Al Roker Proves If You’re Black, You Can Say Whatever You Want

Al Roker was proud as a member of the NBC team when Don Imus got fired:

I, for one, am really tired of the diatribes, the “humor” at others expense, the cruelty that passes for “funny”. Don imus isn’t the only one doing this, but today he’s the one in the hot seat.

What he said was vile and disgusting. It denigrated an entire team and by extension, a community and its pride in a group that had excelled.

[...]

Yet, Don Imus needs to be fired for what he said. And while we’re at it,his producer, Bernard McGurk needs to be canned as well. McGurk is just as guilty, often egging Imus on.

The “I’m a good person who said a bad thing” apology doesn’t cut it. At least he didn’t try to weasel out of this by hiding behind alcohol or drug abuse. Still, he said it and a two week suspension doesn’t cut it. It is, at best a slap on the wrist. A vacation. Nothing

Nothing, huh Al you hypocrite?

Al Roker is lucky he’s black. If he wasn’t, there would be consequences for what he said last week. Oh wait, you didn’t hear it? Of course you didn’t because the media handles black people who say horrific things a whole hell of a lot differently. No firing for Al, oh no…

Wait, you don’t know what he said… Here’s an article about it that was buried in the New York Post over the weekend.

June 9, 2007 — AL Roker apologized yesterday for joking about epileptic seizures on Thursday’s “Today” show.

“Remember that controversial Olympic logo for the 2012 Olympics in London? Some folks have complained that the campaign actually sent them into epileptic seizures,” Roker said on Thursday’s show.

“Well, we asked you to weigh in on our Web site in an informal poll; those of you who could get up off the floor after shaking around were able to actually log in . . . ”

Yesterday, Roker said he was sorry.

“I started joking about it. I want to make this clear – I was not joking about epilepsy or anyone who suffers from epilepsy,” he said at around 8:04 a.m. while he was delivering a weather report from Milwaukee.

“We understand and know that this is a serious affliction and would never joke about that.

“We were joking about the logo – not about epilepsy. If anybody was offended, I heartily and really humbly apologize.”

“Today’s” poll showed that 80 percent of viewers thought the logo was inappropriate.

So… Is Al Roker going to get fired?

Suspended?

Reprimanded?

Admonished?

ANYTHING?

Hell’s no. Just like Al Sharpton isn’t a racist. Just like liberals are never racist or bigoted. Just like gays who insult heterosexual people aren’t bigots.

The double standard is alive and well in the world, and Al Roker is quite a shining product of it.

(PS: I’m not saying Al Roker should be fired for what he said; what I’m saying is that in the interests of consistency, Al Roker should suffer the same result as Don Imus. Of course he won’t, and that’s really my point.)

 

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  • Bruce

    The terrible thing about this is Al Roker by saying that didn’t even get the network to make an apology.

    But this whole thing is out of control. And the other Al is the one who started all this.

    He should be fired and banned from the airways period.

    Al Roker just needs to be suspended for a month. So he thinks before he speaks.

    Notice his blog has not been updated since April 23rd?

    June 29th (A Friday) Thousands of Imus supporters will be in front of MSNBC, NBC and CBS showing their disdain over the Firing of the “Great Imus”. Al Roker best not go out or he may be pelted with banana’s

  • Bruce

    The terrible thing about this is Al Roker by saying that didn’t even get the network to make an apology.

    But this whole thing is out of control. And the other Al is the one who started all this.

    He should be fired and banned from the airways period.

    Al Roker just needs to be suspended for a month. So he thinks before he speaks.

    Notice his blog has not been updated since April 23rd?

    June 29th (A Friday) Thousands of Imus supporters will be in front of MSNBC, NBC and CBS showing their disdain over the Firing of the “Great Imus”. Al Roker best not go out or he may be pelted with banana’s

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  • The Masked Rye

    The world is crazy. He should have a harsher consequence rather than just apologizing. As much as I didn’t like Imus, I didn’t think he deserved to be fired. As much as I like Al, this is just as bad (only it affects a small group of people, and since most people don’t like Imus, but most people do like Al, we’ll ignore it).

    I’ve forwarded this information to a ton of people and asked them to write in to NBC. Hey, if middle america can bring back Jericho and if Sharpton can get a radio mainstay fired, why can’t we take down a weatherman? Maybe not to get him fired, but something bigger than “sorry! I didn’t mean it!” Hell, Imus did a ton more than that but it meant nothing to Al or Al.

  • The Masked Rye

    The world is crazy. He should have a harsher consequence rather than just apologizing. As much as I didn’t like Imus, I didn’t think he deserved to be fired. As much as I like Al, this is just as bad (only it affects a small group of people, and since most people don’t like Imus, but most people do like Al, we’ll ignore it).

    I’ve forwarded this information to a ton of people and asked them to write in to NBC. Hey, if middle america can bring back Jericho and if Sharpton can get a radio mainstay fired, why can’t we take down a weatherman? Maybe not to get him fired, but something bigger than “sorry! I didn’t mean it!” Hell, Imus did a ton more than that but it meant nothing to Al or Al.

  • http://www.lavatorylady.blogspot.com/ The Lavatory Lady

    Al should not be fired. I don’t necessarily think that Don Imus should have been fired either. The difference here is not race, but the fact that Don Imus had said things before that got him in trouble. Al made a bad choice but this is not repetitive behavior. As far as black people saying whatever they want to say; tell it to Isaiah Washington.

  • http://www.lavatorylady.blogspot.com The Lavatory Lady

    Al should not be fired. I don’t necessarily think that Don Imus should have been fired either. The difference here is not race, but the fact that Don Imus had said things before that got him in trouble. Al made a bad choice but this is not repetitive behavior. As far as black people saying whatever they want to say; tell it to Isaiah Washington.

  • http://www.insignificantthoughts.com/ Vinny

    Don Imus saying things “before” really has nothing to do with this. He wasn’t fired for those things before when they happened, nor was he fired this time because of his history. He was fired because of what he did a few weeks ago.

    The difference IS ALWAYS race and politics. Al Sharpton, Al Roker, Bryant Gumbel and other black people get away with this on a regular basis and nothing is ever done or said. The rap industry is built on calling white people crackahs. Frankly, racism is okay as long as it isn’t perceived to be coming out of a white mouth.

  • http://www.insignificantthoughts.com Vinny

    Don Imus saying things “before” really has nothing to do with this. He wasn’t fired for those things before when they happened, nor was he fired this time because of his history. He was fired because of what he did a few weeks ago.

    The difference IS ALWAYS race and politics. Al Sharpton, Al Roker, Bryant Gumbel and other black people get away with this on a regular basis and nothing is ever done or said. The rap industry is built on calling white people crackahs. Frankly, racism is okay as long as it isn’t perceived to be coming out of a white mouth.

  • http://www.lavatorylady.blogspot.com/ Lavatory Lady

    Please name a rap song that has the word Crakah in it?? If anything, rap is a further detriment to the black community than the white. Further, Al was making fun of the LOGO…it’s not as if they were doing a segment on epilepsy and he said it. Context does matter. I don’t think we need to start playing tit for tat because nobody would be on the airwaves or television for that matter.

  • http://www.lavatorylady.blogspot.com Lavatory Lady

    Please name a rap song that has the word Crakah in it?? If anything, rap is a further detriment to the black community than the white. Further, Al was making fun of the LOGO…it’s not as if they were doing a segment on epilepsy and he said it. Context does matter. I don’t think we need to start playing tit for tat because nobody would be on the airwaves or television for that matter.

  • http://www.insignificantthoughts.com/ Vinny

    First of all, go back and re-read my post. I specifically said I don’t think Al Roker should be fired. I specifically said that they should apply the same standard to him that they applied to Imus: Roker made light of a serious and sometimes fatal illness and nothing has come of it.

    Secondly, Al Roker is not paid to be shocking or to do edgy commentary. He’s paid to be a fat windbag that reads weather off a teleprompter while pretending to see it on the blank screen behind him. That’s his job.

    He wasn’t just making fun of the logo. His exact words were:

    “Remember that controversial Olympic logo for the 2012 Olympics in London? Some folks have complained that the campaign actually sent them into epileptic seizures,” Roker said on Thursday’s show.

    “Well, we asked you to weigh in on our Web site in an informal poll; those of you who could get up off the floor after shaking around were able to actually log in . . .

    In your world, do logos typically twitch around on the floor and vote in web polls?

    And just in the interest of clarification, are you black? And the reason I ask is not because I’m racist, so before you whip out that tired old strawman, I don’t even want to hear it. I just want to know because I’ve noticed that the “black community” has a major problem when it comes time for them to eat their own.

  • http://www.insignificantthoughts.com Vinny

    First of all, go back and re-read my post. I specifically said I don’t think Al Roker should be fired. I specifically said that they should apply the same standard to him that they applied to Imus: Roker made light of a serious and sometimes fatal illness and nothing has come of it.

    Secondly, Al Roker is not paid to be shocking or to do edgy commentary. He’s paid to be a fat windbag that reads weather off a teleprompter while pretending to see it on the blank screen behind him. That’s his job.

    He wasn’t just making fun of the logo. His exact words were:

    “Remember that controversial Olympic logo for the 2012 Olympics in London? Some folks have complained that the campaign actually sent them into epileptic seizures,” Roker said on Thursday’s show.

    “Well, we asked you to weigh in on our Web site in an informal poll; those of you who could get up off the floor after shaking around were able to actually log in . . .

    In your world, do logos typically twitch around on the floor and vote in web polls?

    And just in the interest of clarification, are you black? And the reason I ask is not because I’m racist, so before you whip out that tired old strawman, I don’t even want to hear it. I just want to know because I’ve noticed that the “black community” has a major problem when it comes time for them to eat their own.

  • http://www.insomnomaniac.com/ Deb

    I think the only difference between Al and Isaiah is that being gay trumps having a disability or afflication. In the grand PC hierarchy of who’s allowed to make fun of whom, those who are “stigamtized” by society always trump those who are not. If you are gay (the assumption is) society “hates” you, but if you have epilepsy, society may pity you but they don’t *judge* you.

    Remember, I’m analyzing this from the perspective of the person *with* the victim mentality, this is not MY opinion of how it *should* work, nuh-uh, no way, but it does work this way, you know it does.

    So when Isaiah makes fun of a gay guy, he’s attacked and loses his job b/c his blackness (ironically) is not a “stigma” the way the other guy’s gayness is. Mind you, if Isaiah were a black gang banger who grew up without a daddy, “let down” by the broader (white) society and unaccountable for his own ignorance and intolerance, well then, he could call every gay man in Hollywood a “fag” and nothing would happen to him. But as a clean-cut good-looking well-spoken successful black guy, the “blackness” just doesn’t measure up to the gayness.

    In the Al Roker case, Al’s blackness makes him more pitable than the poor nameless faceless epileptics in the audience. Poor Al, he can’t be blamed, he’s part of a victim class just like the epileptics are. You can’t be held accountable for potentially offending nameless faceless people, I mean we have to start by assuming they’re all white, don’t we?

    Now if the epileptics in question were GAY, you just might have heard him reprimanded, but as long as they were just nameless faceless non-members of a victim class more pitiable than the one to which Al belongs, he’s safe.

    I know, crazy, but that’s how it seems to me. The rules are very complicated, but they are there if you look for them.

  • http://www.insomnomaniac.com Deb

    I think the only difference between Al and Isaiah is that being gay trumps having a disability or afflication. In the grand PC hierarchy of who’s allowed to make fun of whom, those who are “stigamtized” by society always trump those who are not. If you are gay (the assumption is) society “hates” you, but if you have epilepsy, society may pity you but they don’t *judge* you.

    Remember, I’m analyzing this from the perspective of the person *with* the victim mentality, this is not MY opinion of how it *should* work, nuh-uh, no way, but it does work this way, you know it does.

    So when Isaiah makes fun of a gay guy, he’s attacked and loses his job b/c his blackness (ironically) is not a “stigma” the way the other guy’s gayness is. Mind you, if Isaiah were a black gang banger who grew up without a daddy, “let down” by the broader (white) society and unaccountable for his own ignorance and intolerance, well then, he could call every gay man in Hollywood a “fag” and nothing would happen to him. But as a clean-cut good-looking well-spoken successful black guy, the “blackness” just doesn’t measure up to the gayness.

    In the Al Roker case, Al’s blackness makes him more pitable than the poor nameless faceless epileptics in the audience. Poor Al, he can’t be blamed, he’s part of a victim class just like the epileptics are. You can’t be held accountable for potentially offending nameless faceless people, I mean we have to start by assuming they’re all white, don’t we?

    Now if the epileptics in question were GAY, you just might have heard him reprimanded, but as long as they were just nameless faceless non-members of a victim class more pitiable than the one to which Al belongs, he’s safe.

    I know, crazy, but that’s how it seems to me. The rules are very complicated, but they are there if you look for them.

  • The Masked Rye

    Not to beat a dead, black epileptic gay horse here (what?! It’s possible!), but the issue should be whether it’s ok for anyone to make fun of any other group. I’m not black nor am I epileptic, but just reading that comment made me cringe. It’s clear that it’s not appropriate. Also, I never liked Don Imus, and what he said was also not appropriate. However, there is so much of that stuff all over the media. As much as I didn’t like Don Imus, he got paid to be a “shock jock”. So it’s fine and funny until the canon is aimed at you? If it offends you (a lot of that stuff is offensive to a lot of people) you shouldn’t listen. Now, as Vinny said, Al’s job is not to make inappropriate jokes… it’s to be a news commentator/weather dude. A lot of people wouldn’t let their kids listen to Imus, so they wouldn’t hear the offensive comments. But who would censor their kids from watching Al Roker? He’s got a greater responsibility to be straight laced.

    I’ve gotten no response from my emails to NBC on this.

  • The Masked Rye

    Not to beat a dead, black epileptic gay horse here (what?! It’s possible!), but the issue should be whether it’s ok for anyone to make fun of any other group. I’m not black nor am I epileptic, but just reading that comment made me cringe. It’s clear that it’s not appropriate. Also, I never liked Don Imus, and what he said was also not appropriate. However, there is so much of that stuff all over the media. As much as I didn’t like Don Imus, he got paid to be a “shock jock”. So it’s fine and funny until the canon is aimed at you? If it offends you (a lot of that stuff is offensive to a lot of people) you shouldn’t listen. Now, as Vinny said, Al’s job is not to make inappropriate jokes… it’s to be a news commentator/weather dude. A lot of people wouldn’t let their kids listen to Imus, so they wouldn’t hear the offensive comments. But who would censor their kids from watching Al Roker? He’s got a greater responsibility to be straight laced.

    I’ve gotten no response from my emails to NBC on this.

  • The Masked Rye

    And Vinny was just summarizing the focus of rap. Maybe a lot of the songs don’t use “crackah”, but for sure, a lot of them are derogatory towards women, and negative towards “The Man”. Rap totally brings down the black community while widening the gap between races that it should be closing. Music can bring people together and this opportunity is being wasted. Do we need more thugs in the world? Urban low-income minority populations don’t look to Wil Smith as a role model, they look to Tupac and other “gangsta rappers”.

    And we don’t need to play tit for tat, but Al created the issue when he commented on Imus and then made a fool of himself in a very similar way. Is it not as harsh because you can’t determine if someone suffers from epilepsy because of the color of their skin? Would it be worse if they were green or blue? Then people would be upset at Al Roker? My wife mentioned this whole thing to a friend of hers at dinner, and a black couple next to her said “I can’t believe how racist she is.” They didn’t care that Al said anything negative, they just heard “I’m a white person speaking negatively about a black person.” Such a shame, because anyone who knows my wife knows that’s the furthest thing from the truth.

    Let’s get rid of the double standards. How many of us were slaves? How many of our parents? Can I be upset as a Jew because of the stereotypes out there? Because my relatives were persecuted? Because my family lived and died in concentration camps? I’m part Native American as well, so can I tack on all of the baggage that entails? Yeah, things may not be all equal, but the playing field is fairly even over the long stretch. Get an education and you can get a job like everyone else, regardless of race/orientation. And if I can’t say stupid offensive things, neither can you. And if you’re a good-natured TV figure and you say something stupid and offensive, you should suffer the same consequences as the dirty-old-curmudgeon who says something offensive as well.

    God, the world is so stupid!

  • The Masked Rye

    And Vinny was just summarizing the focus of rap. Maybe a lot of the songs don’t use “crackah”, but for sure, a lot of them are derogatory towards women, and negative towards “The Man”. Rap totally brings down the black community while widening the gap between races that it should be closing. Music can bring people together and this opportunity is being wasted. Do we need more thugs in the world? Urban low-income minority populations don’t look to Wil Smith as a role model, they look to Tupac and other “gangsta rappers”.

    And we don’t need to play tit for tat, but Al created the issue when he commented on Imus and then made a fool of himself in a very similar way. Is it not as harsh because you can’t determine if someone suffers from epilepsy because of the color of their skin? Would it be worse if they were green or blue? Then people would be upset at Al Roker? My wife mentioned this whole thing to a friend of hers at dinner, and a black couple next to her said “I can’t believe how racist she is.” They didn’t care that Al said anything negative, they just heard “I’m a white person speaking negatively about a black person.” Such a shame, because anyone who knows my wife knows that’s the furthest thing from the truth.

    Let’s get rid of the double standards. How many of us were slaves? How many of our parents? Can I be upset as a Jew because of the stereotypes out there? Because my relatives were persecuted? Because my family lived and died in concentration camps? I’m part Native American as well, so can I tack on all of the baggage that entails? Yeah, things may not be all equal, but the playing field is fairly even over the long stretch. Get an education and you can get a job like everyone else, regardless of race/orientation. And if I can’t say stupid offensive things, neither can you. And if you’re a good-natured TV figure and you say something stupid and offensive, you should suffer the same consequences as the dirty-old-curmudgeon who says something offensive as well.

    God, the world is so stupid!

  • Al Is a douche

    Al is a hippocrite and a douche. His apology wasn’t even an apology. Imus’ comments were in a humorous context and shouldn’t have even mattered. Funny, though that “Fat” Al Roker not only called for his firing, he then delivered a more abrasive attack on people who are victims of a terrible disease.

    While I think that anyone should be able to say anything (1st Amendment), it’s ironic that he did exactly what he wagged his finger at.

    What a jerk.

  • Al Is a douche

    Al is a hippocrite and a douche. His apology wasn’t even an apology. Imus’ comments were in a humorous context and shouldn’t have even mattered. Funny, though that “Fat” Al Roker not only called for his firing, he then delivered a more abrasive attack on people who are victims of a terrible disease.

    While I think that anyone should be able to say anything (1st Amendment), it’s ironic that he did exactly what he wagged his finger at.

    What a jerk.