There I was, watching Rick Sanchez on CNN. He gave a report on a couple of things he encountered in Georgia lately. He told of a sign in front of a church that read “When the Wicked Beareth Rule the People Mourn” (from Proverbs). Maybe the church was addressing a bear market. You know, the Beareth Market as opposed to a Bulleth Market.
He saw flags at half staff. Were those confederate flags? (ouch)
He then told of the Statesville Record, a newspaper in Statesville, NC, that printed an article back in October (he made it sound as though it were just yesterday) with the headline “Analysis: Some whites fear an Obama presidency” and the first lines that read “What’s more scary: a bleak economy or a black president?” It created a bit of a stir. I’m not sure who was upset, people who might be “afraid” of a black president, people who were offended by the sentiment, or someone else. Nevertheless, the paper had to issue an apology. First, I can’t find the article in the Statesville Record on line, but it’s available here. Second, the article was written by Jesse Washington, AP Race & Ethnicity writer. It’s syndicated. Sanchez made it sound as though it were written by a Statesville writer. Third, did the paper owe an apology? From what I can tell, Washington was making an observation. It wasn’t his opinion. From the evidence he gave, it sounds like a pretty fair observation.
Bottom line, though, Sanchez should’ve been more careful about his 2-minute semi-sensational report. Shame on him.
