Posted on 12/31/2005 5:11:20 PM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
December 31, 2005 - 19:48.
When a few years ago Rush Limbaugh suggested that the media, hoping for a black-quarterback success story, had over-rated Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb, ESPN fired him from its Sunday night football show.
Can you imagine what the media would have done to Rush had he dared to employ the classically racial "feets don't fail me now" line?
Yet that is exactly what major ESPN personality Chris Berman did a few minutes ago in introducing coverage of this afternoon's Denver Broncos game.
He apparently said it vis a vis white Denver Broncos QB Jake Plummer.
Berman's co-host, black former Denver linebacker Tom Jackson, gave what seemed a rather forced laugh in response.
Odds that Berman, who has described himself as a "New England Democrat," will face any discipline? Slim, IMO.
Boomer jumped the shark years ago. Unwatchable.
ESPN/NewsBusters ping to the Today Show ping list.
"Feets don't fail me now" is racial?! Bugs Bunny says it.
Agreed. If Berman finds an excuse one more time to air that 20-year old footage of himself catching a pass in a Bucs jersey, I will throw one of my new Timberland boots through my new HDTV screen!
Bet you anything Bugs hasn't said it in 20 years.
Pahleeze.
Bugs Bunny hasn't said much in 20 years, other than Space Jam there hasn't been a new Warners classic character cartoon since the 60s. "Feets don't fail me now" might be in Space Jam though. Never heard that phrase associated with race ever.
Actually, it's titled "Feats Don't Fail Me Now."
"Feets don't fail me now" is racial?! Bugs Bunny says it.
True... Kind of a stretch I think. He didn't even say it pertaining to a black athlete.
An excellent Little Feat album.
Racial? Never knew. ....and there's no way Berman meant it to be so.
That's the name of a "Little Feat" album from about 1970.
Sorry, guys, but you're wrong.
The expression goes back way further than Little Feat. It was a classic racial stereotype of the frightened black man, a bug-eyed Stepin Fetchit type, who, scared of something, wanted to run away and hoped that his feet wouldn't fail him. And that is exactly the sense in which Berman, old enough to be well-acquainted with the phrase's history, used it.
http://members.aol.com/jeff1070/amos.html
I think "Feets, don't fail me now" is one of those phrases that has entered the common vernacular. I wouldn't even have realized it ever had any racial connotation if someone didn't point it out and I don't think most people would.
This kind of overreaction has gotten ridiculous.
While the Stepin Fetchit-type racist character may have been the origin of the phrase I don't think anyone in 2005 uses it in that context at all.
Feets dont fail me now is a Little Feat song. Berman often employs parts of classic rock songs and word plays on players names.
No, sorry, you're wrong. True, that phrase has a long history. But, I'd bet a steak dinner that Berman was referring to the Little Feat album.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.