Stephen Colbert plays a dangerous game . He walks a tightrope every night , and it 's amazing that he does n't fall on a regular basis . He tells jokes about race , gender , class and people love him or hate him . Does everyone get a joke ? No . But of course he does say , in persona , amazingly offensive things sometimes . Last week things went south , and Twitter exploded in calls to # CancelColbert . The offense ? A 140-character long foot-in-the-mouth that came from the Twitter feed @ ColbertReport . The tweet was a joke that played off of a show segment that mocked an attempt by the owner of the Washington Redskins to make peace with the Native American community without having to change the team 's name . `` I 'm willing to show the # Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever . '' Race , meet satire . But it did n't work . The controversial tweet , it turns out , was not written by Colbert himself , or from anyone on his show . But it was a Comedy Central account that presumably had license from the show 's producers to publicize and magnify Colbert 's voice . But instead of repudiating the tweet , Colbert on Monday night made further jokes about how the incident almost silenced `` my message of core conservative principles mixed with youth-friendly product placement . '' Following the lead of Asian-American activist Suey Park , some have been demanding that `` The Colbert Report '' be canceled . These words perpetuate hateful stereotypes and bring up a history of very public repression and personal shame . To use them now is to call forth that history . And in calling it forth , these words create more racism . Defenders say he 's a `` satirist '' in the best Swiftian mold . He has a license to say such things , for he speaks in the name of truth and justice . They 're saying that the tweet was n't from him ( even though they were his words ) . And they 're saying that these words were perhaps taken out of context . Colbert 's responses on Monday night were uninspiring . The whole show was devoted to it , but it was the cold opening that people will remember : Colbert imagined a dystopian post-Report world . Think hell ... er Manhattan ... freezing over , before prominent Chinese-American actor B.D . Wong saves the day by explaining to him that it 's all been a bad dream ! This is still `` The Colbert Report . '' # CancelColbert has failed . I was n't disappointed because I think the show should be canceled . It should n't . But I was hoping for something more sincere , perhaps even an apology or a sit-down with Ms. Park to let her issues be aired . ( On the show , he made no mention of whether he tried to invite her to appear ) . Instead , he invited Twitter co-founder Biz Stone for a mock apology to Colbert himself , and -- offering a tepid `` I never want this to happen again '' -- shut down the Twitter account , @ colbertreport . Many of Colbert 's defenders have been asking why Park and her followers should get to decide what Colbert can and can not say ? Who cares what they think ? Colbert should care what they think . Park and her followers represent a point of view that Colbert takes himself to be speaking for , liberals , racial minorities , the underprivileged . As a privileged white male , Colbert ( just like the character he plays ) gets his license to use what would otherwise be outrageous language because of his associations to those communities themselves . Colbert , his defenders will say , is a liberal with a history of fighting for the underprivileged . True . But white satirization of racial politics is conditioned on the blessing of the underprivileged themselves . This is why Colbert , in persona , sometimes cites the existence of a `` black friend '' and why Jon Stewart regularly discusses issues of race with his `` Senior Black Correspondent . '' They know that it is precisely the underprivileged themselves that get to determine what should be done with the words that have been used to repress and embarrass them . Colbert , out of persona , should know that . Without an apology , what we have here is a case of a white liberal comedian trying to have his cake and eat it too . He 's saying : `` I have license to say hateful things because everyone knows I do n't mean them or because I have an Asian friend . '' But the way he should show he does n't mean them is by being sensitive to how his saying them affects others . If Park and the broader community are offended , he ca n't hide behind his liberalism . Liberalism is a license that comes with responsibilities that Colbert ought to abide by . `` The Colbert Report '' was never in any danger of being canceled over this . But whether or not he ever recognizes it , Colbert owes Park , as well as the broader Asian community , an apology . At the very least he should consider dropping the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong character .
A controversial tweet from @ colbertreport raised a firestorm over racial satire . Aaron Schiller : Though Stephen Colbert did n't post it , he should apologize . He says the tweet , taken from a line he spoke , is offensive for Asian-Americans . Schiller : Just because he is a comedian does n't mean he can tell offensive jokes .