A meme seen as racially offensive that was sent last month to an African American minister by the white owner of a religious TV station aimed at black audiences has sparked controversy, with the Detroit chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists condemning it Monday and calling for a boycott of the media outlet.
But the owner, Kevin Adell, told the Free Press that he didn't create the meme — which depicted him wearing a fur coat like a pimp surrounded by black male pastors, including the pastor he forwarded the meme to, Bishop George Bloomer.
Adell said he was merely sharing it with Bloomer, a North Carolina pastor who once had a show on Adell's TV station, The Word Network, and knew Adell for eight years. Adell also is CEO of WFDF-FM (910) in Detroit, and WADL-TV (Channel 38).
"I didn't create it," Adell said of the meme he texted to Bloomer. "I had nothing to do with this meme."
A petition on Change.org calling for a boycott of The Word — which says it's the largest African American religious TV outlet — has garnered more than 3,800 signatures as of Monday evening.
Adell said he's considering legal action against the Detroit NABJ for their statement and letter released Monday that read in part: “This image is repulsive as it utilizes racial stereotypes and denigrates community leaders in the process. It is doubly disturbing because your station’s marketing materials promote the Word Network and the 910-AM radio station as home to Black voices. Being complicit in sharing racist materials is both offensive and a betrayal to the audience base you court and claim to support.”
The statement from Detroit NABJ also calls for a boycott, apology, diversity training, and plan not to repeat such actions.
Adell said that NABJ is "defaming me" with their letter and statement.
He said that more than 95% of his 160 employees are African American and stressed that he was merely sharing the meme with Bloomer to make him aware of it: "To say that I need diversity training, to say that I need to apologize, apologize for something I didn't do?... Why would I apologize for something I didn't do?"
On Monday, his attorney, William McHenry, sent a cease and desist letter to Detroit NABJ warning of possible litigation for trying to portray Adell in a "defamatory or false light."
The letter said "Adell has already disavowed the Meme in question by publicly stating that he had no prior knowledge of the Meme and confirmed that it was not created by him."
Vincent McGraw, president of Detroit NABJ, said Adell has agreed to meet with the group's executive board.
Adell said the general manager of 910 AM Superstation, Dody Johnson, was the one who first shared the meme with him.
Johnson told the Free Press she and a colleague came upon the meme while doing a search online for the company's name to see what comes up.
She said they saw the offensive meme on a blog called Babylon Today.
When they saw it, they thought: "This is awful, this is negative," Johnson said. She said she then told Adell about it, who later forwarded it to Bloomer.
Bloomer could not be reached for comment on Monday.
The petition posted on Change said that Bloomer quit because of the offensive meme.
Adell, though, said the real reason why Bloomer "quit the network was because he wanted more air time," but was unwilling to change his show as the staff had suggested to him. Adell said Bloomer wanted a weekly, not a monthly show.
Adell said Bloomer was trying to stir up controversy with the meme "to get support to hopefully make changes so he could get back on the air."
Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com, 313-223-4792, Twitter @nwarikoo
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/10/15/kevin-adell-nabj-bishop-george-bloomer/3976858002/
2019-10-15 10:00:00Z
CAIiEBGU6zDN8NRLxt5YDl3XxZMqGQgEKhAIACoHCAowlv3_CjDSpYsDMPf14gU
Bagikan Berita Ini
