The petition
Students at the University of Maryland are launching a national petition campaign against the frequent usage of Asian Pacific American ethnic stereotypes that were prominent in this year's Super Bowl commercials. Among the offensive commercials were ads featuring pandas with stereotypical Asian accents, an Asian salesman with a stereotypical Indian accent and his seven children, and a commercial featuring a group of immigrants attempting to talk to American women.
These advertisements portray Asian Pacific Americans and other minority and immigrant communities as foreigners who are incompetent and incapable of functioning in society, damaging the image of minorities as a whole. Student leaders at the University of Maryland discussed this important issue at the Media-Portrayal of Asian Pacific Americans Dialogue (M.A.D.) Series on February 28, 2008. They will join their efforts with various professional organizations to fight against this issue and demand a public apology and appropriate corrective actions from the responsible organizations.
Our voice will not be heard unless we stand together in this fight. We hope you can join us in this campaign by first raising awareness of this issue and by demanding broadcasters to reconsider airing such commercials in the future.
Sign the petition
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