Las Vegas Weatherman Fired for MLK Slur Associated Press
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."
Didn't intend to offend anyone??? Is he on crack? I am truly amazed that in this day and age people can still be so ignorant. Did he think he was being funny?? I am just astonished that someone could be so clueless.
I wonder if he really meant to use the word "coon" or if it was some kind of tongue-mangle on a word. I'd have to see the tape. No one with a working brain (especially someone on TV, in that business) could possibly think that would lead to anything other than being fired (if he meant to say it).
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It was probably something he something he normally said around his friends, but not on the air. Kind of like when we would cuss around our friends, but turn it off when we are around our grandmothers. What an idiot. It is very scary that their are still people out there like that.
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Racism makes me so angry. I get so upset when I hear people say things like that! My boyfriends little brother said the "n" word at dinner the other night. When people say that sort of thing I usually tell them that I am 1/8th African American (even though I am not, hehe) just to make them feel stupid and uncomfortable.
I bet it was unintentional. coon is actually an easy word to get tongue tied in when you mean so say something else, where the n-word is not and is most always an intentional statement. say "martin-luther-king-day" over and over and you can see how easy it is to accidentally utter "coon" when you jumble the sounds "lu" and "king."
The reason I think this is because a local radio personality has accidentally said that exact word before on the air, and it was totally unintentional.
hopefully that's the case, the weatherman would have to be a real idiot to have actually said it purposefully for a joke... but I know there are idiots out there.
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quote: Originally posted by: lorelei "I bet it was unintentional. coon is actually an easy word to get tongue tied in when you mean so say something else, where the n-word is not and is most always an intentional statement. say "martin-luther-king-day" over and over and you can see how easy it is to accidentally utter "coon" when you jumble the sounds "lu" and "king." The reason I think this is because a local radio personality has accidentally said that exact word before on the air, and it was totally unintentional. hopefully that's the case, the weatherman would have to be a real idiot to have actually said it purposefully for a joke... but I know there are idiots out there."
I was talking to my aunt and uncle who live in the south about this and they said that what the weathermoron said is pretty common. People actually refer to Dr. King like that. That is why I am thinking it was not an accident.
-- Edited by RyanJ at 18:36, 2005-01-19
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I don’t want no part of your tight-ass country-club, you freak bitch!
quote: Originally posted by: RyanJ "It was probably something he something he normally said around his friends, but not on the air. Kind of like when we would cuss around our friends, but turn it off when we are around our grandmothers. What an idiot. It is very scary that their are still people out there like that. "
That sounds the most likely to me. Glad he got canned.