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Andrea Mitchell is an anchor for MSNBC and last Thursday she referred to the people of Southwest Virginia as "rednecks". This caused the editor of the Bristol Herald Courier to blast her in a column and Sunday she issued an apology.
In the first video, Andrea Mitchell, anchor for MSNBC was speaking images of Barack Obama and Senator Mark Warner in southwest Virginia, where she said, "This is real redneck, sort of...um, bordering on Appalachia country. This is not the northern Virginia, sort of, high tech corridor. These are not voters he would logically be gravitating to."
That led to the editor of Bristol Herald Courier (in Bristol, Virginia), J. Todd Foster, to write a column which blasted her for stereotyping. The title of his piece was, "Thank You, Andrea Mitchell, For The Ready-Made Column."
Foster starts that column with, "I learned something about myself Thursday that I did not know: I’m a redneck. But then again, so is every one of you reading this column. Or so says Andrea Mitchell of NBC News. "
He ends up making the ultimate point, saying,, "But the last bastion of acceptable, politically incorrect stereotyping is making fun of Southerners. And we’re damned tired of it."
He mocks the type of thinking that led to her politically incorrect comment by saying:
You know, uhm, I’ve been wondering where all these urges of late have been coming from – namely the desire to trade my Toyota Camry for a pickup, complete with rubber bull testicles (product name: bumper nuts) dangling from the trailer hitch. I’m inexplicably craving chew tobacco. I passed a road-kill possum Friday and thought it looked tasty. And I nearly wore a wife-beater T-shirt to Wal-Mart yesterday, until my wife intervened with “that’s not a good look for you.”
Evidently Foster wasn't the only one that took offense to her phrasing because three days after issuing the remark that seemed to offend the good people of Southwest Virginia, Mitchell issued an apology at the end of her one hour show. (Second video above)
She said, "I owe an apology to the good people of Bristol, Virginia for something stupid that I said."
Is this type of stereotyping that is stereotypical now of television "news" anchors on MSNBC and NBC?
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I think the reporters should just learn to stick with issues and stop calling names. Is this type of stereotyping that is stereotypical now of television "news" anchors on MSNBC and NBC? Even Fox News is famous for it, you can find tons of videos in Youtube with a simple search. Before the news companies used to be unbiased, but with corporations owning the channels, the bias is very clear. I watch BBC News, they tell it what it is. -
@ Chris V. (cgull)
I think the reporters should just learn to stick with issues and stop calling names. Even Fox News is famous for it, you can find tons of videos in Youtube with a simple search. Before the news companies used to be unbiased, but with corporations owning the channels, the bias is very clear. I watch BBC News, they tell it what it is.
You know, they have individual programs, for Fox it is O'Reilly as an example and MSNBC has Olberman...that is where we expect to see political "opinion" vs news.
News shows, from all networks, should, as you said, stick to the news without comments like these. -
Has anyone been to souther va? LOL! Uh, Foxworthy does jokes about this group!
My ex husband was from souther va - and many a visit was glorified by wine made via rubber tubing and a jug, a hot tub that God only knows where the bubbles came from and I think it was once a cattle trough and dried MEAT hanging in the house for our consumption.
They had just purchased a winnebego (circa 70's) and remodeled the inside, although I couldn't see it because to me, it looked as though the tore up a trailer and glued it to the winne!
Yes, there were yard statues and they lived in a trailer. Ahhh, the decking, shall I mention the decking. All of the neighbors had the same stuff going on so it was the norm.
I really enjoyed the beefed up "scooter" that grandad drove around on - think it was a refurbished go-cart engine. LOL.
Redneck? You BET.
If it walks like a duck.........well, anyway. According to North Dakoda folks, ALL Texans are KKK members. Funny, I've yet to even so much as see a KKK member. That might prove offensive. But a large portion of southern VA persons are total redneck - and redneck isn't a bad term.
I'm a redneck. Born and raised in Texas. I have no accent, according to those I am around but am a texan through and through.
Be proud of your heritage VA, be proud. Otherwise, buy wine like the rest of the non-redneck population and by all means, use jets in your hot tub!
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@ Nikki W (karateblossom)
Has anyone been to souther va? LOL! Uh, Foxworthy does jokes about this group!
My ex husband was from souther va - and many a visit was glorified by wine made via rubber tubing and a jug, a hot tub that God only knows where the bubbles came from and I think it was once a cattle trough and dried MEAT hanging in the house for our consumption.
They had just purchased a winnebego (circa 70's) and remodeled the inside, although I couldn't see it because to me, it looked as though the tore up a trailer and glued it to the winne!
Yes, there were yard statues and they lived in a trailer. Ahhh, the decking, shall I mention the decking. All of the neighbors had the same stuff going on so it was the norm.
I really enjoyed the beefed up "scooter" that grandad drove around on - think it was a refurbished go-cart engine. LOL.
Redneck? You BET.
If it walks like a duck.........well, anyway. According to North Dakoda folks, ALL Texans are KKK members. Funny, I've yet to even so much as see a KKK member. That might prove offensive. But a large portion of southern VA persons are total redneck - and redneck isn't a bad term.
I'm a redneck. Born and raised in Texas. I have no accent, according to those I am around but am a texan through and through.
Be proud of your heritage VA, be proud. Otherwise, buy wine like the rest of the non-redneck population and by all means, use jets in your hot tub!
Good commentary KB! -
Of COURSE, and I am being sarcastic!!, she is sorry.
Sorry that her prejudice and arrogance are there for all to see.
She obviously feels that those from Southwest Virginia are beneath her and they are so unimportant that why would any person even want their votes let alone go after those voters.
Arrogant, snob. Those people are NOT beneath you Mitchell and you are contemptible.
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@ Susan Duclos
Good commentary KB!
lol - sorry, I kind of went off, huh? -
@ Cynthia T. [Picasso]
Of COURSE, and I am being sarcastic!!, she is sorry.
Sorry that her prejudice and arrogance are there for all to see.
She obviously feels that those from Southwest Virginia are beneath her and they are so unimportant that why would any person even want their votes let alone go after those voters.
Arrogant, snob. Those people are NOT beneath you Mitchell and you are contemptible.
You are right Cyn - she may believe that...but they are rednecks...hehehe, just not in the below one sort of way. More like in the country bumpkin way.
Banjos and lawnchairs and just, well, like I said, Foxworthy does jokes about em. :o) But she is indeed a snob. -
@ Cynthia T. [Picasso]
Of COURSE, and I am being sarcastic!!, she is sorry.
Sorry that her prejudice and arrogance are there for all to see.
She obviously feels that those from Southwest Virginia are beneath her and they are so unimportant that why would any person even want their votes let alone go after those voters.
Arrogant, snob. Those people are NOT beneath you Mitchell and you are contemptible.
Read the comment section at TVNewser...they are comparing her remarks to Obama's "clinging" to religion and gun bitter remarks.
@ Nikki W (karateblossom)
lol - sorry, I kind of went off, huh?
No need to be sorry. I love your commentary, especially when you get annoyed...lol
@ Nikki W (karateblossom)
You are right Cyn - she may believe that...but they are rednecks...hehehe, just not in the below one sort of way. More like in the country bumpkin way.
Banjos and lawnchairs and just, well, like I said, Foxworthy does jokes about em. :o) But she is indeed a snob.
Foxworthy's jokes are usually done to make fun of people and how they think others are beneath them.
There is a big difference between people like Mitchell and Foxworthy. -
"This is real redneck, sort of...um, bordering on Appalachia country. This is not the northern Virginia, sort of, high tech corridor. These are not voters he would logically be gravitating to."
This statement shows her true thoughts and her look down her nose at those she seems to feel are beneath her.
It is not what you said KB or how you said it. You were funny and stating what you see as facts but you were not being condescending.
Those who look down their nose at other people really irks me.
Foxworthy also has his "You know you're a true MICHIGANDER when
"Vacation" means going up north on I-75 [true]
You measure distance in hours. [ So!!! Ask me how far I live from Jaguar's. Oh about forty-five minutes to hour or so.]
It depends on how it is said.
BTW there are a few Redneck cities in Michigan not far from where I live, like a half hour to an hour away. LOL
Do you think that you will get me to name them here? NEVER!!! -
@ Cynthia T. [Picasso]
This statement shows her true thoughts and her look down her nose at those she seems to feel are beneath her.
It is not what you said KB or how you said it. You were funny and stating what you see as facts but you were not being condescending.
Those who Look down their nose at other people really irks me.
Foxworthy also has his "You know you're a true MICHIGANDER when
"Vacation" means going up north on I-75 [true]
You measure distance in hours. [ So!!! Ask me how far I live from Jaguar's. Oh about forty-five minutes to hour or so.]
It depends on how it is said.
BTW there are a few Redneck cities in Michigan not far from where I live, like a half hour to an hour away. LOL
Do you think that you will get me to name them here? NEVER!!!
Come on, we won't tell anybody!!! (smirk) -
Common sense would tell people like this, who make such off-the-wall remarks, NOT to! Golly...has common sense flown the proverbial coop...and are people really so reckless to think they could get away w/it?
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@ Cynthia T. [Picasso]
This statement shows her true thoughts and her look down her nose at those she seems to feel are beneath her.
It is not what you said KB or how you said it. You were funny and stating what you see as facts but you were not being condescending.
Those who look down their nose at other people really irks me.
Foxworthy also has his "You know you're a true MICHIGANDER when
"Vacation" means going up north on I-75 [true]
You measure distance in hours. [ So!!! Ask me how far I live from Jaguar's. Oh about forty-five minutes to hour or so.]
It depends on how it is said.
BTW there are a few Redneck cities in Michigan not far from where I live, like a half hour to an hour away. LOL
Do you think that you will get me to name them here? NEVER!!!
True...so true. And I do see the differentiating line. I always think of Family Vacation and the guy with the white shoes and all the kids when I think of redneck...LOL.
But you are right, she was looking down her nose, and that is wrong. I guess I look at being a redneck as part of being American and not something "less than" - although, I have seen some pretty bizzare rednecks...LOL. -
@ Debra Myers (skyangel)
Common sense would tell people like this, who make such off-the-wall remarks, NOT to! Golly...has common sense flown the proverbial coop...and are people really so reckless to think they could get away w/it?
Yes they are.
There is nothing wrong with being a redneck, I think the problem was categorizing a "group" of people as such when some people do not see themselves that way, others simply aren't and do not want to be called something they aren't. -
These are not voters he would logically be gravitating to."
This is a part of her quote that made me fly off the handle and showed me her true colors. -
@ Cynthia T. [Picasso]
This is a part of her quote that made me fly off the handle and showed me her true colors.
I can understand that. Her apology shows that the op-ed column must not have been the only unhappy Virginians to notify NBC and MSNBC. -
You mean typical white rednecks who cling to their guns and religion in times of trouble?
Ya, Barack ain't gonna make no headway there.
Neither is Andrea Mitchell from the look of it.
You know, this isn't 1865, people. They got everything in the South (including Internet access) everybody else in America has, even Wal-mart if you can believe it.
The South may have its share of rednecks, but it's obvious the Least and Left Coasts have their share of Brahmins, elitists, raised noses and stiff upper lips.
Who would you rather party with?
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@ Johnny Simpson
You mean typical white rednecks who cling to their guns and religion in times of trouble?
Ya, Barack ain't gonna make no headway there.
Neither is Andrea Mitchell from the look of it.
You know, this isn't 1865, people. They got everything in the South (including Internet access) everybody else in America has, even Wal-mart if you can believe it.
The South may have its share of rednecks, but it's obvious the Least and Left Coasts have their share of Brahmins, elitists, raised noses and stiff upper lips.
Who would you rather party with?
Great question Johnny! -
You mean typical white rednecks who cling to their guns and religion in times of trouble? Seems to establish the parameter within which you folks prefer to operate. -
@ Susan Duclos
Great question Johnny!
EXCELLENT question :) -
You mean typical white rednecks who cling to their guns and religion in times of trouble?
Seems to establish the parameter within which you folks prefer to operate.
And the problem is?
Why are so many people scared of those who believe in religion?
If the west coast can cling to their values of drugs and nudism, why can't I cling to my values? -
@ sumdume
And the problem is?
Why are so many people scared of those who believe in religion?
If the west coast can cling to their values of drugs and nudism, why can't I cling to my values?
Another excellent question. -
@ Nikki W (karateblossom)
Has anyone been to souther va? LOL! Uh, Foxworthy does jokes about this group!
My ex husband was from souther va - and many a visit was glorified by wine made via rubber tubing and a jug, a hot tub that God only knows where the bubbles came from and I think it was once a cattle trough and dried MEAT hanging in the house for our consumption.
They had just purchased a winnebego (circa 70's) and remodeled the inside, although I couldn't see it because to me, it looked as though the tore up a trailer and glued it to the winne!
Yes, there were yard statues and they lived in a trailer. Ahhh, the decking, shall I mention the decking. All of the neighbors had the same stuff going on so it was the norm.
I really enjoyed the beefed up "scooter" that grandad drove around on - think it was a refurbished go-cart engine. LOL.
Redneck? You BET.
If it walks like a duck.........well, anyway. According to North Dakoda folks, ALL Texans are KKK members. Funny, I've yet to even so much as see a KKK member. That might prove offensive. But a large portion of southern VA persons are total redneck - and redneck isn't a bad term.
I'm a redneck. Born and raised in Texas. I have no accent, according to those I am around but am a texan through and through.
Be proud of your heritage VA, be proud. Otherwise, buy wine like the rest of the non-redneck population and by all means, use jets in your hot tub!
Yeah. Nationalism is where it is at!--even when that is just your own particular holler. Add a Comment
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MSNBC Anchor Andrea Mitchell Calls Southwest Virginians 'Rednecks'
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