Mike Greenberg, who most notably is co-host of the Mike and Mike in the Morning show on ESPN Radio (also shown on television), made a big boo-boo on Martin Luther King Day.
He referred to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr as “Martin Luther Coon” before he quickly corrected himself (minus an apology at the time although, to be fair, the apology did come later). As many of you know, "coon" is a racist insult used against black people.
Some see the significant slip as racist while others view it as Greenberg simply butchering his own words before quickly correcting himself.
As one might expect, the slip by Greenberg erupted into a full-blown controversy that prompted the customary statement of apology:
I just came home from the Knicks game and found out about the mess that was created by my garbling a sentence on our show this morning; I apologize for not addressing it sooner.
And I’m sorry that my talking too fast – and slurring my words – might have given people who don’t know our show the wrong impression about us, and about me.
I feel horrible about that, because nothing could be further away from who I am and what our show is about.
I would never say anything like that, not in public, or in private, or in the silence of my own mind, and neither would anyone associated with our show, and I’m very sorry that my stumble this morning gave so many people the opposite impression.
I suspect it was just a slip by Greenberg although a number of people see the words as a look into his heart. No one knows but Mike Greenberg.
I certainly DO NOT think this (alone) rises to the level of firing based on what seems to be known about him and this situation.
With no hesitation, I choose to give Mike Greenberg the benefit of the doubt on this one. BUT, wow was that a bad mistake on his part.
Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/18/mike-greenberg-mlk-gaffe_n_427558.html
http://www.sodahead.com/sports/mike-greenberg-calls-mlk-a-coon-is-mark-greenberg-racist/question-830179/
1 comment:
I am working on a post about this incident myself. I agree with you. A big slip up, but a slip up nevertheless. Leading up to this incident, Mike Greenberg has never given any indication that he has racist feelings. Admittedly, had someone like Rush Limbaugh said this, I'd have a totally different opinion.
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