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March 23, 2006
A Dose of Hypersensitivity
I saw the headline splashed on Drudge about some radio talk show host calling Secretary Rice a "coon."
I was outraged until I read the story. Isn't this really an honest mistake?
Lenihan was listing what assets Rice could bring to the league, including her tenure as a top academic officer at Stanford University and the fact that she is African-American.
“She’s just got a patent resume, of somebody that’s got such serious skill,” Linehan said on the air. “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, OK? I didn’t mean that. That was just a slip of the tongue.” Lenihan later said he meant to use the word "coup."
Reached at home, Lenihan said he was still trying to figure out what happened, and was drafting a letter of apology to Rice.
"I was trying to say 'quite a coup' but it came out 'coon,"' he said. "I caught myself and apologized. It wasn't anything I was meaning to say. I never use that word.
Coup, Condi, Coon. That all could get jumbled to me. If Kennedy got a pass for calling Barack Obama, "Obama Osama" then this guy deserves a chance to apologize and keep his job.
Posted by Aaron at March 23, 2006 08:10 AM
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