On MLK Day, US still divided!
Sans doubt, Martin Luther King (MLK) Junior remains one of the greatest Americans ever. For his greatness and for his Civil Rights campaign, he is ranked alongside Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. Small wonder Senator Kamala Harris should have chosen the day devoted to him to announce her bid for the 2020 Presidential elections. That may have been the only silver lining. Else, racist slurs and stories of black and white divisions dominated. Sad reflection on truly great souls and their legacies. For the second time in less than two weeks, a local television newsperson used a racial slur while talking about the Revolutionary Martin Luther King Jr. Around 5:30 a.m., news anchor Kevin Steincross of KTVI in St. Louis was on the air and said a tribute at St. Louis University would honour "Martin Luther coon Jr.." Around 9 a.m., Steincross went on the air to apologise. "In our story about the tribute to Dr King, I, unfortunately, mispronounced his name. Please know I have total respect for Dr King, what he meant and continues to mean to our country." Tribune Broadcasting said Steincross made an unfortunate mistake and the station will not take disciplinary measures. The St. Louis chapter of the NAACP tweeted Thursday that Steincross needs to lose his job. The incident was "deplorable and should not be tolerated! The Anchor needs to resign," the tweet said. This has happened before too. Earlier this month, a TV meteorologist in New York state was fired after using the same slur. During WHEC's evening broadcast, Jeremy Kappell said "Martin Luther Coon Park" when referring to a downtown Rochester park named after slain civil rights movement leader. Kappell said his use of the slur was a mistake caused by speaking too quickly. The mayor of Rochester and the city council issued a statement calling for Kappell to be fired. WHEC fired Kappell with the station vice president and general manager Richard A. Reingold saying, "These words have no place on News10NBC's air, and the fact that we broadcast them disheartens and disgusts me; that it was not caught immediately is inexcusable." King was a man who was truly respected by assassinated President John F Kennedy. His famous, "I have a Dream" speech still reverberates over the world. His Civil Rights campaign ensured the Afro-Americans their place under the sun. But, sadly, racism is back as is a nation divided. Blacks feel insecure again. Sadly and not surprisingly, nothing significant came from the White House even if there was a quick Trump visit to the MLK memorial site.
