A bad joke and a so-so apology from "Top Gear"

Jeremy Clarkson awaits a penalty for his tendency to use racist language. 

THIS MAY be old news to some of you, but the ruling issued by Britain's Office of Communications (Ofcam) just came out and it ruled that the BBC violated broadcasting rules when it aired a scene in their show "Top Gear" last spring that included a racial slur.

“After a thorough investigation, Ofcom has found the BBC breached broadcasting rules by including an offensive racial term in Top Gear, which was not justified by context,” an Ofcam spokesperson said. “This was scripted in advance. The BBC failed to take the opportunity, either during filming or post-production, to check whether the word had the potential to offend viewers.”

The episode in question, a special about Myanmar which aired in April, included a pretaped segment featuring host Jeremy Clarkson standing at the end of a bridge over the River Kwai as a local man walked across it.

“That is a proud moment,” Clarkson said, “but there’s a slope on it.”

“Slope” is recognized as an anti-Asian slur, especially in Australia (used mostly in reference to people of Vietnamese descent) and the United States (My addition: where it’s most commonly used against all Asian ethnicities).

“When we used the word ‘slope’ in the recent Top Gear Burma special it was a lighthearted word-play joke referencing both the build quality of the bridge and the local Asian man who was crossing it,” Executive Producer Andy Wilman said in a statement after receiving complaints. “We were not aware at the time, and it has subsequently been brought to our attention, that the word ‘slope’ is considered by some to be offensive and although it might not be widely recognized in the UK, we appreciate that it can be considered offensive to some here and overseas, for example in Australia and the USA.

“If we had known that at the time we would not have broadcast the word in this context and regret any offense caused.”

The excuse sounds kind of lame to me.

This is not a breaking news show where everything is live and people speak out in the moment and you tape whatever you get. It is taped months in advance and scripts are approved months or weeks before the actual taping.

They thought they were being clever but instead they revealed their ignorance and prejudices.

The show, which is known for its "clever" or unusual take on the world, has been in trouble before when it called Mexicans "feckless and flatulent." A month after the Myanmar incident, Clarkson was choosing between two cars and he was using the children's rhyme, "Eenie meenie miiny mo ..." you know how the rest of it goes. The producers at least had the good sense to edit it out of the final product. 

I remember during the Vietnam War when American soldiers returned home and I began hearing that term. They applied it to all Asians, much like the term "gook" used by soldiers in the Philippines-American War when referring to Filipinos became synonymous with all Asians.

I hated the term "slopes" then and I hate it now, no matter the context. Ofcam is supposed to come back with some sort of penalty. Let's hope the penalty is  substantial enough to jog some sense into Clarkson, who reportedly makes millions for his hosting duties.