So a DJ in St. Louis is describing why he thinks Condoleezza Rice would make a good commissioner in the NFL (a job she has said she wants some day and one that is reported coming open in the next few months).
The text is below. He tries to say that hiring her would be a big coup for the league, but says coon. I haven't been able to download the audio, but all reports seem to indicate that he was serious in his show of respect for her as a candidate and he immediately apologized. He was fired (basically immediately) and fired from his other job as a college instructor.
If I was Condi (and everything pointed to it being a true slip) then I would take a full page add in the St. Louis paper saying I appreciate the DJs support and wonder why a person that was obviously paying me a compliment was fired for doing so.
********************************************* "She's been chancellor at Stanford. I mean she's just got the patent resume of somebody that's got some serious skill," Lenihan said, according to a recording provided by KTRS. "She loves football. She's African-American, which would kind of be a big coon. . . ."
"'A big coon?' Oh my god," Lenihan said during the morning broadcast. "I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that. OK? I didn't mean that. That was just a slip of the tongue." **********************************************
Posted by Omega M. (Member # 7924) on :
Did he mean to say "con"? If so, why would it be a con for the NFL commissioner to be black, since so many of the players are?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Am I missing something? What does "coon" mean besides raccoon?
Posted by prolixshore (Member # 4496) on :
I think the implication is he meant to say "coup".
--ApostleRadio
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Sounds like he was going to say "boon". But for him to have said "coon" instead... I don't know how that could not have been freudian. In my whole life, I doubt I have ever even said that word. Unless you say it a lot, how could it possibly slip?
I think I would have to hear the guys tone of voice when he said it in order to pass judgement. At this point (from my very limited information), I'm not convinced it was accidental.
Edit: Ah, he was trying to say "coup", not boon. Of course, if his brain slipped and he combined the two words, that could explain how it could be an accident. I do that sort of thing all the time.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Porter, "coon" is a (fairly old-fashioned, I think) derogatory term for black people.
Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :
dem!
I never saw you here before. I feel like we are related.
As for the on air personality...I would have suspended him and waited for a response from either Rice or the African American community. If there was going to be backlash, then I would have fired him--even thinking those words shows some degree of racism that would hurt a public company.
However, people may have forgiven him or even appreciated he was truly regretful for what he said. Sometimes having a humble and penitent person does more for progress then someone who doesn't slip up.
Posted by password (Member # 9105) on :
mph, "coon" is southern slang for "african american" and is considered only slightly less derogatory than the "n-word"
It sounds like the second quote was in response to someone in his crew pointing out what he had just said.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Maybe he meant to say 'boon,' but was thinking 'coup' and it came out a mix...
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Unless you say it a lot, how could it possibly slip?
Sometimes things just slip for no reason.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:Unless you say it a lot, how could it possibly slip?
Sometimes things just slip for no reason.
Like Janet Jackson's wardrobe?
-Bok
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
The "not" in the title seems superfluous.
Posted by dem (Member # 2512) on :
I also want to here the audio. But everything indicates he was being genuine in his compliment. If, after investigation, it is determined that he was really supporting the Rice as a candidate for a job that is dominated by white males, it would be the height of idiocy to treat him as a bigot.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
quote:Originally posted by Primal Curve: The "not" in the title seems superfluous.
Would you think the not was superflous if he wrote it as a contraction: "Doesn't intent matter?"
Since I don't know the DJ or anything about his personality or attitudes, and also did not hear the statement, I can't comment on intent. But what dem said makes sense to me. Slips of the tongue do happen, and they're not always Freudian.
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
perhaps the station was being "niggardly".
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bokonon:
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:Unless you say it a lot, how could it possibly slip?
Sometimes things just slip for no reason.
Like Janet Jackson's wardrobe?
-Bok
That slipped because it was grabbed.
[ March 23, 2006, 12:51 PM: Message edited by: mr_porteiro_head ]
Posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong (Member # 2229) on :
It was a whoops. Like staring at a girl's chest.
Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
Does anyone know a place to download a clip of that show? It would be really helpful to actually hear it in context.
Posted by Amilia (Member # 8912) on :
quote:"'A big coon?' Oh my god," Lenihan said during the morning broadcast. "I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that. OK? I didn't mean that. That was just a slip of the tongue."
Would anyone have noticed his slip if he hadn't pointed it out? And if they had, wouldn't they assume they had heard wrong?
Posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong (Member # 2229) on :
It's too bad. It cost Howard Cosell his job.
[ March 23, 2006, 01:26 PM: Message edited by: Irami Osei-Frimpong ]
Posted by dem (Member # 2512) on :
Howard Cossell was not the same thing, at all. He said, "Look at the little monkey run." HC said exactly what he tried to say, but did not realize that it was objectionable.
www.stltoday.com/ has a download but I haven't been able to get to it (server must be busy today!).
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Cosell drew criticism during one Monday Night Football telecast in September 1983, for calling a wide receiver for the Washington Redskins, Alvin Garrett, a "little monkey." While some saw the term as having a racial connotation, many who knew Cosell were quick to point out that he used this term routinely in an approving way to describe quicker, smaller players of all ethnicities. Among the evidence to support this claim is video footage of a 1972 preseason game, between the New York Giants and the Kansas City Chiefs, that features Cosell referring to Mike Adamle, a 5-foot-9-inch, 197-pound Caucasian, as a "little monkey".
It should be noted also that he wasn't fired. He finished the season but didn't return the next year, although the failure to return may or may not have been voluntary.