Political correctness bites CBS's Clampett
Dick Harmon
The week after the famed Masters tournament in Augusta, Ga., Clampett — a three-time All-American at BYU and now a CBS network golf announcer — is under fire for using a racial slur to describe Chinese golfer Wen-Chong Liang while doing commentary on an Internet broadcast of Amen Corner last weekend.
Clampett was taken off the broadcast and later issued an apology for calling Liang a "Chinaman" after Liang missed the cut.
"It has been a privilege to be here with you the last two days describing action of all of the players," Clampett said in a statement released Monday. "In describing the Asian player Wen-Chong Liang, if I offended anybody, please accept my sincere apology."
It is unknown whether Clampett will be suspended or lose his broadcasting job for the remark.
This comes on the heels of Golf Channel broadcaster Kelly Tilgham being suspended for two weeks after a comment saying if young PGA Tour players want to challenge Tiger Woods, they should "lynch him in a back alley."
Worldwide reaction on Clampett has been mixed. Some feel announcers are swimming in a tide of political correctness and it's gotten out of hand. Others proclaim well-spoken and educated public figures like Clampett and Tilgham still haven't learned.
Still others argue Clampett's reference shouldn't be any more of a slur than calling folks from the U.S. "Americans" or those from Canada "Canadians" or those from England "Englishmen," and society has progressed far enough to move on.
But the word Clampett used is a slur. It doesn't meet the caustic level of calling an African-American the "N" word, or the derogatory expression Don Imus used when describing members of the Rutgers women's basketball team.
The biggest criticism of Clampett has been the weakness of his apology. He should have apologized for using the word, period, not qualifying it with, "if I offended anyone."
Clampett could have used advice from BYU vice president Fred Skousen, who came under fire in 2004 for using the same expression before a gathering of athletic department staff in 1999. When describing the proposed student athlete center, he said that BYU had the Chinamen lined up to get the job done. In the audience was then-BYU football offensive coordinator Norm Chow, a native Hawaiian of Chinese decent, who later, while coaching at USC, described the incident as offensive.
Recent comments
The problem in the world today is that some people seek offense when...
They seek Offense | April 17, 2008 at 6:50 p.m.
This is frustrating -- it would really help to know what Clampett...
Quote, please! | April 17, 2008 at 6:49 p.m.
Quite touchy. Quite. Too bad. I do not think that the episode is...
russ | April 17, 2008 at 6:11 p.m.
