Backlash

Susan Faludi wrote about it in 1991, the inevitable backlash that occurs anytime gains are made by individuals within a group. A backlash is the spread of negative stereotypes, such as the comments made by Chris Matthews about Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Over the past few months we've seen another backlash emerge, one based on race. Racist incidents have taken place in communities and on college campuses. And recently a sports reporter made an inappropriate comment about what fellow golfers would need to do to catch up with Tiger Woods in tour wins. The commentator was suspended for the comments, and now a magazine editor has lost his job over the same incident.

The Associated Press reports:

Ten days after a Golf Channel anchor was suspended for her use of "lynch" in commentary on Tiger Woods, an editor was fired Friday for illustrating the controversy with a noose on the cover of Golfweek magazine.

Dave Seanor, vice president and editor who took responsibility for the noose cover of the Jan. 19 issue, was replaced by Jeff Babineau.

"We apologize for creating this graphic cover that received extreme negative reaction from consumers, subscribers and advertisers across the country," Turnstile Publishing Co. president William J. Kupper Jr. said. "We were trying to convey the controversial issue with a strong and provocative graphic image. It is now obvious that the overall reaction to our cover deeply offended many people. For that, we are deeply apologetic."

It took CBS far too long to deal with Don Imus. It looks like the media is starting to "get it." The public is simply not going to stand for blatant sexism or racism.

History could be made this summer, if Democrats select either Sen. Hillary Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama as their presidential nominee. As they campaign, I guess it was inevitable that a backlash would ensue. How long will it take before this sort of thing becomes an anomaly, and not the rule.