However, freedom of speech does not give everybody the right to be heard. Here’s the difference: you are allowed to say whatever you want, but you are not allowed to force others to repeat your message. NBC is not, by any means, required to allow her to say anything she wants on her channel. And it is NOT censhorship. It is PR and smart business.

Now, if the government passes a law saying that certain words cannot be used, THAT is censorship.

The thing with lynching (and nooses and burning crosses) is that they have no history in the United States except as part of slavery and segregation, and because of that, they are considered to be “terms used to incite violence or fear” (I forget the actual legal words.)

I have no doubt Al Sharpton is also taking it overboard, like he did with “nappy-headed hos”. However, at the same time, this woman is a fucking idiot. There are ways you speak to your friends or your cowrkers around the water fountain, and there are ways you speak professionally. She most definitely should be reprimanded for being extremely unprofessional.

The networks certainly suspended her because they felt some action was needed on their part. It is a PR thing. Nevertheless, it is setting the wrong type of precedent. We should be trying to remove race from the table, not put it higher on the pedestal.

@ BennyBoy: Good point on freedom of speech and certainly were the comments aired in the general public she would have been protected. As an employee of the Golf Channel, they naturally have the right to discipline her in whatever way they see fit. Also, Tilghman apologized to Tiger and he accepted. I’m sure he had no idea what all the ruckus was about because like you said, he didnt comment on the issue. I couldn’t say it better myself, Sharpton is a media whore.

Mr. Sharpton needs to go back and learn a thing or two from MLK.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080121/pl_nm/usa_politics_dc

As for Al Sharpton, he is always looking for any kind of media attention. As we say during our Wed Night Mayhem show, Mr. SHarpton is nothing more than a media whore. He reminds me of those ambulance chasing attorneys… you guys see the resemblance?

As a professional newscaster, and on the job, she really should have better judgment than to say a comment like that over the air.

I personally however, wouldn’t fire her for being a racist. I would however her beat her over the head for being an idiot.

As for the network, they really have no choice but to suspend her. Unless they want a massive portion of the population screaming bloody murder, they have to take some sort of action. It’s just PR.

If lynching has only one meaning, it should be the formal one, murder without due process usually by hanging. Tilghman is obviously not suggesting this. Just like an “ass-whupping” could involve getting kicked solely in the nuts with no ass-abuse in sight. It’s a figure of speech. Black people do not own the rights to the word “lynch.” Black people have been lynched, yes, but so have asians and native americans. Are they in uproar, erm no.

Would Tilghman have been suspended if Tiger Woods was white? If yes, then the implication is that “lynch” is an offensive word, which it is not. If no, the implication is we can’t say lynch to black people. And i suppose we can’t make gas-jokes to Jews. Or real-estate comments to native americans…