Racist slip gets weatherman fired

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Phoenix

Phoenix

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LAS VEGAS - 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."
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Source
 
:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol


<ahem>

That is fucked up though.
 
Maybe it was just a slip up?

Subliminal Message Weatherman said:
Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Day, gonna see some temperatures in the mid-60s. And that's your liberaljewrunmedia KTNV weather, back to you dirtymexicanwhore Linda.
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They were talking about this on Howard Stern on Tuesday. If anyone has a clip of him saying that, email it to the show.

I mentioned this in the IRC channel earlier and I thought someone already mentioned this here though. hrm
 
If it was a slip, he'd likely have omitted "king". In any case, i can't believe someone, regardless of their beliefs, would make such a stupid mistake on the air.

Edit: Another report:

"I know what it's like to have a slip of the tongue," said Linton Johnson, who described himself as a close friend of Blair. "I think people are overreacting. As a black person, I can say he is anything but racist. This guy has a history of working for and helping minorities," reports the Las Vegas Journal Review.
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http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050119-084847-2455r.htm
 
On a related note, the more historically literate among you might realize that this isn't the first time such a slip-up occurred on national television. Back in the 60's, during the height of the civil rights movement, the governor of Alabama (or perhaps it was the mayor of Birmingham specifically; pretty sure it was the governor, though) gave a press conference due to a standoff outside a public school. In it, he (seemingly) praised Martin Luther King Jr., but said something along the lines of, "I have nothing but respect for Martin Luther Coon-- I mean King".


Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), it was captured on film for posterity; I recall my HS history teacher showing us the actual tape, along with others, in order to really drive home the systematic oppression that blacks suffered back then. It was crazy to hear that.


EDIT: :lol @ AstroLad
 
AstroLad said:
Maybe it was just a slip up?

Originally Posted by Subliminal Message Weatherman:
Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Day, gonna see some temperatures in the mid-60s. And that's your liberaljewrunmedia KTNV weather, back to you dirtymexicanwhore Linda.
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:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
 
wait, I don't get the comment.. coon.. isn't that just short for raccoon? And is that a racist thing?

I dunno, just looking for some info... hadn't heard that one before.
 
Iceman said:
wait, I don't get the comment.. coon.. isn't that just short for raccoon? And is that a racist thing?

I dunno, just looking for some info... hadn't heard that one before.
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2 entries found for coon.
coon Audio pronunciation of "coon" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kn)
n.

1. Informal. A raccoon.
2. Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for a Black person.
 
Maybe he thought they were not on the air? Did the reporter follow this with "I'm the Lord Jesus Christ, I think I'm gonna get drunk and beat up some midgets"?
 
he could, conceivably, have mixed up the first letter of "king" with the first syllable of "junior." unlikely, but i guess it's hard to say without hearing it. sucks for him if it was an innocent mixup.
 
How the f'n can anyone think Coon was some kind of innocent mixup/slip? How can you rationalize that?
 
I'm just surprised it wasn't from a Texas station
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Why do you say that? More than half of Texas's population are hispanic, so Texas is hardly a racist state. What you meant to say is that you're surprised this wasn't from Alabama, where half of its citizens are clearly racist.
 
i thought i just did rationalize it -- if you fumble the words "king" and "junior," you can conceivably say "coon." try it and see! i don't know whether such a slip is more or less likely than the "freudian" slip of saying "coon" out of latent racism. and this guy's fucked one way or the other. but hey.
 
drohne said:
i thought i just did rationalize it -- if you mix up the words "king" and "junior," you can conceivably say "coon." try it and see! i don't know whether such a slip is more or less likely than the "freudian" slip of saying "coon" out of latent racism. but hey.
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They aren't reporting that he said Martin Luther Cunior King... (pronouced with the K), if they were I'd agree with you, barely. Many folks don't even say the Jr. part... sorry slip my ass... fry the bastard. ;)
 
Pellham said:
Why do you say that? More than half of Texas's population are hispanic, so Texas is hardly a racist state. What you meant to say is that you're surprised this wasn't from Alabama, where half of its citizens are clearly racist.
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mexicans can be racist too. my firlfriend says that its actaully very common for mexicans to be racist towards blacks
 
hell if i know. anyway, it suggests a tongue twister: say "king junior" over and over really fast, and see if you can avoid saying "coon." if you want to raise the stakes, try it on a compton street corner!
 
drohne said:
hell if i know. anyway, it suggests a tongue twister: say "king junior" over and over really fast, and see if you can avoid saying "coon." if you want to raise the stakes, try it on a compton street corner!
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Have you tried that? You don't come close to saying coon... yes I tried it... yes that means I'm retarded. ;)
 
You can never win with a bigot.

Let's say this guy is, in fact, a flaming racist. Firing him from his job (which is the right thing to do) only reinforces his thinking. He'll continue to think, and now even moreso, that blacks are bad, because it lost him his job.

On the other hand, if it really was just a mistake ( and I can kind of see that; I worked in radio- if there's one thing I know thinking to yourself 'don't screw up, don't screw up, don't screw up' only makes you screw up.) and the guy has been fired, do you think it might have a negative impact on his view of blacks?
 
While I'm willing to believe that he really did just let fly a racist remark, drohne's explanation is perfectly plausible to me given that I smash words together like that all the time. Never with such disastrous results. But if he was saying "K-unior" and stopped himself midway...
 
drohne said:
hell if i know. anyway, it suggests a tongue twister: say "king junior" over and over really fast, and see if you can avoid saying "coon." if you want to raise the stakes, try it on a compton street corner!
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Unfortunately most young black males nowadays are too preoccupied with being 'ballerz' and emulating their favorite hip-hop artist to even know the term. They're more concerned with putting 24" spinners on their Cutlass than worry about what others think of them.
 
op_ivy said:
mexicans can be racist too. my firlfriend says that its actaully very common for mexicans to be racist towards blacks
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I'll second what your "firlfriend" says. There are mexicans that I swear were members of the KKK. Not all mexicans/hispanics identify with other minorities. Some think the are white or at least better than blacks.
 
belgurdo said:
I'm just surprised it wasn't from a Texas station
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Yes, because all we Texans are bigoted slime. In fact, I often yell out racial slurs while riding my horse to the local feed store for some chewing 'to'baccy'. Oh, and your tag is frightfully accurate.
 
DarienA said:
How the f'n can anyone think Coon was some kind of innocent mixup/slip? How can you rationalize that?
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Slip does not imply innocence - it implies that it wasn't intended.
 
Phoenix said:
Slip does not imply innocence - it implies that it wasn't intended.
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Double post does not imply idiocy, just a stupid server that is having problems ;p

But I do have to agree with you on that. It might not have been racially motivated, but he was probably thinking about it accidently right before he said it.
 
Id like to go on some PC run-amuck flavoured rant, but as DarienA said, theres no way that's an honest slip up.

It still doesnt beat the british football commentator calling a footballer a lazy nigger live on air.
 
Seriously, in this guy's defense, I get ahead of myself while speaking and combine words occasionally--about once every couple of weeks. I can see myself accidentally saying "Luther Koon" or "Martin Linger" or some other equally stupid sounding non-word.
 
This incident is quite clearly a slip up. A racist would say, "Martin Luther Coon Jr." wherein the "king" is wholly replaced by "coon." The fact that he says "King" most likely denotes his recognition of the slip up and his attempt to say it correctly.
 
Everdred said:
This incident is quite clearly a slip up. A racist would say, "Martin Luther Coon Jr." wherein the "king" is wholly replaced by "coon." The fact that he says "King" most likely denotes his recognition of the slip up and his attempt to say it correctly.
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And a racist would not imply MLK to be the "King of Coons"?
 
Tried drohne's tongue-twister; I find myself saying "Coon Junior" after about the seventh or eighth repetition. Then again, I've never been particularly good at tongue-twisters. :P Also, this guy wasn't saying it numerous times, but perhaps a case can be made for general on-air jitters (though this would be mitigated if he was very experienced). Unfortunately for those who DO make a genuine mistake, it's one of those things that can't be tolerated regardless (or else everyone who said it would say that it was "just a slip-up").
 
I wish we had a clip to watch or something.














Ahem....

*cough* *cough* No really, I was just clearing my throat.
 
You know, I've never ever heard anyone use the word coon in real-life. I wonder if it's because I'm awesome or because I live too far north for that to be used as a derogatory comment.
 
Everdred said:
This incident is quite clearly a slip up. A racist would say, "Martin Luther Coon Jr." wherein the "king" is wholly replaced by "coon." The fact that he says "King" most likely denotes his recognition of the slip up and his attempt to say it correctly.
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I don't think we can know if it's "clearly a slip up" until we get some video. Even then it might be hard to truly know; all the we have right now is that the weatherman said this-

"Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Day, gonna see some temperatures in the mid-60s."

Maybe the report is completely misrepresenting it and it sounded almost nothing like that, but I'd like to see more before I totally disbelieve the report, since I'm assuming they saw it.
 
where the hell did coon come from? I've never heard this term before. So many racist slurs I've never known till college...

but seriously, why is coon a racist term for a black person?
black people=racoons? I don't get the connection. Do Racoons somehow suck more than other animals?

just going by the sound and the meaning I woul dhave sooner guessed it was slang for pussy =\
 
also, that coon bashing definition on urban dictionary is so wrong and and so racist and thus, quite hilarious. Mostly for the bash! bash! at the end.
 
slayn said:
where the hell did coon come from? I've never heard this term before. So many racist slurs I've never known till college...

but seriously, why is coon a racist term for a black person?
black people=racoons? I don't get the connection. Do Racoons somehow suck more than other animals?

just going by the sound and the meaning I woul dhave sooner guessed it was slang for pussy =\
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Many slang terms use the term "coon" to mean raccoon. Their black eye-mask and nocturnal habits suggest anthropomorphic parallels, so we get the term "coon" meaning to steal or pilfer, for instance. The word also was used in the 1830s to mean a rustic, a country-bumpkin. In 1840, the coon was the figurehead of the Whig Party. (Where are the Whigs now when we need them?)

Unfortunately, many of those negative stereotypes were applied to black people, hence the derogatory term "coon," first used in the 1850s but more commonly heard after 1890. Some etymologists speculate that the term was used because of the raccoon's dark coloring rather than its real or imagined behavior. Whatever the case, the usage is highly offensive today – heck, it was highly offensive back then.
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http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcoonsage.html
 
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