Talk show host fired for racial slur

[Brian Fein]

Host, praising Rice, utters slur; fired

Thursday, March 23, 2006; Posted: 9:20 a.m. EST (14:20 GMT)

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- A St. Louis radio station quickly fired a talk show host for uttering a racial epithet as he talked about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on his morning show Wednesday.

Dave Lenihan apologized on the air immediately after making what he said was a slip of the tongue. KTRS president and general manager Tim Dorsey agreed the remark was accidental but said it was nonetheless "unacceptable, reprehensible and unforgivable."

Lenihan had been heaping praise on Rice, who has frequently said she aspires to run the NFL one day but has more recently ruled out seeking to replace retiring Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

"She's been chancellor of Stanford," Lenihan said on the air. "She's got the patent resume of somebody that has serious skill. She loves football. She's African-American, which would kind of be a big coon. A big coon. Oh my God. I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that."

He said he had meant to say "coup" instead of the racial slur.

KTRS listeners soon began calling the station to complain. Twenty minutes after the utterance, Dorsey went on the air to apologize to Rice and KTRS listeners.

"There can be no excuse for what was said," Dorsey said. "Dave Lenihan has been let go. ... There is enough hate. We certainly are not going to fan those flames."

NAACP chapter president Harold Crumpton commended Dorsey for his swift action.

Reached at home, Lenihan said he was still trying to figure out what happened and was drafting a letter of apology to Rice. He said he never uses the slur he uttered and thinks Rice is "a fantastic woman."

Lenihan, formerly a drive-time host at WGNU radio in St. Louis, had been at KTRS for less than two weeks.

"It was my dream job," he said. "Ratings were going well. It kind of stinks."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/23/djfired.rice.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest









I think this is kinda BS - we've all mis-spoke before.  I can't speak for whether this guy is a racist or not, but it seems like an honest mistake.  I feel bad for the guy.

[jtex316]

What a stupid, over-sensitive, knee-jerk reaction by middle America. 

I'm getting a little sick of people losing their jobs over shit like this.  Sounds (and reads) to me like he just totally slipped.  He immediately apologized, and then did it again...and gets "fired" for "spewing hate".

So a white person said the word "coon" on the air, accidentally.  Get over it.  It wasn't the first time and it won't be the last time.  And it sure as hell doesn't mean in any way, shape, or form that this person is racist, or hates black people (Which is what this is going to be spinned off into by those NAACP idiots who make it their life mission to explode everything completely out of proportion).

I mean if he said it and meant it...ok, he's gone no questions asked.  But that quote reads just like it sounds "...A big coon. Oh my God. I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that...".  Total accident, and the further proof is that he went and apologized again.

What bothers me is that I've heard (with my own ears on the radio) an african-american radio DJ say something like "look at 'dem White Boys, look at 'dem crackers".  But that's OK, acceptable, and cool for radio.  And he meant it in the most condescending way possible - implying that "white people" are all dorks, geeks, and social losers.  But a white DJ in the middle of nowhere has it completely accidentally slip, and immediately rectify it on the air, he gets fired, and now has to go look for work, affecting him and his family.

Let's stop being such sissies about everything, ok America?  Shit happens, live with it.

[Brian Fein]

Here's the thing -

What if he was talking about a white woman when he said all that (which TOTALLY could have happened).  Is he still fired?

I bet not.

[ADeadSmitty]

Here's the thing -

What if he was talking about a white woman when he said all that (which TOTALLY could have happened).  Is he still fired?

I bet not.

Of course not. "Coon" doesn't refer to whites, so it's less offensive.

[Brian Fein]

Of course not. "Coon" doesn't refer to whites, so it's less offensive.

He didn't get fired for calling her a "coon", but for merely saying it.  It doesn't even make sense in the context of the sentence!

[MaineDolFan]

If he said "cracker" - reference to a white person - the comment would have been laughed at.

[Sunstroke]

What?!?!? We have a double standard for racial sensitivity in this country?!?!? Say it ain't so!! 

...ya cracker! 

[run_to_win]

Wow - I'm surprised at the realistic and honest way you've all responded to this.

No racial hypersensitivity or out-of-whack political correctness so far.

[Phishfan]

Native Floridians actually like referring to themselves as cracker.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

Native Floridians actually like referring to themselves as cracker.

That's because the original term for "cracker" is not a racist word.  "Crackers" were anti-slavery advocates living in Georgia (a slave state), and as a result, they were exiled from the state.  They moved south and settled in Florida, herding their cattle by cracking 14 foot whips.  Hence the term "crackers"

[TonyB0D]

wow, if that quote is accurate....theres NO WAY he should be fired.  he INSTANTLY aknowledged his mistake and apologized for it in the same sentence.

even if some people can say "well it was a freudian slip so it shows what he was really thinking" thats still not a reason for firing him.  who cares what he thinks in private, as long as his public words and actions never show any racism he shouldnt be fired.

[ADeadSmitty]

He didn't get fired for calling her a "coon", but for merely saying it.  It doesn't even make sense in the context of the sentence!

I think the implication is that "coon" slipped out because he was talking about a black person, and that it wouldn't have happened if he was talking about a white person, which is the perceived problem. It's not just that the word "coon" was said.

[Pats2006]

Thats funny as hell.

[Lee]

I don't even know what a "coon" is, I've never heard that term before.  What is its historical significance?

[Brian Fein]

Lee, Click here