Texas DJ Suspended Over Racist Obama Remarks

By: Rizoh

      An Austin, Texas, disc jockey named Sam Allred has been suspended over racially insensitive remarks on air about Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

      Nelson Linder of the NAACP told Austin’s KXAN TV that the group is working on getting Allred to apologize publicly.     

      Here’s a transcript of the controversial on-air conversation between Sam Allred and Bob Cole, hosts of KVET’s Sam and Bob show:

Allred: "What happened to Bama Rock or whatever his name is?"
Cole: "He’s moving up in the polls. Obama."
Allred: "He’s a likeable guy."
Cole: "He’s ‘clean’ is what what’s-his-name said. Joe Biden told us that."
Allred: "Clean darky."
Cole: "Sammy!"

      Apparently the station held some serious discussions about Sam’s remarks, because after they came back from a commercial break he tried to set the record straight by saying:

“See, I was making fun of politicians who say things like that.”

      The NAACP disagrees. “That kind of ignorance has no place in this country in 2007," said Linder. "To me, the entire context was basically inappropriate," he said. "Humor doesn’t lessen the impact of racism, and I think that should be very, very clear to everybody."

      Allred, on the other hand, vehemently denied that anything controversial was said on the show. “It’s called the First Amendment,” he said, “and you get the right to say anything.”

In what they’re hoping to pass off as an apology, KVET said this on their website:

      “During an on-air broadcast on 3/1/07 on KVET FM, a statement was made that might have been heard as offensive to some of our listeners. It is not our station’s intention to be offensive. It is our stations’ policy that we do not discriminate against individuals regardless of race, religion, gender, age or sexual orientation.”