Man ... I've typed, and then deleted, and then typed again for this blog because it is such a sensitive subject, and rightfully so.
Jeremy Kappell, a Rochester, NY meteorologist, was giving a weather report, and accidentally slipped when talking about a park in the downtown area named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Basically, he was giving so much information that he got tongue-tied, and combined "Luther" and "King" to create a pretty horrible racial slur (you can listen to the video below).
Now listen ... I absolutely understand where people are coming from that are offended that this word was uttered on TV. It made me cringe a little bit when I heard it too. However, Kappell was fired from his position by his news station, and the mayor of Rochester was so outraged by it that she basically called for his firing. Do I think that's a little extreme? Absolutely. If I had a nickel for every person who told me that they would be great on the radio, I could retire from this industry that I love so much. But until you actually do it, you have no idea how many times you will be tongue tied while trying to get out as much information as we do to our audiences. Now think about how much information your friendly meteorologist gives you, and you don't understand half of it. They're on a time crunch, and they're trying to convey as much as they can to you. This was not a case of racism. This was a man trying to do his job, and he made a mistake. A big one, yes, but still a mistake.
I hope Jeremy Kappell finds a new job soon, and that he and his family can move on. And I hope those who have hate in their hearts for him can do the same.
(The audio isn't great, but this is a clip below of him immediately correcting himself, and then a video he posted on Facebook clearing everything up)