Comments on: CNN.com Called Nelson Mandela “Mandingo”?

By: Anomanom

Anomanom — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:33:26 +0000

It seems less racist and more freudian. Perhaps a case of thinking below the belt.

By: Duros62

Duros62 — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:11:22 +0000

“Hey, what’s the name of that guy from South Africa?”

“Dude, I dunno. Nelson something or other. Montana, Mankini, Mansuela, Mandingo..”

“Yeah, that’s it. Nelson Mandingo. Thanks”

By: david d

david d — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:55:21 +0000

It’s called the Cupertino Effect…

By: Duros62

Duros62 — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:53:27 +0000

Would it be Pollyanna-ish of me if I suggested a failure of our education system on display?

Yeah, probably. Stupid is as stupid does.

By: Quaker in a Basement

Quaker in a Basement — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:36:58 +0000

You need to ask that for a place that employs Kyra Phillips, Campbell Brown, Wolf Blitzer and Bill Bennett(even if it is just at election time)?

Yeah, I’m wondering if they test for stupidity and hire only those who test positive.

By: DavidinMD

DavidinMD — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:19:50 +0000

This is yet another step in a disturbing pattern of racially unacceptable “gaffes” on the part of major news networks’ various guests and anchors. It has gone on for years – we all remember Niger Enis being “mistakenly” labeled as “N—-r” Enis on either Fox or CNN. Haha, sorry about the mixup, right boys? The rise of Obama has, coincidentally or otherwise, seen a spike in these types of incidents, and I don’t just mean referring to his name incorrectly, although that certainly deserves mention, too – perhaps a column in and of itself.

When you look at these occurrences as a whole, and you look at the source – typically educated, upper-class types who don’t make these same kind of racially offensive errors about other ethnicities, you have to wonder what’s going on. Call me paranoid, but you can only make the excuse that “It was an accident” or “We didn’t know the word (insert slur here) was offensive” so many times. After a while it seems to represent something a bit more sinister and calculated on someone’s part. One might say they represent a shout-out of sorts to a segment of society we don’t care to admit still exists. The ones who, say, can’t publicly face their own bigotry in the mirror, but enjoy a hearty laugh over these kinds of things, knowing that “those people” don’t really deserve the proper respect anyway, and they tend to get all uppity about nothing, don’t they? Yeah, those people…

By: Bruce

Bruce — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:01:26 +0000

Had they referred to him as an ethnic Mandingo, rather than per his ethnicity of Xhosa, it would have been a different type of blunder than butchering his very well known name.

By: Schuyler Hauser

Schuyler Hauser — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:12:55 +0000

I Googled "Nelson Mandingo" and aside from reactions to this story, the cites include this charmer mocking Charlize Theron for her praise of Mandela when meeting him back in 2004 (Post subtitle: "Hey, where de white women at?") and the Stormfront.org site. Nice company you keep, CNN.

By: Duros62

Duros62 — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:28:27 +0000

And Glenn Beck and Nancy Grace?

By: Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle

Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:21:17 +0000

Golly. Do they test applicants for teh stoopid at CNN?

You need to ask that for a place that employs Kyra Phillips, Campbell Brown, Wolf Blitzer and Bill Bennett(even if it is just at election time)?

By: Quaker in a Basement

Quaker in a Basement — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:36:02 +0000

Golly. Do they test applicants for teh stoopid at CNN?

By: Parthenon

Parthenon — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:35:45 +0000

Oh. Yikes. Even if it is also an ethnic group… yikes.

By: Repack Rider

Repack Rider — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:32:26 +0000

It’s the name of a fictional Black character in a series of sixties bodice rippers. He’s the slave who gets it on with the slave owner’s daughter and/or wife, and he is regarded as the stereotypical sexually aggressive Black man with a formidable schwantzstuker.

Unless there is another reference that I am not aware of.

By: Parthenon

Parthenon — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:13:30 +0000

I’m confused. Is that a slur? I thought it was just a name for an ethnic group. Then again I thought ‘Macaca’ was just a name for a species of monkey before George Allen introduced it to the world…