Question Should a sports
announcer is mistaken?
Use of the N-word cost him his job.
A long time
baseball announcer for
the Oakland A's was let go
after he used the N-word on air,
which he says was unintentional.
During a pre-game show in Kansas City,
Glenn Kiper,
longtime baseball
announcer for the Oakland
A's, was talking to colleague
Dallas Braden
about their trip
to the Negro Leagues
Baseball Museum, which is in that city.
But Kiper mispronounced the word Negro
and instead used the slur.
We had a phenomenal day today.
The League Museum
and Arthur Bryant's barbershop
At the time, neither Carper
nor Braden offered any reaction.
Before the sixth inning,
Kiper told his audience this
little bit earlier in the show.
I said something didn't come out
quite the way I wanted it to,
and I just wanted to apologize if it
if it sounded different than I meant it
He was then suspended by NBC
Sports, California, and ultimately fired
the network, said in a statement,
quote, following an internal review.
The decision has been made
for NBC Sports, California
to end its relationship
with Glenn Kiper effective immediately.
We thank Glenn for his dedication
to Bay Area baseball over the years.
A person
familiar with the investigation
told the Associated Press
that the decision was based on
a, quote,
variety of factors,
including information
uncovered in that internal review.
We invited
Glenn Kiper to come on this program today
but he declined our offer.
In a written statement,
he called the slur
an unfortunate mispronunciation.
On that day,
I chose to spend my personal time
by educating myself and learning
more about MLB's history,
by going to the Negro League Museum.
I spent nearly 3 hours there
in an effort
to better understand
and more deeply
appreciate the difficulties
and social barriers
African-American players
endured in MLB's early years.
When the subject of the museum
visit came up on the pregame show,
I was excited
and eager to share what I had done
and seeing that day in my excitement.
I rushed through the word
Negro, resulting
in my very unfortunate mispronunciation.
I sincerely apologize
to everyone who was hurt by this.
It was a terrible
but honest mispronunciation.
I take full responsibility, he added.
Please know that racism is in
no way a part of me. It never has been.
It never will be.
I wish the Oakland A's
and NBC Sports
would have taken into consideration
my 20 year career,
my solid reputation,
integrity and character.
But in this current environment,
traits like integrity
and character are no longer considered.
Then the president of the museum,
Bob Kendrick, created a bit of a ruckus
when he tweeted out a statement saying,
My heart is one of forgiveness
and that he hoped others would find it
in themselves to do the same.
I recently spoke with Bob Kendrick
to ask him about that
Mr.
Kendrick.
What struck me when I watch
the tape is he said
he'd had a phenomenal day.
Obviously,
it was in praise of the museum, right?
It was I had met
I had met Glenn and his broadcast partner
Dallas Braden here at the museum
without a wonderful time.
I'm telling stories,
as I traditionally do, and particularly
Satchel Paige, stories
because of Satchel's
connection to the AIDS franchise.
Of course, here
as a member of the Kansas
City Ways in 1965
when he was reportedly 59 years old,
and he pitched his three shutout innings
against the Boston Red Sox
giving up
one hit to a young Carl Yastremska
which was absolutely amazing.
So we're having a great time
telling all of these stories and
and yeah
let me know
that we're going to go eat barbecue
and then head over to the ballpark
and get ready for the game.
What do you make of critics who say
the word was just too accessible,
too much on the tip of his tongue?
I understand what they're saying.
And yes, it does
sometimes maybe make one believe
that is the word
and maybe have been used before.
I don't know for certain.
So I understand that point of view.
But again,
that doesn't mean that it was deliberate.
It doesn't mean that
in this
case, I felt that
there was malicious intent.
It was an awful thing to say.
We acknowledge it as such.
We don't condone
what the use of the word was.
But I certainly believe
that was a mistake.
And I've been criticized
because I felt my mistake.
I was going to ask about exactly that.
What has been
the reaction to your forgiveness
Well, no one would never think so
much hate
would come along with forgiveness.
Again, as I've said before,
this seems a little bit counterintuitive,
but I understand to some degree
the emotional anguish
that something like this can generate
is a horrible
slur to have had happen.
So I understand that.
Now, was I surprised by how much
vitriol had come my way?
Absolutely.
But again,
that is the major particularly of. So
I hope the
silver lining is a boost
in your attendance, candidly.
I didn't know
the museum was in Kansas City.
I'm not going to come back to Kansas City
without stopping in for a visit.
And I hope that others do likewise.
Well,
I hope so, too,
because, Michael,
we had just announced our plans
to build a brand new 30,000
square foot standalone
Negro Leagues
Baseball Museum
just a few days before this happened.
So I was riding a tremendous high, man.
You know, this notion
of building a new museum,
even though it's going to cost us
about $25 million to build it.
And I've gotten a lot
of congratulations on
having to raise $25 million
in order to do this.
But I understand
people are excited and we were excited.
And then this happens
and you find yourself
kind of embroiled
in something
that was really not your own doing.
But again, it comes with the territory.
And I do think
a lot of people have learned
about the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
And I hope we continue to see
a lot of people
who will make their way here
as we record this.
The Washington
Nationals are walking through this museum
right now, and it never gets old.
I always enjoy young athletes. Come here.