Update @ 6:00pm EST: UCLA Chancellor Gene Block has sent an email to students condemning Wallace’s YouTube video: "I am appalled by the thoughtless and hurtful comments of a UCLA student posted on YouTube. Like many of you, I recoil when someone invokes the right of free expression to demean other individuals or groups."
Scroll down to the end of this story to watch his video message.
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A UCLA student who claims only Asians talk on their cell phones in the library has caused a stir by uploading a mocking video to YouTube. In her 2:52 video the young woman, who KoreAm has identified as Alexandra Wallace, complains about the "hordes of Asian people that UCLA accepts into our schools every single year" that don’t know any "American manners."
Perhaps Wallace should make a video about the "hordes" of white folk on campus, too, because according UCLA’s Office of Analysis and Information Management there really are hordes of white students on campus: 1,227 more of them than Asian students.
In any case, here’s a rough transcript of part of her rant:
Hi, in America we don’t talk on our cell phones in the library. Every 5 minutes, ok, say… like, 15 minutes. I’ll be like deep into my studies in political science theories, arguments and all that stuff, getting it all done and typing furiously, blah blah blah. And right when I’m about to reach like an epiphany, over here somewhere, "oooooooooh ching chong ling tin tong ooooooh." Are you freaking kidding me? On finals week?
[snip]
It’s the same thing every five minutes, but it’s somebody else. I swear they’re just going through their whole families, just checking on everyone from the tsunami thing–I mean, I know, that sounds horrible, I feel bad for all people affected by the tsunami but if you’re going to call all your address book you might as well go outside because if something is wrong you might really freak out if you’re in the library where it’s quiet.
Even if you’re not Asian, you really shouldn’t be on your cell phone in the library but I’ve just never seen that happen before.
The original video has since been removed, but several YouTubers have reposted previously captured versions, such as the one above. So Wallace’s rant has gone viral, popping up everywhere from Gawker to Angry Asian Man, and she’s shaping up as this week’s Web celebrity. It’s unclear whether that was actually her goal–the video’s absurd enough to qualify as self-parody. A university official called the video "repugnant" and told the Daily Bruin that the school hasn’t confirmed she’s a student.
Regardless, here’s a suggestion for Wallace’s next viral video: Redeem yourself by apologizing and telling your viewers who you don’t see on campus. For instance, in the 2009-2010 school year, UCLA had a total of 25,611 undergraduate students enrolled. Only 112 of them were American Indian. And only 951 of them were black. Maybe you can get your school to do something about that. Good luck on your political science final.
Oh, and I googled the numbers for Wallace just in case she’s too busy studying. She might find these things interesting, as a political science major.
| Total Undergraduate |
First Professional |
Professional Masters |
Masters | Doctorate | Total Graduate |
Total Enrollment |
||
| ETHNICITY | ||||||||
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 112 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 14 | 55 | 171 | |
| African American/Black | 951 | 60 | 137 | 54 | 151 | 401 | 1,402 | |
| Asian or Pacific Islander | 9,796 | 206 | 900 | 342 | 673 | 2,121 | 12,451 | |
| Chicano/a or Latino/a | 3,945 | 106 | 396 | 109 | 354 | 965 | 4,998 | |
| White, Non-Hispanic | 8,606 | 622 | 1,433 | 406 | 1,920 | 4,381 | 13,678 | |
| Foreign | 1,167 | 29 | 511 | 227 | 1,082 | 1,849 | 3,035 | |
| Unstated, Unknown, Other | 1,034 | 964 | 315 | 109 | 342 | 1,730 | 2,812 | |