Perhaps there is a sense of national numbness in the USA after enduring month after month of racial slurs coming from the presumptive Republican nominee‘s mouth, but Donald Trump’s blunders have not gone without notice by many people around the globe.
On Wednesday, radio show host Howie Carr warmed up a crowd at a Trump rally with a racist imitation of a war-whoop, jabbing at Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Native American heritage. Jaws dropped throughout the country.
Afterwards, in a Boston Herald column Carr described a conversation he had with Trump after the rally in Maine regarding the racists gestures that outraged countless Americans.
Regarding the war-whoop, he said that Trump gave him the advice to not apologize for his actions, ever.
“Whatever you do, don’t apologize. You never hear me apologize, do you? That’s what killed Jimmy “the Greek” way back. Remember? He was doing OK ’til he said he was sorry.”
For those who are too young to recall the anti-black comments made 28 years ago by sports commentator, Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder, let’s look at what exactly was said that resulted in the broadcaster getting sacked by CBS.
The date was January 15, 1988, in celebration of Martin Luther King’s birthday, Jimmy the Greek was asked on video about the status of African-Americans in sports and he made offensive comments that shock and disgust, even until today.
“The black is a better athlete to begin with, because he’s been bred to be that way. Because of his high thighs that go up into his back. And they can jump higher and run faster because of their bigger thighs,” he said.
“This goes back all the way to the Civil War, when, during the slave trading, the owner, the slave owner, would breed his big black to his big woman so that he could have a big black kid. That’s where it all started,” Jimmy the Greek continued.
“They’ve [blacks] got everything. If they take over coaching like everybody wants them to, there’s not going to be anything left for the white people. I mean, all the players are black. I mean, the only thing that the whites control is the coaching jobs.”
After the airing of the interview later that evening received public backlash, he apologized for his comments, followed by yet another apology the following day. Jimmy the Greek refused to resign and two days after the comments were made CBS took the initiative and fired him.
There might be a touch of irony that a sports commentator was fired 28 years ago for such remarks and nowadays we see them everyday from the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee and his supporters. History remembers Jimmy the Greek and his tainted, shameful legacy; and he was not “doing OK” until he said that he was sorry.
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