminal justice system and offer real reform recommendations, not just a laundry list of wrongs. The act is supported by President Obama, Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Attorney General Eric Holder and many lawmakers.

“The commission is a good idea, but it will take years to bring real change,” says Piper. “The federal government should be expending its resources on arresting violent gang members.”

In the meantime, those who would probably go free under Senator Webb’s legislation remain caged—missing their children and families—while costing millions when they could be contributing to society.

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Debbie Epstein is an award-winning healthcare and science author who lives in Ringwood, New Jersey, with husband David, Wilbur the cat and Joe the Yorkie.

MAY 2010 – HUSTLER Magazine


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