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troutman · 03-03-2015, 05:14 PM

Viet Cong Show [Ohio] Cancelled Because Of Offensive Band Name

http://www.stereogum.com/1784663/vie...and-name/news/

Viet Cong are a very good Calgary postpunk band whose self-titled album we heralded as Album Of The Week back in January. But despite how good their music might be, the problem with naming your band Viet Cong — and then revealing your ignorance about the lasting significance of this name — is that people don’t brush off offensive, racially-charged statements anymore. Like it or not, identifying their band as Viet Cong does constitute a statement, and it’s one blatant enough to spur the concert promoter for the Oberlin College venue Dionysus Disco to cancel the band’s appearance.

The most troubling aspect of the whole story is that the band admitted they were ignorant of the name’s implications, and even when they did realize, still didn’t really seem to care about its offensive nature:

“That [name] comes from our drummer, and from us being teenagers and watching movies. The Viet Cong were always the bad asses in movies. We are getting a lot of #### for the band name—it’s fairly controversial. I’ve looked into it a bit more since then, but I didn’t really know the history of it. [The Viet Cong] did terrible things, but so did the American military."

Should they change the name?

03-03-2015, 05:14 PM	#48
troutman Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Crowsnest Pass Exp:	Viet Cong Show [Ohio] Cancelled Because Of Offensive Band Name http://www.stereogum.com/1784663/vie...and-name/news/ Viet Cong are a very good Calgary postpunk band whose self-titled album we heralded as Album Of The Week back in January. But despite how good their music might be, the problem with naming your band Viet Cong — and then revealing your ignorance about the lasting significance of this name — is that people don’t brush off offensive, racially-charged statements anymore. Like it or not, identifying their band as Viet Cong does constitute a statement, and it’s one blatant enough to spur the concert promoter for the Oberlin College venue Dionysus Disco to cancel the band’s appearance. The most troubling aspect of the whole story is that the band admitted they were ignorant of the name’s implications, and even when they did realize, still didn’t really seem to care about its offensive nature: “That [name] comes from our drummer, and from us being teenagers and watching movies. The Viet Cong were always the bad asses in movies. We are getting a lot of #### for the band name—it’s fairly controversial. I’ve looked into it a bit more since then, but I didn’t really know the history of it. [The Viet Cong] did terrible things, but so did the American military." Should they change the name?