America, we've still got a long way to go.

[novapsyche]

Anchor suspended 2 weeks for "lynch" comment

Update: Tiger OK with 'lynch' remark, but Sharpton ready for battle -- This gets me: "'I think it's a sad day in America when words can get people run from their jobs,' Miller said." -- What?! This happens every damned day! Someone says the wrong word at the wrong time in front of the wrong people. Yes, that's reason to be fired. It's called business.

Comments

[vrax.livejournal.com]

Normally I agree with you on these things, but I don't see a big issue this time. Would it have been a problem if they were discussing a white player? What if she had said "stab" or "shoot" rather than lynch? Am I being too complacent here?

Now, don't take this as me trying to start drama or something, I think that by now you know I don't do that. But I am genuinely curious to know your thoughts on this one.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

It wasn't just stupid to joke about killing a sports star in a back alley to remove the competition; it was doubly stupid to joke about doing it to a person of color using a racially-sensitive term.

[vrax.livejournal.com]

So do you feel the situation would be different if they had been speaking about a white player?

Again, not starting shit, just wondering what you think.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

Honestly, i don't have any idea if it would have been any different. I don't recall the last time a sports commentator joked about killing your competitors in a back alley.

[vrax.livejournal.com]

I'm not a big sports fan, so I don't know. The only sport I watch is mixed martial arts, and I don't think anyone would blink because the competitors are punching, kicking and choking each other anyway.

Do you think that 2 weeks of suspension is adequate? Or do you think Sharpton's demands to fire her are the way to go, or something else?

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

I'm not a huge fan of demanding someone be fired because they said something ignorant or bigoted. A policymaker - sure. But someone who's basically an entertainer? I think it would be more constructive for the audience to watch her work through this in public, contritely, speaking to others about how the whole thing has raised her awareness of racism.

[vrax.livejournal.com]

That's a great idea.

[guttaperk.livejournal.com]

It's just not comparable to random violence jokes about random white people.

It's more like a cutlass-dismembering joke about a Rwandan, or a holocaust joke about a Jew- made by a German.

I don't think that she should be fired. I think that she has become the lightning rod for a pervasive mainstream American denial of the importance and power of recent-history American atrocities.

I also don't think that Tiger is "avoiding the issue" by his answer, as some have implied; if he doesn't identify with the issue, that's his choice and that's fine. But that does not diminish the issue.

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

I was recently advised that jipped is from gypsy, I didn't even realize it was a racist term. I wonder if she even knows the history of the word lynch, or simply thinks it's a word that's similar to mug. These words get indoctrinated at a young age, before we have our filters for such language in the first place.

You probably already know the phrase my father taught me for Brazil nuts, its burned into my brain so deeply its the default word, even if I've sucessfully stopped myself from verbalizing it.

[axejudge.livejournal.com]

You probably already know the phrase my father taught me for Brazil nuts, its burned into my brain so deeply its the default word, even if I've sucessfully stopped myself from verbalizing it.

Sometimes the urge to say it is so strong; if I have a jar of mixed nuts at home, I'll occasionally say it when I'm alone just to relieve the desire to do so at an inappropriate time (in public).

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

I'm a white male and I find that an obviously racist comment. Two weeks? How about unemployment?

[simianpower.livejournal.com]

I love how quick you are to suggest firing SOMEONE ELSE for doing something you don't like. How'd you like to be fired for a single mistake, whether it be a slip of the tongue or a some other 1-second error? You want to fire everyone who's racist or otherwise bigoted to one degree or another? There goes about half the workforce. Whether it be about race, sex, religion, or some other hot-button, EVERYONE's said something that could by a harsh enough standard get them fired. The only reason this is an issue is because Al Sharpton is grandstanding again and MADE it an issue. Even Tiger Woods himself doesn't think this is a big deal. This isn't like the Imus thing where the team was upset, and even in that case they accepted his apology.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of firing about 90% of the so-called TV "newspeople", but that's because instead of reporting actual news they've become entertainers paid by commercial sponsors. Fire them for gross incompetence at their jobs rather than an innocuous mistake.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Hey, someone else is free to hire her, like Don Imus. Or her current employer can take the flack for keeping her, it's their choice.

And if a black commentator on ESPN suggested that the Jacksonville Jaguars players 'bust a cap' on Tom Brady, I'd be every bit as supportive for a firing.