Southern Newspaper Columnist Admits Calling Michael Brown an ‘Animal’ Who Had to Be ‘Put Down’...
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nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/10/southern-columnist-calls-michael-brown-animal.html
Southern Newspaper Columnist Admits Calling Michael Brown an ‘Animal’ Who Had to Be ‘Put Down’ Was a ‘Factual Error’
Romenesko highlights what's now probably the most popular thing Charleston Daily Mail editorial writer Don Surber has ever scribbled, but not because of its trenchant insights. In a blog post on his personal website titled "Why I stop listening when you say, 'police brutality,'" Surber, who (still) has a job at a real West Virginia newspaper, writes, "My initial reaction was Michael Brown deserved to die and I was right," presumably based on new leaks in the case. But wait, Surber may have been premature in some of his conclusions
the beginning of the column as it reads now:
UPDATE: I made a factual error. Michael Brown was not an animal but a man. Big. Brutal. High. His death was a justifiable homicide and not a putting down.
THE ORIGINAL POST:
This summer I had an epiphany as I watched packs of racists riot in Ferguson, Missouri, in support of a gigantic thug who was higher than a kite when he attacked Ferguson Police Department Officer Darren Wilson, who unfortunately had to put this animal down.
Blogging is not for everyone — some people need an editor to make their racism more subtle.
Update: Surber has now pulled the entire post, but it lives on here: webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=cache:OkS7ugeEY00J:http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2014/10/why-i-stop-listening-when-you-say.html%2Bdon+surber+michael+brown+animal+down&oe=UTF-8&gws_rd=ssl&hl=en&&ct=clnk
because the internet is forever.
Comments
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crakkkas gonna ? . ? him. I bet if this happenbed to that racist ? boy Cliven bundy this ? would have a different tune. That is why I will never move to the south. Racist,paranoid white folk with guns that can arm small armies. I don't know how you ? do it. I bet those southern cops are the worst.
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talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/don-surber-michael-brown-animal-put-down-charleston-daily-mail-apologizesColumnist Sets Off Storm Calling Michael Brown 'Animal' Who Had To Be 'Put Down'
The frustration from Charleston Daily Mail's editor and publisher Brad McElhinny was clear when TPM reach him by phone on Tuesday afternoon.
"I've had better days," he said.
His exasperation was understandable. On Saturday, Don Surber, the West Virginia paper's lone editorial columnist, took to his personal blog to offer his thoughts on "police brutality" and the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.
"This summer I had an epiphany as I watched packs of racists riot in Ferguson, Missouri, in support of a gigantic thug who was higher than a kite when he attacked Ferguson Police Department Officer Darren Wilson, who unfortunately had to put this animal down," Surber wrote.
By Sunday morning, Surber appended an update to the top of the post and crossed out the final phrase of the sentence.
"I made a factual error. Michael Brown was not an animal but a man. Big. Brutal. High," Surber wrote in the update. "His death was a justifiable homicide and not a putting down."
McElhinny told TPM he was grateful when we noted up front that the post appeared on Surber's blog, home to gags about Hillary Clinton's age and commentaries on the benefits of carbon dioxide, and that it had not appeared in the Charleston newspaper.
But the editor nevertheless apologized for the inflammatory characterization of Brown.
"We're sorry about the impression Mr. Surber gave. That's not the view of the paper as a whole," McElhinny said. "His words were uncareful and he is aware of that. He is aware that although it was his personal blog, people realize he is a columnist and an editorial writer for the paper and it's certainly affected our reputation."
McElhinny said the newspaper has "been in discussions directly involving Don" since the post went up, but he wouldn't say if the columnist would face any fallout.
"That's between us at the moment," he said -
"Big." "Brutal." "High." "Justifiable" "Animal" "Put down"
^Just the language of your typical slime wic ? ....
just like the language of this chalkape joo, here:"He was armed with his incredibly strong, scary self.""I mean it used to be, there was a time … when lynchings of African Americans were not that incredibly rare. Now the lynchings are the police and it's just an outrage."
? is so absurd that it reads like satire. -
Basically if you are a black man who is from 5'10-7 feet you are a threat. If you strong black man you are a threat.
This goes back to the black buck stereotype of black men in the days of slavery. They said we were wild and that slavery was to keep us in line. Even if he gets fired he will find a job in stormfront or the Tea Party patriots of 'murica. -
....The update is almost as bad as the original. It makes it worse when you try to say something ? up but in a "nice way". Someone needs to teach this ? a lesson.
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PapaDoc223 wrote: »crakkkas gonna ? . ? him. I bet if this happenbed to that racist ? boy Cliven bundy this ? would have a different tune. That is why I will never move to the south. Racist,paranoid white folk with guns that can arm small armies. I don't know how you ? do it. I bet those southern cops are the worst.
True, but there are racists crakkkas everywhere. I say this being from Detroit, living in the south. These mufuckas need to lose loved ones at the hands of Blacks, so they can feel just an inkling of the pain we feel. -
PapaDoc223 wrote: »Basically if you are a black man who is from 5'10-7 feet you are a threat. If you strong black man you are a threat.
This goes back to the black buck stereotype of black men in the days of slavery. They said we were wild and that slavery was to keep us in line. Even if he gets fired he will find a job in stormfront or the Tea Party patriots of 'murica.
Heh, old school whip cac logic, there. Mixed in with a little ? madness, in this case. -
Damn bruh.. They still doing this? Let it go white man... Let it go.
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? the columnist with fire
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Thug is just a more political word than ? now days
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Disgusting... And he must known there was gonna be a backlash, and still wrote it. Just goes to show you what these people would be saying if they weren't constrained by norms of public expression that make explicit racism unacceptable. They'd be openly talking about 'killing ? ,' as they used to do. Make no mistake about it.
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Water is wet. Tell me something I don't know.
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PapaDoc223 wrote: »crakkkas gonna ? . ? him. I bet if this happenbed to that racist ? boy Cliven bundy this ? would have a different tune. That is why I will never move to the south. Racist,paranoid white folk with guns that can arm small armies. I don't know how you ? do it. I bet those southern cops are the worst.
man i had a white friend that moved down to like Orlando...........not exactly some rural hick swamp in Alabama right...........and this dude came back shocked talkin like that ? was Mississippi Burning lol.
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stringer bell wrote: »nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/10/southern-columnist-calls-michael-brown-animal.htmlSouthern Newspaper Columnist Admits Calling Michael Brown an ‘Animal’ Who Had to Be ‘Put Down’ Was a ‘Factual Error’
Romenesko highlights what's now probably the most popular thing Charleston Daily Mail editorial writer Don Surber has ever scribbled, but not because of its trenchant insights. In a blog post on his personal website titled "Why I stop listening when you say, 'police brutality,'" Surber, who (still) has a job at a real West Virginia newspaper, writes, "My initial reaction was Michael Brown deserved to die and I was right," presumably based on new leaks in the case. But wait, Surber may have been premature in some of his conclusions
the beginning of the column as it reads now:
UPDATE: I made a factual error. Michael Brown was not an animal but a man. Big. Brutal. High. His death was a justifiable homicide and not a putting down.
THE ORIGINAL POST:
This summer I had an epiphany as I watched packs of racists riot in Ferguson, Missouri, in support of a gigantic thug who was higher than a kite when he attacked Ferguson Police Department Officer Darren Wilson, who unfortunately had to put this animal down.
Blogging is not for everyone — some people need an editor to make their racism more subtle.
Update: Surber has now pulled the entire post, but it lives on here: webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=cache:OkS7ugeEY00J:http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2014/10/why-i-stop-listening-when-you-say.html%2Bdon+surber+michael+brown+animal+down&oe=UTF-8&gws_rd=ssl&hl=en&&ct=clnk
because the internet is forever.
So when black men smoke weed,we're uncontrollably high and we go on rampage...off weeeeeeeeed ????? -
Like YOU don't agree with the columnist.A Talented One wrote: »Disgusting... And he must known there was gonna be a backlash, and still wrote it. Just goes to show you what these people would be saying if they weren't constrained by norms of public expression that make explicit racism unacceptable. They'd be openly talking about 'killing ? ,' as they used to do. Make no mistake about it.
? ?
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PapaDoc223 wrote: »crakkkas gonna ? . ? him. I bet if this happenbed to that racist ? boy Cliven bundy this ? would have a different tune. That is why I will never move to the south. Racist,paranoid white folk with guns that can arm small armies. I don't know how you ? do it. I bet those southern cops are the worst.
Its not just the south dude.
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Busta Carmichael wrote: »
Like YOU don't agree with the columnist.A Talented One wrote: »Disgusting... And he must known there was gonna be a backlash, and still wrote it. Just goes to show you what these people would be saying if they weren't constrained by norms of public expression that make explicit racism unacceptable. They'd be openly talking about 'killing ? ,' as they used to do. Make no mistake about it.
? ?
? you. -
talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/columnist-michael-brown-animal-leaves-paperPaper No Longer Employs Columnist Who Called Michael Brown An 'Animal'
The columnist who called Michael Brown an "animal" who had to be put down on his personal blog has parted ways with the Charleston Daily Mail.
The paper's editor, Brad McElhinny, wrote in a blog post on Thursday that columnist Don Surber is no longer employed by the Charleston Daily Mail.
"It’s the kind of conservative that believes in the power of the individual. That is, each individual has the possibility to flourish, succeed and prosper," McElhinny wrote. "That’s why it was so disheartening to see the careless words of one of our own editorial writers describing a young man whose life ended tragically too soon."
McElhinny said that even though Surber wrote the controversial post about Brown on his own blog, his name is still associated with the newspaper.
"He selected words that were unfortunate, inflammatory and, in our view, inexcusable," McElhinny wrote. "It’s his own blog, but still, he’s known as a Daily Mail editorial columnist and many readers seemed to perceive the views stated to reflect on the Daily Mail’s editorial policy."
The paper did not say whether Surber was asked to leave, or if he made the decision to go.
"As of this week, Mr. Surber is no longer employed by the Daily Mail," McElhinny wrote. "We thank him for his service and we wish Mr. Surber good luck."
