Mothership lets a racial slur slip in a headline on its mobile browser

I said heads will roll. Perhaps others will learn from this mistake.

 

Another term I see frequently used is "cake walk."

It is interesting how some words lose some of their racial force as time passes. Does "chink" fall into this category? Probably not yet, though I believe the editor that it didn't occur to him. He was just using a cliche in a pinch.

I'm reminded of Sarah Palin using "blood libel," a term that some Jews considered offensive, but which she argued (somewhat convincingly) had shed that exclusive connotation by that point.

 

I do too. And, if he has used the term in previous headlines, it would be a point in favor of his defense.

It would be stupid, but at least it would probably mean it wasn't intentionally stupid.

And, it still makes me think it's sill for ESPN to not name him, or the ESPNews anchor. It's not like others won't report their names, and tell the full story.

 

Perhaps there is a legal reason for not using their names, i.e. a "personnel matter."

 

Nothing like original thought from a 28-year-old who has used a cliche "at least a 100 times" in a career spanning a whopping 6-7 years.

 

Cakewalk is something that very, very, very few people know has anything to do with race and even for those who do, it's not obviously offensive based on the definition. But even knowing that is has anything to do with race should be enough to keep people from using it, but you still see it all the time...

It's not going to get anyone fired or suspended. At the worst, they would get a "Hey, did you know this actually means this?"

"Chink in the armor" is just beyond stupid. It's the kind of headline that someone in the office says as a joke and the rest either laugh nervously or groan.

 

I don't believe him for a second.

 

You're right. What I'm saying is this: At some point in time, I bet people would have immediately recognized its racial component. There seems to come some tipping point in a slang term's history when it sheds its original connotation. For example: Just 20 years ago, I bet nobody would have dreamed of using "suck" or "suck" in a story, because it was understood to be short for "sucks dick/cock." I bet a lot of people today don't even realize that.

 

Why not? What if he could prove that he really does use it as a go-to cliche in his headlines?

 

Yeah, but if I'm him, at this point I'd rather be accused of being bad at my job/uncreative than a racist.