Whoops i shouldna said that (Weatherman fired for MLK slur )

Dennis Toy · Post by **Dennis Toy** » 2005-01-17 08:15pm

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u ... an_fired_2

from yahoo

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."

[/quote]

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-01-17 08:17pm

The hell is a 'coon', and why must it cost a man his job?

Chmee · Post by **Chmee** » 2005-01-17 08:19pm

Stofsk wrote:The hell is a 'coon', and why must it cost a man his job?

Derogatory racial term on a par with the N word ....

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2005-01-17 08:20pm

Stofsk wrote:The hell is a 'coon', and why must it cost a man his job?

It's a pretty bad word for a black man, almost on par with "nigger".

It also means a raccoon.

So when you go 'coon huntin', it could mean one of two things. I never bother to ask when invited...

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2005-01-17 08:20pm

"Coon" is a very deragotory racial slur against blacks. Not as common as the N word, but generally just as offensive.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-01-17 08:25pm

Ah. That makes sense.

So my next question is, why the hell did he make the slur on national television? What, did he think he wasn't going to get filmed? Stupid fucker.

Chmee · Post by **Chmee** » 2005-01-17 08:27pm

Stofsk wrote:Ah. That makes sense.

So my next question is, why the hell did he make the slur on national television? What, did he think he wasn't going to get filmed? Stupid fucker.

Nah, slip of the tongue on live TV.

Flakin · Post by **Flakin** » 2005-01-17 08:34pm

That flushing noise is the sound of a possibly promising career going down the tubes forever.

What a moron.

Dennis Toy · Post by **Dennis Toy** » 2005-01-17 08:53pm

coon is actually termed to the way slave owners used to hunt slaves with dogs much like they hunted racoons hince the term "coon"

McC · Post by **McC** » 2005-01-17 09:54pm

Assuming the guy's not a closet racist, this is utterly retarded. I can tell you exactly how he ended up saying it, 'cause I do things like this all the time:

King Junior
K-----unior
Kunior

He slurred the two words together accidentally. I once was trying to say, "We must determine who has done this at once." It came out "We's 'eterm'o's done's a'once." I was trying to say it properly, too. This shit happens. Canning a guy over it is retarded.

Chmee · Post by **Chmee** » 2005-01-17 09:58pm

McC wrote:Assuming the guy's not a closet racist, this is utterly retarded. I can tell you exactly how he ended up saying it, 'cause I do things like this all the time:

King Junior
K-----unior
Kunior

He slurred the two words together accidentally. I once was trying to say, "We must determine who has done this at once." It came out "We's 'eterm'o's done's a'once." I was trying to say it properly, too. This shit happens. Canning a guy over it is retarded.

A. He picked the wrong weekend.

B. He's a paid professional, his job is to look good on tv ... he looked like an idiot ... he's fired.

McC · Post by **McC** » 2005-01-17 10:09pm

Chmee wrote:A. He picked the wrong weekend.

One doesn't exactly get to pick when one accidentally slurs words.

B. He's a paid professional, his job is to look good on tv ... he looked like an idiot ... he's fired.

Right...because you've never heard a news anchor mess up a word before.

Whatever, though. I honestly don't want to argue about it. He's fired and that's that. I just wanted to express my righteous indignation over people getting upset over yet more trivial bullshit

Post by **Zaia** » 2005-01-17 11:08pm

To N&P, methinks.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2005-01-17 11:14pm

McC wrote:Assuming the guy's not a closet racist, this is utterly retarded. I can tell you exactly how he ended up saying it, 'cause I do things like this all the time:

King Junior
K-----unior
Kunior

He slurred the two words together accidentally.

That's not where the article said the word coon was though.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2005-01-17 11:18pm

McC wrote:
Chmee wrote:A. He picked the wrong weekend.
One doesn't exactly get to pick when one accidentally slurs words.

B. He's a paid professional, his job is to look good on tv ... he looked like an idiot ... he's fired.
Right...because you've never heard a news anchor mess up a word before.

Whatever, though. I honestly don't want to argue about it. He's fired and that's that. I just wanted to express my righteous indignation over people getting upset over yet more trivial bullshit

Right, cuz people just accidentally slur together racist attacks all the time.

McC · Post by **McC** » 2005-01-17 11:21pm

neoolong wrote:That's not where the article said the word coon was though.

That's true, but this was spoken. I want to see the video clip before I condemn the man. It might've been more like "Martin Luther King Coon--Junior." He might've been in the process of saying "Martin Luther King Kunior," accidentally replicating the K from the previous word (another thing I do/hear all the time) and simply corrected himself on coincidental syllable.

On the other hand, he could be a racist fuck. I don't really know, and neither does anyone else. This auto-condemning shit is just irritating, though.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2005-01-17 11:34pm

McC wrote:
neoolong wrote:That's not where the article said the word coon was though.
That's true, but this was spoken. I want to see the video clip before I condemn the man. It might've been more like "Martin Luther King Coon--Junior." He might've been in the process of saying "Martin Luther King Kunior," accidentally replicating the K from the previous word (another thing I do/hear all the time) and simply corrected himself on coincidental syllable.

Yeah, sure....

I'm sorry but I have to say that sounds improbable as hell. If nothing else this guys is supposed to know how to speak. And he apparently said what he said. It seems questionable indeed that he would say that by accident.

McC wrote:On the other hand, he could be a racist fuck. I don't really know, and neither does anyone else. This auto-condemning shit is just irritating, though.

I'm about the last one to get into auto-condemnation but even I have to say that sounds just this side of impossible.

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2005-01-17 11:38pm

While I don't have a speech impediment as such, I'm pretty horrible vocally and I've got to agree with McC. Innocent until proven guilty and whatnot.

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-01-17 11:51pm

You gotta admit, it would've been interesting to watch. Sort of like the drink-spitting eyes-bug-out-of-head interesting.

I knew what "coon" meant though, it's used against Aborigines in Australia. At least, IIRC.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-01-18 12:20am

Vympel wrote:I knew what "coon" meant though, it's used against Aborigines in Australia. At least, IIRC.

I've never heard Aborigines referred to by that term. They usually called Abos, but I can't remember if that's meant as a derogatory remark or simply a shortened version of the name.

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-01-18 12:41am

Stofsk wrote: I've never heard Aborigines referred to by that term. They usually called Abos, but I can't remember if that's meant as a derogatory remark or simply a shortened version of the name.

Abo is pretty derogatory. You can't really say it and not sound like an asshole. It *screams* to have "bloody" or "fucken" or any other similar expression as a prefix- i.e. "BLOODY ABOS!"

Coon I heard more than a few times- not as much as abo, of course.

Elfdart · Post by **Elfdart** » 2005-01-21 09:57am

This morning they played a tape of the incident on The Howard Stern Show. It's obvious from the tape that the guy said "Matin Luther Koo -King JUNIOR". He wasn't calling the man a "coon". This guy was ass-raped by gutless management. Oh, here's the kicker: The segment was taped BEFORE it was broadcast. So the station knew it was an honest mistake and fired him anyway. Gutless motherfuckers.

This is like the case of the official in D.C. who was run out of town for saying his budget was "niggardly".

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-01-21 10:02am

Elfdart wrote:
This is like the case of the official in D.C. who was run out of town for saying his budget was "niggardly".

They actually attacked that guy for a legit use of terminology? "Oh noes, it sounds like one of thems nasty racisty words. FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!"

Robert Walper · Post by **Robert Walper** » 2005-01-21 10:39am

Elfdart wrote:This morning they played a tape of the incident on The Howard Stern Show. It's obvious from the tape that the guy said "Matin Luther Koo -King JUNIOR". He wasn't calling the man a "coon". This guy was ass-raped by gutless management. Oh, here's the kicker: The segment was taped BEFORE it was broadcast. So the station knew it was an honest mistake and fired him anyway. Gutless motherfuckers.

This is like the case of the official in D.C. who was run out of town for saying his budget was "niggardly".

You can't be too politically correct nowadays, You look at someone the wrong way and you're racist.

Honestly, I can't say, but from what I've heard, he may have been fired prematurely. It's not like Martin Luther King and racism is not a similar subject.

God knows I've slipped up saying words on occasion. We're only human. Hell, I once said "reese's penis" (as opposed to "reese's pieces") to my friend, twice, even after realizing the first time I fucked up. She though it was funny. I was just embarassed. Thank god my job wasn't on the line, otherwise I would've been guilty of sexual harassment.

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2005-01-21 10:48am

This week has been full of shit-funny blunders in the news. Anyone noticed but me?