Mike Greenberg of the “Mike & Mike in the Morning” radio show on ESPN may have some explaining to do for an inexcusable faux pas — calling the Martin Luther King holiday observance,”Martin Luther Coon” Day.
At the opening of the radio show, which is also televised nationally on sports TV goliath ESPN, Greenberg can clearly be heard saying, “Welcome to the Mike & Mike on ESPN radio. [We’re] talking some football on this Martin Luther Coon … King … holiday. So glad that you’ve chosen to start your day and your week with us.”
Greenberg hosts the popular sports talk show with former NFL star Mike Golic, airing weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
It was obvious from the way Greenberg quickly replaced the word “coon” with “King” that he did not mean to utter that word at that time. “Coon,” of course, is a racial epithet that was frequently used to denigrate African Americans during America’s Jim Crow era.
ESPN was unavailable for comment. –terry shropshire
The photograph is courtesy of ABC.
