ESPN erred in its handling of the Jeremy Lin kerfuffle
posted at 3:15 pm on February 21, 2012 by Howard Portnoy
It is beginning to seem that Attorney General Eric Holder was on to something. We are a nation of cowards when it comes to matters of race. We have become so afraid of our own—or someone else’s—shadow that we can scarcely inhale or exhale without fear that someone will take offense at the “code” underlying the involuntary process of respiration.
Our manic need to tread lightly on eggshells was exemplified again recently in the aftermath of a headline published on ESPN’s mobile website. The headline, “Chink in the Armor: Jeremy Lin’s 9 Turnovers Cost Knicks in Streak-stopping Loss to Hornets,” appeared at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday and disappeared at 3:05 a.m.Its author, editor Anthony Federico, disappeared soon afterward as well, fired by ESPN for using a racial slur. Jeremy Lin is an American of Taiwanese descent.
But the house cleaning didn’t stop there. ESPN also suspended anchor Max Bretos, who had used the same expression on air earlier in the week when he asked Knicks legend-turned-commentator Walt (Clyde) Frazier, “If there is a chink in the armor, where can he improve his game?”
Of Bretos’s transgression, New York’s Daily News reports:
The moment passed almost entirely without notice. A video replay suggests Bretos was not trying to be funny but made a poor choice of colloquialism. He tweeted his apologies Saturday, saying he meant no racial reference but would be extra-careful in the future.
As proof that he harbors no impure thought, Bretos wrote in his tweet, “My wife is Asian.” I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that some of his best friends are black.
Federico claims his innocence as well, telling the Daily News that the offending phrase is one he has used “at least 100 times” over the years, that its usage this time “had nothing to do with me being cute or punny.”He is also philosophical about his firing, saying “ESPN did what they had to do.”
I disagree, and not because Lin himself has taken the high road and stated that he doesn’t think the slight was intentional. Rather, it is because I believe ESPN overreacted. At some point, the effort to monitor one’s own p’s and q’s becomes so onerous as to reach a point of diminishing returns. Eventually, the entire thread of communication threatens to unravel.
P.S. Sports blogger Mike Silva offers an interesting coda to the story, noting that Jason Whitlock of FOX Sports made a racially disparaging comment about Lin back on February 12, tweeting after a game that “some lucky lady in NYC is gonna feel a couple inches of pain tonight.” Whitlock’s attack earned him the wrath of the Asian American Journalists Association, who asked for—and received—an apology. But FOX Sports was silent about the comment. Silva, pointing out that Whitlock is black while Federico and Bretos are white, wonders if an industry double standard is at work.
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Spot on HP
cmsinaz on February 21, 2012 at 3:36 PM
Frederico is 28, it’s possible he’s hardly every heard the word “chink” as applied to a Chinese person. Those of us of a certain age might be quicker in drawing the inference.
rbj on February 21, 2012 at 3:36 PM
The whole “controversy” is stupid. The phrase “chink in the armor” has no racial component.
BD57 on February 21, 2012 at 3:48 PM
I don’t think Frederico should have been fired for racism, but he should have been fired for being a bad headline writer. A writer or editor who brings that kind of unwanted publicity to a corporation isn’t doing his job.
But in an act of an actual intentional racial slur, I don’t know how Whitlock from Fox Sports still has his job.
redeye on February 21, 2012 at 3:57 PM
well howard
in the nanny state, one has to check any sense of humor at the door unless it is aimed at a conservative or the delivery comes from a minority (then it’s ok).
teejk on February 21, 2012 at 4:06 PM
Pattern emerging, teejk?
Howard Portnoy on February 21, 2012 at 4:29 PM
Stupid comment by Whitlock, but not his first. The double standard exists in sports as it does in every other MSM outlet. As for ESPN, they’ve become a bit too politically correct for my taste and come off looking like a bunch of wimps…again.
HoosierStateofMind on February 21, 2012 at 5:01 PM
ESPN should apologize for excessive over-sensationalism of players like Lin (&Tebow), and even moreso apologize for theie insufferable on-air anchors who shamelessly and blatantly root for certain teams over others. The only time I watch them is when they’re the only place I can watch one of my fave teams play but then I turn down the TV sound and listen to local radio.
stukinIL4now on February 21, 2012 at 5:55 PM
well Howard…guess I’ll have to work harder to hide my sarcastic/cynical side (I got lazy I guess beating up on liberals where I could post at a 1st grade level and they would argue with me).
teejk on February 21, 2012 at 7:10 PM
they have been PC for years I think…they kicked Howard C to the curb over something stupid (liked him or not he was “unique”). And then they did the same to Dennis Miller who I thought knew nothing about football but was “refreshing” in the booth (I still enjoy listening to that guy but my AM reception is pretty weak in my metal shop building).
teejk on February 21, 2012 at 7:16 PM
We’ve become a nation of morons.
J.E. Dyer on February 21, 2012 at 11:34 PM
Exactly. They fired an incompetent copywriter. I fully believe him when he says it was unintentional. But it’s a major faux pas. People get fired for committing mistakes all the time. There are thousands of journalism majors waiting on the wings. It’s the law of life.
joana on February 21, 2012 at 11:35 PM
Only if you’re a paranoiac who sees racism behind every corner.
“A chink in the armor” is a well-worn and often used analogy with no racial component to be found, unless one is predisposed to find racism in every other word or action.
It’s a sad state of affairs when this kind of nonsense is becoming the norm.
hillbillyjim on February 22, 2012 at 2:58 PM
Ain’t it great to take the opportunity to express your moral superiority by firing some poor white schmuck over nothing . . .
BigAlSouth on February 23, 2012 at 5:18 AM
Probably this.
roy_batty on February 23, 2012 at 7:08 AM
When ESPN ran the Lin/chink story, I immediately harkened back to the many stories excessively showing Tebow praying with the accompanying condescending reporters remarks and wondered why they weren’t “Federico’d”, too.
Hillbillyjim and Big Al are spot on
DevilsPrinciple on February 23, 2012 at 7:30 AM
We may not be there yet but we’re getting close.
Connie Willis nailed the reductio ad absurdum in her short story , “Ado”,:
AesopFan on February 25, 2012 at 1:35 AM