How far has WBT sunk?

[davideduardo]

"Kamala" (pronounced "Kah-MAH-la") was the ring name of professional wrestler James Harris in the '80s, He was supposed to be portraying a Ugandan savage, though he was from Mississippi and had previously wrestled as Sugar Bear Harris. He painted his body, brought a spear to the ring, drummed on his belly when he had an opponent at his mercy, played the wildman gimmick to the hilt. He even had a "handler" named "Friday," after the servant in Robinson Crusoe. This was during the first huge wrestling boom since the early days of television and many millions of viewers saw him "battle" Hulk Hogan and others.

The point being that using the faux African wrestler's pronunciation of Kamala is an easy way for right-wing commentators to belittle the vice president, who pronounces her given name "KAM-a-la."

This is all getting so obtuse that it is amusing. A wrestler in a minimally popular sport 40 years or so ago... before half the US population was even born... is an unlikely intentional reference. In fact, this is the first time I have ever heard of the "stage name" of Mr. Harris and I'll bet that a survey would find that about 90% of the population has no idea who that fighting Kamala is/was.

As one illustration, I think you will find that Hispanic who are bilingual or Spanish dominant will almost always say Kahh-MAH-la since that pronunciation obeys the almost uniform rules of pronunciation of Spanish. The alternate pronunciation is neither natural nor intuitive. I've heard anchors on the major Spanish networks in the US and Mexico all use Kah-Mala" as it obeys Spanish rules.

What this entire discussion seems to be to me is part of a viral national malady where everything anyone of the opposite party say is somehow either "communist" on one side or "racist" on the other side. As I said previously, it has my wife and family seriously considering migration to another country.

Unfortunately, I think the media is more than partially responsible, whether it be Fox or CNN, Stephanopolis or Hannity. They all seem to think that lighting a cigar in a fireworks factory is fun and exciting.

 

[gr8oldies]

But he doesn’t try after years of her saying how to pronounce it. He purposely goes with the wrong version. Every single time. The same way - every single time. He makes no effort to say it correctly because he doesn’t want to.
Not sure why you’re trying to defend him here. Limbaugh, the racist that Wimterble worked for and idolized did the same exact thing every single time he’d talk about

This is all getting so obtuse that it is amusing. A wrestler in a minimally popular sport 40 years or so ago... before half the US population was even born... is an unlikely intentional reference. In fact, this is the first time I have ever heard of the "stage name" of Mr. Harris and I'll bet that a survey would find that about 90% of the population has no idea who that fighting Kamala is/was.

As one illustration, I think you will find that Hispanic who are bilingual or Spanish dominant will almost always say Kahh-MAH-la since that pronunciation obeys the almost uniform rules of pronunciation of Spanish. The alternate pronunciation is neither natural nor intuitive. I've heard anchors on the major Spanish networks in the US and Mexico all use Kah-Mala" as it obeys Spanish rules.

What this entire discussion seems to be to me is part of a viral national malady where everything anyone of the opposite party say is somehow either "communist" on one side or "racist" on the other side. As I said previously, it has my wife and family seriously considering migration to another country.

Unfortunately, I think the media is more than partially responsible, whether it be Fox or CNN, Stephanopolis or Hannity. They all seem to think that lighting a cigar in a fireworks factory is fun and exciting.

You certainly can't tell me with a straight face that in the highly unlikely event that Joe Biden is removed from office, or were to pass away that the GOP and talk radio wouldn't be able to resist running against "scary woman of color".

 

[CTListener]

This is all getting so obtuse that it is amusing. A wrestler in a minimally popular sport 40 years or so ago... before half the US population was even born... is an unlikely intentional reference. In fact, this is the first time I have ever heard of the "stage name" of Mr. Harris and I'll bet that a survey would find that about 90% of the population has no idea who that fighting Kamala is/was.

What this entire discussion seems to be to me is part of a viral national malady where everything anyone of the opposite party say is somehow either "communist" on one side or "racist" on the other side. As I said previously, it has my wife and family seriously considering migration to another country.

Unfortunately, I think the media is more than partially responsible, whether it be Fox or CNN, Stephanopolis or Hannity. They all seem to think that lighting a cigar in a fireworks factory is fun and exciting.

The people who "get" the jibe would be in their 50s through 70s now. And plenty of talk hosts make wrestling references and are full understood. I expect you were in Latin America when wrestling was a phenomenon that put the peculiar entertainment form on national magazine covers, prime time TV on NBC, etc. I respect you, David, but you have admitted that you are no fan of American sports and pseudo-sports, or much of its pop culture that has no Hispanic appeal or significance. I am being no more obtuse here than you are when you cite long-ago ratings in Ecuador.

 

[davideduardo]

The people who "get" the jibe would be in their 50s through 70s now. And plenty of talk hosts make wrestling references and are full understood. I expect you were in Latin America when wrestling was a phenomenon that put the peculiar entertainment form on national magazine covers, prime time TV on NBC, etc. I respect you, David, but you have admitted that you are no fan of American sports and pseudo-sports, or much of its pop culture that has no Hispanic appeal or significance. I am being no more obtuse here than you are when you cite long-ago ratings in Ecuador.

During that peak wrestling period in the US, I was in Puerto Rico, USA. One of my sellers also did the Spanish narration of pro wrestling which was carried in both English (on cable) and Spanish (OTA), My associate watched the English cable version and did the Spanish narration from it, so I was very aware of the events which were very popular in Puerto Rico.

The place where wrestling has been the most popular anywhere, I think, is Mexico in the 60's to the 80's. There were even wrestling movie stars who did many feature films which were very popular; the fighters use masks and costumes and had "stage names". So, yeah, I'm very aware of wrestling.

I don't enjoy most rock, but my most successful station programmed 100% rock and was, as far as I know, had the highest AQH persons of any rock station in the world. I did not program for my personal taste; I programmed for the 4 or 5 million cume persons in Buenos Aires that we achieved. Of course, after a year or two of airchecking and listening... and winning the Argentine equivalent of an Oscar... I grew into liking the music a lot and I made great friendships with many of the band members.

Again, I don't think that any but a small percentage of Americans would know an 80's wrestler, and fewer would confuse their name with that of a current Vice President of the U.S.A.

 

[davideduardo]

You certainly can't tell me with a straight face that in the highly unlikely event that Joe Biden is removed from office, or were to pass away that the GOP and talk radio wouldn't be able to resist running against "scary woman of color".

I don't think that Kamala, however it is pronounced, is disliked for her skin color. Much of the criticism I have heard, particularly from Hispanics, is her lack of understanding of them and a concurrent misunderstanding of the reasons and motivations for migration from Latin America.

 

[vchimpanzee]

As someone who has endured 53 years of hearing Puerto Rico called "Portorico" I think this is nothingburger.

That is actually how it was spelled, with the second word separate and capitalized, in my father's atlas from WWII.

 

[TheBigA]

I think the thing about the south, whether it's Charlotte or the rural areas, is they expect you to at least be polite. At the very least. They'll say "Bless your heart." That southern charm doesn't work with conservative talk radio, because it's not polite or nice or kind. It's all the opposite. The negativity is fine up north. People honk their horns and yell at you in Manhattan. That doesn't fly in Charlotte.

 

[fybush]

I think the thing about the south, whether it's Charlotte or the rural areas, is they expect you to at least be polite. At the very least. They'll say "Bless your heart." That southern charm doesn't work with conservative talk radio, because it's not polite or nice or kind. It's all the opposite. The negativity is fine up north. People honk their horns and yell at you in Manhattan. That doesn't fly in Charlotte.

In common Southern usage, "Bless your heart" isn't "polite, nice or kind," though.

But if you want to believe that it is, well... bless your heart.

 

[TheBigA]

In common Southern usage, "Bless your heart" isn't "polite, nice or kind," though.

But if you want to believe that it is, well... bless your heart.

It's a nice way of saying something. It at least sounds nice. Which is not what is done in talk radio. No punches pulled.

 

[davideduardo]

That is actually how it was spelled, with the second word separate and capitalized, in my father's atlas from WWII.

And that was the product of ignorant colonizers starting in 1898 when the U.S. seized numerous Spanish colonies.

 

[Cordelia Chase]

Another Hollywood reference here: Endora constantly botched the name of her son-in-law Darrin on the television show "Bewitched" simply because she didn't like him. I know it can be difficult to skirt the race issue when a minority is involved, but is there the slightest possibility that these talk show hosts just don't care for Vice President Harris on general principle, her race and gender notwithstanding? Or am I, bless my heart, being naive?

 

[Rusty Muck]

I’m not a fan of the programming on WBT, but the numbers don’t lie. They’re going much better than even a year-2 years ago, I highly doubt Urban/Radio One are wringing their hands on what to do with 1110.

It's not like there's anything else they can do with it. WBT is a white elephant in more ways than one.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

bless your heart is the southern polite way of like...insulting your stupidity to your face before they talk about you behind your back after youre gone.

Amd i totally get the reference the pother posters are making about Kamalas name.. its one of those where tone of vocie and inflection is important to understand intent... and i totally get based upon how its being described what the intent is.

and thats an insult.

 

[Rusty Muck]

In common Southern usage, "Bless your heart" isn't "polite, nice or kind," though.

But if you want to believe that it is, well... bless your heart.

I'm also familiar with "bless your pea-picking heart" and that has pretty much the same connotations.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

I'm also familiar with "bless your pea-picking heart" and that has pretty much the same connotations.

@Nathan Obral @fybush do a youtube search for "stuff southern women say".. hilarious

 

[bturner1]

Ignorance can easily be defined as people who somehow know the heart and mind of those they don't know and prove that ignorance by telling everyone what those people mean by the words those people they don't know spoke.

 

[gr8oldies]

Another Hollywood reference here: Endora constantly botched the name of her son-in-law Darrin on the television show "Bewitched" simply because she didn't like him. I know it can be difficult to skirt the race issue when a minority is involved, but is there the slightest possibility that these talk show hosts just don't care for Vice President Harris on general principle, her race and gender notwithstanding? Or am I, bless my heart, being naive?

Well, every Democratic office-holder and voter is Satan and worse. I believe that if Kamela was at the top of the ticket, the dog whistles would become bugles.

 

[CharlotteListener]

She's been on the national agenda for about 4 years now. And I'm a long-time follower of news, having gotten my first subscription to Time when I was about 10 or 11. And if you ask me how to pronounce "Kamala" today, I would not be even $1 that I would get it right on the first try.

It's just a confusing name. Just like Beyoncé-with-an-accent-on-the-last-syllable is apparently spoken with an accent on the second one, in total defiance of the accent and its meaning in every Roman alphabet language.

What I am saying is that using a pronunciation that has no negative meaning of itself is not racist. Jut a bit ignorant, but in this case I'll bet that half the general population can not tell us which one is right. I sure can't.

Again, the fact you're trying to dismiss this flat out racism while whining you want to leave this country because you don't like the discourse, well, you can't have it both ways.

 

[CharlotteListener]

I don't think that Kamala, however it is pronounced, is disliked for her skin color. Much of the criticism I have heard, particularly from Hispanics, is her lack of understanding of them and a concurrent misunderstanding of the reasons and motivations for migration from Latin America.

You don't think she's disliked because of skin color?
Wow. You really are in an alternate universe on this one.

 

[Mark Roberts]

As someone who has endured 53 years of hearing Puerto Rico called "Portorico" I think this is nothingburger.

The "o in the root becomes 'ue' when stressed" paradigm is unique to Spanish (likewise "e" to "ie") and something that a substantial Americans are likely not to understand. Of course, it is very basic, since some very common verbs are radical-changing, so you have to learn it pretty early on.

But, anyway, I've got my beef, too: Columbia. It's a common place name in the United States, including the name of the capital of South Carolina, and the name of the city that hosts the University of Missouri (and where I'm from), but then you hear people pronounce the name of the South American country the same way.

But wait! There's more!

Here was a picture in a search result I got some time back when looking up the latitude and longitude of Columbia, Missouri.