Four days after she stereotyped the region’s residents as “rednecks,” veteran NBC newswoman Andrea Mitchell apologized.
The on-air apology Monday seemed reasonably sincere and gracious. We note that it came relatively quickly, too.
However, it’s up to Southwest Virginians to decide whether to accept it or not. We lean toward accepting it, and again extend an invitation to Mitchell to come visit the region. She might be surprised by what she discovers.
Mitchell offered her public mea culpa on “MSNBC Live,” a cable news program that she co-anchors. Here’s what she said:
“And now, a point of personal privilege. I owe an apology to the good people of Bristol, Va., for something stupid that I said last week. I was trying to explain, based on reporting from Democratic strategists, why Barack Obama was campaigning in Southwest Virginia, but without attribution or explanation, I used a term strategists often use to demean an entire community. No excuses, I’m really sorry. As they say, when I make a mistake, it’s a beaut.”
We quibble with only one aspect of her remarks – that somehow attribution or explanation would have improved them. Saying that unnamed Democratic strategists believe the region is populated by “rednecks” wouldn’t have softened the blow. It’s still an inaccurate stereotype.
It seems likely that some Democratic strategists – at least in private, when they think they’re among like-minded peers – look down their noses at the humble masses whose votes they court. And, as we’ve pointed out before, Southerners and residents of Appalachia are among the last groups that it’s OK to mock in our society.
Obama, too, has experienced problems in this regard. His comments about bitter small-town voters clinging to their guns and religion generated ill will in communities like Bristol. That he made the comments at a private gathering of latte liberals in San Francisco added injury to the insult.
With his campaign stop in Bristol, Obama signaled that he is working to heal this slight and to narrow the gulf that separates him from white, working-class voters. The outcome of the election might rest on his success in this regard.
Returning to Mitchell, she gave voice to thoughts that we suspect too many in the elite reaches of the media and politics harbor. Her apology is a first step to set things right. Her employer also should address the matter – making it clear that stereotyping anyone is not acceptable.
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