What do you get when you have a United Nations newsroom that includes a Jewish-American publisher, a Swedish-American executive editor and a Cuban-American sports columnist whom the locals call Le Bastard?
Well besides outsourced production to India, you end up with a lot of pissed off readers when the sports columnist writes the following line about fired Miami Dolphin coach Cam Cameron on The Miami Herald’s website:
” … he was eventually starting a United Nations huddle of a Mormon quarterback, Mexican receiver, Somoan fullback and some guy named Lekekekkkkerkker.”
Feedback from angry readers reached publisher David Landsberg and executive editor Anders Gyllenhaal, who gave the orders to remove the line from Dan Le Batard’s column before it made print.
It’s quite impressive how quickly the Herald reacted in this matter because it took them years before they reacted to the onslaught of racist, derogatory comments left daily by readers in the comments section of certain articles.
It was only last month that the Herald announced it would start requiring readers to register before they are allowed to leave anonymous comments blaming all of Miami’s problems on blacks and Cubans.
And even though editors removed Le Batard’s offensive comments before they made the print edition, the fact that the original column will always be floating around in cyberspace makes it more permanent than something that might end up in the bottom of somebody’s bird cage.
Herald Watch tracked down the original comments with Google cache. And Jim Romenesko posted the news on his blog, which means it was quickly read by journalists throughout the country.
The problem is, being a Mormon does not necessarily mean you are a foreigner as Salt Lake Tribune columnist Paul Rolly points out in the bottom of his column.
Yes, Utah may seem like a foreign country, but who are we to talk? We live in Miami. And although quarterback John Beck attended Brigham Young University, he was actually born in Mesa, Arizona, which is another Mormon enclave.
And the “Mexican receiver,” Greg Camarillo, was actually born in California, so he is just as American as Le Batard, who was born in Miami to a Cuban family. In fact, according to a person claiming to be his cousin, Camarillo’s parents were also born in the United States.
Just to clarify, Greg Camarillo, my cousin, is American. He was born in Northern California. And both his parents were born and raised in Los Angeles. He is simply of Mexican heritage. But either way, what LeBatard said was sick. He disgusts me and he should be fired.
And “Samoan fullback,” Reagan Mauia, was born in American Samoa, which happens to be a U.S. territory, meaning it falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Government.
Besides, having been born in 1984, he was named after the sitting American president, which should grant him some type of diplomatic immunity from overreaching columnists.
But I must say, although Dolphins offensive tackle Cory Lekkerkerker was born in California, he should be stripped of his citizenship for not having the sense to change his Dutch surname to something easier to spell and pronounce.
Thanks to Enhager of Los Angeles for the tip
