While picking through wire copy last week, I was puzzled when the Associated Press pulled the trigger on a story highlighting Sen. Tom Coburn’s ‘racist’ remarks during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor.
During the hearing, Sen. Coburn said, “You’ll have lots of ‘splainin’ to do,” alluding to a popular line from Ricky Ricardo in ‘I Love Lucy.’
Ricardo was played by Cuban-born actor Desi Arnaz and since Sotomayor is of Hispanic decent, the AP thought they had a great story.
Although the story fizzled, James Taranto notes that the Associated Press did the exact same thing the very same day.
What caught our attention about this AP story was the headline: “What You Talkin’ Bout, Willis? Sears Tower Renamed.” What the AP said–and how it said it–was a riff on a black television character, Arnold Jackson, whose accent is now widely considered a broad parody.
Jackson was played by child actor Gary Coleman on the show “Diff’rent Strokes,” but I’m lost as to his connection with the Sears Tower.
