I am amazed at the Buckwheat of past that is coming to light.
Sharpton's spokeswoman told NewsMax.com that he wouldn't comment on the Rather controversy.
Singer-songwriter Garland
Jeffries, for instance,
memorialized the racially
offensive aspects of the
"Little Rascals" character in a
1992 album he titled "Don't
Call Me Buckwheat."
The
title track of this new
collection called "Don't Call
Me Buckwheat" comes from the
memory of a happy day at the
ballpark, ruined by a vicious
ethnic slur shouted at him by a
crowd of drunks.
JEFFRIES: And one of the guys
says from behind me, "Hey,
Buckwheat. Buckwheat, get the F
out of here, you're blocking
our view." ... I froze at that
moment and I really, you know,
turned around. I was - it
wasn't anger, it was hurt.
Even when "Buckwheat" is used
by someone who, like Rather,
may intend no offense, the
reaction is usually sharp and
swift.
In 1994, The Urban League
slammed Rhode Island's
Department of Education for not
firing a Central Falls
Junior-Senior High School
teacher who suggested that an
African-American student play
Buckwheat in a black history
celebration.
A year later, when a Texas
teacher was merely accused of
calling a student "Buckwheat"
(a charge the teacher denied),
she was suspended. Not
satisfied with the punishment,
the NAACP marched on her school
when she returned to work.
"The NAACP-organized march
outside the Adams Middle School
... was the second since the
teacher's reinstatement two
weeks ago," reported the Dallas
Morning News.
The student's mother told the
Dallas paper that her daughter
was "shocked" when the teacher
called her "Buckwheat." "She
couldn't believe the teacher
told her that. ... Buckwheat is
a racial slur."
Even the most innocuous on-air
references to Buckwheat have
landed several of Dan Rather's
TV news colleagues in hot
water.
Jet magazine reported on one
1993 incident.
"Chicago's FOX-TV station
WFLD-Channel 32 came under fire
for referring to one of its
black anchors as 'Buckwheat'
"After a story aired on casting
for an upcoming movie version
of the Little Rascals, 'Good
Day Chicago' anchors David Rose
and Marianne Murciano said they
wondered which of their fellow
colleagues might be cast in the
film. They mentioned anchor
Darryl Dennard for the role of
Buckwheat. ... Some employees
were immediately offended."
So far, CBS News, the Urban
League, the NAACP and Jesse
Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH
Coalition have not returned
calls requesting comment on Dan
Rather's "Buckwheat" outburst.
..........http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2001/7/26/93933
tom watson tosiwmee |
