CNSnews.com

A prominent civil rights leader is calling for the resignation of CBS News anchorman Dan Rather for a racially offensive remark he made in an interview with nationally syndicated radio host Don Imus. Rather made the racial slur while explaining why CBS News executives finally gave in to pressure over his decision to ignore the Chandra Levy case. "What happened was they (CBS executives) got the willies, they got the Buckwheats. Their knees wobbled and we gave it up," Rather said. Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, head of the Los Angeles-based Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND), said that Rather's reference to the black character "Buckwheat" from the "Little Rascals" is demeaning to blacks. "Whenever you think of Buckwheat, you think of black people," Peterson said. "You think of the 'Little Rascals' and the character Buckwheat. You think of 'Amos and Andy' where they played roles like that. The Buckwheat image has been used against black people for decades," he said. "Had a white conservative said that, or someone from Fox News Channel said that, there would be an outcry today from the black community," Peterson said. Several staffers at CBS News in New York declined to comment on Peterson's complaint.

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

Answers

Maybe he should have referred to them as "pickup-driving, tobacco-chewing Buckwheats" to get a response from his bosses?

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

I loves dat watamelon so! LOL

When I hear 'buckwheat' I think of, well, buckwheat. Not Buckwheat.

I wonder if Jesse was named after Jesse.

Not many people know who Amos 'n' Andy were, although the Little Rascals are still being aired on cable.

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

Another board says it is a Southernism, meaning you get the runs.

High fiber content of kasha?

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

firemouse, in that case wouldn't buckwheat be lower case?

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

You can tell a lowercase b from an uppercase B on the radio?

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

From the context, presumably, unless of course one's intention is slander...

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

He would never admit it was meant as slander so the BOND Jesse would have to prove it.

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

No, no---way I understand it, BOND is a new CONSERVATIVE group. They point out the hypocrisies that the NAACP doesn't.

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001