Frank Beckmann, Det News article, uh-oh [LOCKED]
It has taken a few days, but a piece that UM football p-b-p radio announcer Frank Beckmann wrote regarding fried chicken and the Woods-Garcia flap is starting to get a lot of negative attention for Frank.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130524/OPINION01/305240023/1268/OP…
To the politically correct, the mention of fried chicken is an immediate endorsement of slavery rather than a testament to the innovative determination of the American slave population to improve its own physical wellbeing by creating a readily available dish which improved their diet.
Making fried chicken and popularizing it could thus be viewed as an accomplishment that should serve as a testament to the determination of a group of people who found an inventive way to subsist while enduring unimaginable and deplorable living conditions.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130524/OPINION01/305240023#ixzz2UcLfUjwE
mods, feel free to delete if this should not have been posted.
Mod edit: This seems a little like the Brandon for Senate stuff where it's related enough to get posted, but not worth sorting out politics from not-politics in the comments, aside from the fact that it will all inevitably become politics at some point. JGB.
especially with his attempt to equate German cuisine with the racial stereotyping that fried chicken has frequently been associated with over the last several decades. I suppose next up is a long editorial on how unfair it is that white folks can't use "nigg*r" while black American rappers can use it an all-purpose noun, verb, and adjective. I sincerely doubt Beckmann's an old-fashioned racist, but he's naive if he thinks that Garcia's comment didn't reveal a bit of racial animus. As in many other parts of Europe, racist attitudes are quite common among Spaniards.
Though I think Beckmann's a complete doorknob when it comes to subjects other than sports, I don't think the op-ed warrants his dismissal from the broadcast team. He's been a damn good Michigan broadcaster for a long time, and I think he deserves some consideration for that. It would be unfortunate if he ends up losing his position because of this, but I won't shed any tears for him, either. It's a self-inflicted wound. He could have defended Garcia without putting his own ass on the firing line, but he was unable or unwilling to do it that way.
Didn't he have anything else to write about....say maybe the Cal golf team?
Yeah, I definitely don't think this is his best work. I do enjoy him as our play-by-play guy, though, so I'll be disappointed if he's let go.
On a bit of a tangent, I think it's curious that Tiger Woods is routinely referred to as a "black golfer" as though the other 75% of his heritage doesn't count. I don't really think he should be pigeonholed into one racial category, but if you have to do so, shouldn't he be considered Asian?
Why can't old white guys just shut up about what blacks should find offensive? I hate political correctness, but this just shows that Beckman may not be as smart as he obviously thinks he is.This puts him right up there with Rush and Jimmy the Greek.