(April 13, 2006)

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    The above statement was made on air by Dave Lenihan, formerly of KTRS radio in St. Louis, in reference to the possibility of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice becoming commissioner of the National Football League.
 
    Within 20 minutes of the verbal gaffe…station CEO Tim Dorsey fired Lenihan and apologized to listeners on the air.
 
    The subsequent response and direction of outrage varied, irrespective of color.  Some felt that the miscue and apology were sincere in nature.  Some felt that regardless of intent, the utterance was simply unacceptable and Lenihan deserved to be fired.
 
    The latter is the key issue here.
 
    This past Wednesday, on KKBT 100.3 the BEAT in Los Angeles…something caught my attention and should have caught others’ as well.  Unfortunately, it may have gone relatively unnoticed, if not completely ignored by most.  For those unaware, KKBT is an ‘urban’ station; spinning both Hip-Hop and R&B.  In addition, it is Black-owned as part of the Radio-One conglomerate.  It is a ‘Black station,’ by most if not all definitions.
 
    During the morning show, at approximately 7:45am, “the other shoe dropped” as they say.
 
    The conversation started innocuously enough, with banter about Coca-Cola’s new beverage, named “Coca-Cola Blak.”  A female co-host (African-American) commented about its contents and how it wasn’t unlike what she had personally concocted on many occasions…cola + coffee.  There was more banter and then one of the male co-hosts quipped in response…
 
    “That’s just Coon Cola.”
 
    Note I left out the ethnicity of the male co-host.  In fact, I intentionally left out his ethnicity and name, as this commentary honestly has nothing to do with either. 
 
    Let’s stop right there and assume you didn’t hear the remark on KKBT.  And most of us did not hear the remark of Dave Lenihan on KTRS.  That’s one legitimate point of comparison.  Let’s also assume that at least in this instance on KKBT, the remark was ‘intentional’ in the sense of consciously choosing the word and using it in relation to African-Americans…another legitimate point of direct comparison.
 
    How should we as African-Americans feel?
 
    I preface what I’m about to say as someone who actually HEARD the remark and know for a fact that it was uttered in the spirit of ‘love’ (if there is such a thing when a word like ‘coon’ is juxtaposed with African-Americans.)
 
    From what I’ve come to know about the KTRS incident, I was and still am firmly against the dismissal of Dave Lenihan.  Unless Lenihan had an unpublicized history of similar ‘mistakes’ or related questionable behavior off-air, I find it regrettable he was fired.  This is coming from a proud African-American man who deplores racism in any and all of its forms and permutations.
 
    At the same time, I also find it regrettable that the ‘Coon Cola’ reference went by without so much as a peep of publicity or protest (other than The Mo’Kelly     Report).  In the same way that I don’t appreciate Black people referring to each other as N-words; I don’t especially care for the word Coon being included into the ‘terms of endearment’ lexicon either.
 
    Coon –
 
    kun)
    n.

 

    Informal. A raccoon.

 

    Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for a Black person.

 

    The aforementioned pretty much covers both its denotative and connotative meanings.  The larger irony in all of this is that the same KKBT morning show recently had a long on-air discussion on the use of the N-Word in the African-American community and whether it has any rightful place.
 
    I’m sure there are those who will respond that when ‘we’ say Coon or the N-Word…it’s ‘different.’  Or, that when ‘we’ say it, it’s a term of endearment and isn’t meant with the same vitriol or mean-spiritedness that accompanied its initial use in society. 
 
    Yeah, whatever…the same is said about calling women B-tches.  The argument holds no water under any circumstances.
 
    ‘Disrespectful’ is a concept that exists irrespective of context.  It just is. 
 
    You can’t refer to my mother or sister as a ‘B’ under any circumstances or in any context and it NOT be disrespectful.  Not in the spirit of love, not on your hip-hop record, not as a term of endearment and definitely not on your radio show…regardless of your color.
 
    Again…‘disrespectful’ is a concept that exists irrespective of context.  It just is
 
    Here is the real rub…
 
    I’m African-American and I was offended at the remark on KKBT…regardless of the race of the radio personality in question…or the supposed jocularity in its presentation.  There is no double standard with me in terms of these issues.  It’s about right and wrong, not subtle semantics.  The term Coon, (as is the N-word) is hateful, disparaging and disrespectful of African-Americans and our history in this country.  The etymology of the word has not changed and neither has its hateful history.
 
    Ostensibly, this should be a very clean and clear issue but folks like to cloud the waters for seemingly no justifiable reason.
 
    If it is acceptable for the word ‘coon’ to be used…let’s at least be consistent.  Let’s not get up in arms when White radio personalities use it…regardless of intent.  Or on the other hand, if we are to be offended when White radio personalities use such disparaging terminology, let’s not also turn a blind eye and ear when those in our own community use it with humor and blithe ignorance.  Pick a side of the fence and stay there.  It is time to be consistent with our ‘outrage’ as a collective community.
 
    Mark this moment.
 
    It’s moments like these we must remember…because surely we will be called Coons again on the radio, with malice even attached.  Surely there will be another ‘slip’ by a White radio personality and we’ll be up in arms calling for his dismissal and a public apology.  And surely, we’ll be undeniably hypocritical as a community when we do.
 
    You can’t claim ownership of a word, period.  If you find it offensive for our women to be called B’s or H’s…then probably we shouldn’t call our own African-American women B’s and H’s.  If you find it ‘derogatory’ when African-Americans and racial slurs are put together in the same sentence, then don’t be selective in your outrage.  Be equally incensed when ‘we’ do it as well.
 
    I was offended by the ‘Coon Cola’ reference on KKBT…as an African-American man.  It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t cool and in light of the recent firing of another radio host for the accidental utterance of the word…it smacks of unparalleled hypocrisy.  The radio personality’s ethnicity is of zero consequence and continuing to split these hairs is a fruitless and hypocritical endeavor.
 

 

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