Frank Beckmann, the announcer for University of Michigan football, has apparently made some folks in Ann Arbor unhappy over his Detroit News column defending what many construed as a racist comment by golfer Sergio Garcia. Some also found Beckmann's column itself to be racist.
The university states:
The column by Frank Beckmann in the May 24 Detroit News does not represent the views or values of the University of Michigan community. His comments were offensive and inaccurate.
At the University of Michigan we strive at all times, in all ways, to create a campus that is open and inclusive and free from insidious racial stereotypes. This is a core value.
Rick Fitzgerald, a university spokesman, declined to comment on whether the column might impact Beckmann's future as the announcer.
"The university has issued a statement," Fitzgerald wrote in an email to Deadline Detroit. "This is a learning experience and that’s all we have to share with you at this point."
Several U of M Board of Regents members did not return repeated phone calls over the past two days for comment.
Beckmann wrote last week:
Garcia jokingly remarked that he’d try to make amends for his recent on-course dispute with Tiger Woods by having the world’s most famous black golfer – Garcia never mentioned race – over to the house for a dinner of fried chicken. . . .
The politically correct elites immediately condemned him as racist, Woods chose to take offense, and Garcia was forced to make a public apology though his intent was clearly not malicious.
What the Spanish golfer – wonder if he favors paella? – didn’t realize is that fried chicken was once a popular dish among American slaves who were not allowed to own livestock and couldn’t avail themselves of other southern delicacies like steak and ham.
After feedback from many people, Beckmann apologizes. His Wednesday column for the News says:
In my effort to emphasize my disdain for political correctness, I conflated it with the Sergio Garcia/Tiger Woods situation and that was a mistake on my part. I failed to properly consider the sensitivity of racial comments which stereotype people and the pain that causes.
