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Best Hate Mail Ever: The Chinese Hate Poem

Fresh from a new online collection of historical documents, an ancient Chinese tradition shows us a better way to send hate mail in 2011.

 Cord Jefferson
01.04.11


In many ways, 2010 was a year of the ugly, unproductive discussion. Fiery Tea Partiers repeatedly (and wrongly) called the president a Marxist, Glenn Beck blubbered uncontrollably on a weekly basis on Fox News, and, most recently, a Democratic member of Congress was overheard saying to his colleagues, "Fuck the president."

We here at GOOD like to get behind civil discourse in its many varied forms, especially after a year such as this. That's why, for 2011, we're recommending the Chinese hate poem to get any bile across.

For an example of what we mean, click through this photo gallery, which contains two poems from the University of Arizona's historical documents library. Originally sent to José María Arana, a prominent businessman who fought to expel Chinese immigrants from the Mexican state of Sonora in the 1920s, the poems utilize one of China's many ancient cultural traditions—elegant verse—in order to scold Arana for his bigotry, and in his own language, no less.

According to Don Price, professor of Chinese history at the University of California, Davis, expressing contempt via poetry is as rooted in the Chinese culture as poetry itself. "There was a tradition of folk poetry—of a kind to be chanted while clacking Chinese castanets—that could be pretty derisive," he says, "But, as far as I know, it wasn't sent to the target of the abuse, but recited in the market or teashops. Even so, to resort to doggerel as a kind of weapon does have a background in the folk culture."

Simultaneously beautiful and brutal, the hate poems sent to Arana—despite being more direct than a chant in a village market—are exactly the opposite of what passed for debate in 2010, a year when the Tea Party leader Mark Williams said that the NAACP belongs on "the trash heap of history." In 2011, when life gets you down, try drafting your own hate poem before lashing out in another form. Whether or not you send it is up to you, but it will at least allow you to express your rage while concurrently creating something sublime.


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Slideshows

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via Collection of the New-York Historical Society / Wikimedia Commons

Fredrick Douglass was born into slavery in 1818. At the age of 10 he was given to the Auld family.

As a child, he worked as a house slave and was able to learn to read and write, and he attempted to teach his fellow slaves the same skills.

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Little did they know he would grow up to be one of the greatest forces of evil the world has ever known.

The Hitlers moved out of the Braunau am Inn when Adolph was three, but the three-story butter-colored building still stands. It has been the subject of controversy for seven decades.

via Thomas Ledia / Wikimedia Commons

The building was a meeting place for Nazi loyalists in the 1930s and '40s. After World War II, the building has become an informal pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis and veterans to glorify the murderous dictator.

The building was a thorn in the side to local government and residents to say the least.

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For years it was owned by Gerlinde Pommer, a descendant of the original owners. The Austrian government made numerous attempts to purchase it from her, but to no avail. The building has served many purposes, a school, a library, and a makeshift museum.

In 1989, a stone from the building was inscribed with:

"For Peace, Freedom

and Democracy.

Never Again Fascism.

Millions of Dead Remind [us]."

via Jo Oh / Wikimedia Commons

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In 2017, the fight between the government and Pommer ended with it seizing the property. Authorities said it would get a "thorough architectural remodeling is necessary to permanently prevent the recognition and the symbolism of the building."

Now, the government intends to turn it into a police station which will surely deter any neo-Nazis from hanging around the building.

Austria has strict anti-Nazi laws that aim to prohibit any potential Nazi revival. The laws state that anyone who denies, belittles, condones or tries to justify the Nazi genocide or other Nazi crimes against humanity shall be punished with imprisonment for one year up to ten years.

In Austria the anti-Nazi laws are so strict one can go to prison for making the Nazi hand salute or saying "Heil Hitler."

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The house is set to be redesigned following an international architectural competition.

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via Chela Horsdal / Twitter

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via Mike Mozart / Flickr

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via Thomas Hawk / Flickr

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes explicitly announced it was anti gay marriage in a recent "Statement of Faith."

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The Paul Anderson Youth Home teaches boys that homosexuality is wrong and that same-sex marriage is "rage against Jesus Christ and His values."

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In 2012, Chick-fil-A's CEO, Dan Cathy, made anti same-sex marriage comments on a radio broadcast:

I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, "We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage". I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.

But the chicken giant has now decided to change it's says its charitable donation strategy because it's bad for business...Not because being homophobic is wrong.

The company recently lost several bids to provide concessions in U.S. airports. A pop-up shop in England was told it would not be renewed after eight days following LGBTQ protests.

Chick-fil-A also has plans to expand to Boston, Massachusetts where its mayor, Thomas Menino, pledged to ban the restaurant from the city.

via Wikimedia Commons

"There's no question we know that, as we go into new markets, we need to be clear about who we are," Chick-fil-A President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Tassopoulos told Bisnow. "There are lots of articles and newscasts about Chick-fil-A, and we thought we needed to be clear about our message."

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Instead, the Chick-fil-A Foundation plans to give $9 million to organizations that support education and fight homelessness. Which is commendable regardless of the company's troubled past.

"If Chick-Fil-A is serious about their pledge to stop holding hands with divisive anti-LGBTQ activists, then further transparency is needed regarding their deep ties to organizations like Focus on the Family, which exist purely to harm LGBTQ people and families," Drew Anderson, GLAAD's director of campaigns and rapid response, said in a statement.

Chick-fil-A's decision to back down from contributing to anti-LGBT charities shows the power that people have to fight back against companies by hitting them where it really hurts — the pocket book.

The question remains: If you previously avoided Chick-fil-A because it supported anti-LGBT organizations, is it now OK to eat there? Especially when Popeye's chicken sandwich is so good people will kill for it?

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Andrea Zanoni/Facebook

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