Sing, Sing, Celebrate ... For Our King Celebrate
I'm not sure if I should laugh at this or not. It's not that I think this guy meant to say it but I think he probably talks like that behind closed doors and the slur just slipped out.
"A television weatherman was fired after referring to slain civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. as 'Martin Luther Coon King' on the air, station officials said.
Rob Blair, of KTNV-TV, was delivering the extended forecast Saturday morning when he said: 'Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Day, gonna see some temperatures in the mid-60s.'
Jim Prather, vice president and general manager of the ABC affiliate, said Blair stumbled when he uttered the remark, but the excuse was not enough to save his job.
'This kind of incident is not acceptable under any circumstances, and I'm truly sorry that this event occurred,' Prather said.
Blair, who worked at the station for about three months, apologized during the station's 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts Saturday.
'I in no way intended to offend anyone,' he said in the apology. 'I'm very sorry.'"
Well, I can't cry about it either because it just means there is so much more work to do if we cannot even advance beyond childish, outdated slurs.
my state @ 3:05 PM :: Permalink
2 Comments
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2 Comments:
I will admit it, I laughed. That was hilarious, yet oh so wrong.
For the record, he's GAY ... in a major minority himself. His best friend is African American and ... that friend's father, in whose house Rob stays in California, is a leader in the NAACP there. (Gee .. you never heard that in the news) They tried to convince the NAACP in Vegas that this was just a very common type of verbal slip [L-ooooo-ther K-ooooo-ng] which he tried to correct. But the Vegas NAACP had already enlisted Sharpton (not known to do his research before championing a cause) and refused to back down. Hence the snowball began to roll.
Now here's the back story the press never did enough research to report ...
1. The mistake was "originally" bearly noticeable.
2. It was taped ... not live. Therefore, the decision to air it went through several production staff and a producer who ALL approved it.
3. The slip, was digitally enhanced by a malicious homophobic coworker ... specifically to get Rob in trouble.
4. THIS is why both Rob and the anchor Hume didn't think it was such a big deal ... they were apologizing that evening for the original slip (as minor as it was), not having seen how it aired (enhanced to make it more pronounced and seemingly deliberate). This only got them further in trouble because it made it seem they were making light of it.
Rob Blair is a very kind, generous, and caring person. He mis-pronounced a word as many news people do. There was NOTHING racist behind it ... nor in him.
It's a shame the press are too lazy to do the invesitgative journalism that once brought truth to the surface. That is just not how journalism is today. I wonder if they even spoke to Rob or Hume and got this information. An audio expert the, could have easily proven the original recording was augmented digitally. In the original, the "N" at the end of what was made to sound like KOON, was never even spoken. Just "KOO". A phoenetical error that he backed up and corrected.
Does everyone in this world have so much anger that they need some cause to rally around, and hurt people for innocent mistakes to make their point?? Is that fair? Why not go after the truly bad people. *sigh*
I suggest we all put our misguided righteous indignation aside and seek the truth. Then when we really have something to say, our words will carry the weight they should!
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