Dog the Bounty Hunter:Editorial Round-Up

Dog the Bounty Hunter
UPDATE: November 11 2007 SUNDAY

Dog the Bounty Hunter's Duane Chapman has kept out of the limelight for the last several days. He seems to have done what most people do in times of stress and trouble--hunker down in safe surroundings and weather the storm.

Around the country, the reaction was of several varieties. Editorially, it was running against the Bounty Hunter and no amount of apologies can right the wrong. Editors are busy people.

A casual reading of these makes one suspect that some of the editors doing the writing were too busy to listen to the tapes--outside of the famous 10-15 second soundbites that every media outlet has played over the last 10 days.

The editors are of the mind that Duane Champman, a man with a rough background and an ex-con, should never have been thinking, let alone saying, what he did. An interesting experiment: one of the writers below has a private cellphone conversation taped unawares, sold to the National Enquirer, edited down to the most inflammatory bits and played on national media.

It might be interesting to hear their reaction then.

The fan reaction was, understandably, running heavily in Dog's favor--most Internet polls are still racking up 80-90% in Chapman's favor. A 'live and let live' attitude seems to be the norm.

A random round-up of Dog the Bounty Hunter opinions is presented below.

Scott Beasley [11-08-07] at Clarksville Online:

Anyone who has listened to the sickening rant of this so called “celebrity” should be infuriated. His repetitive use of the “N” word and obvious disapproval with interracial relationships was exemplified in a recorded phone call. His breakdown on television the other night was a bit premature. After listening to his hate-filled rant and then listening to his tearful apology, I find it hard to believe that he “transformed” overnight.

As a white man who grew up in the south, racism is prevalent towards every minority and is something that cannot be “unlearned” overnight. In today’s society, the use of the “N” word is taboo. It is demeaning and disrespectful and serves no purpose in society other than to be used as an example of what not to do. Condemning interracial relationships is even more disturbing.

believe it to be little too soon for this man to try to save face the way he tried on national television and I don’t believe it to be a sincere gesture, but more of a damage control plea.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson [11-5-07] at Alternet:

"I am sick and tired of people like you and the phony and fake Al Sharpton who go after white people who say something you don't like and then using the excuse ... it degrades black women, etc."

That was one of the tamer emails I got when I called for A&E Television to cancel outright the "Dog the Bounty Hunter" show. We all know by now what round em' up and bring em' back alive Duane Chapman aka the Bounty Hunter did to get the temporary ax.

He let fly a "B" and "N" word laced rant and borderline threatening oaths at his son for having the temerity to date a black woman. A&E "suspended" production of the show. That was a weak, tepid, and vacillating response. And I told why. Dog's comments about black women are more than just gender and racially demeaning and hurtful to black women. They are a vicious attack on and call to end interracial relations, as well as an incitement to violence. Dog the Bounty Hunter's' statement was far more damaging than shock jock Don Imus's.

I frontally challenged A&E and said that suspension of the show is not enough. A&E can send the strong message that the sentiments he expressed will not be tolerated by immediate cancellation of the show.

The suspension I also said is simply a cover your butt holding action by A& E that left the door wide open for Dog to climb back on the airwaves. That prospect was even more real and fresh in mind with the announcement the day before by Citadel Broadcasting that shock Jock Don Imus had cut a deal with the network and would be back on board December 3.

Dylan Vox [11-07-07] at Gay Wired:

It’s been a week since the taped audio message of Duane “Dog “ Chapman calling his son’s girlfriend racial slurs hit the press, and while it is still not clear whether his popular show Dog the Bounty Hunter will be renewed by A& E, it is clear that Chapman is trying to salvage his career. Breaking into tears, he has been making the rounds to TV stations, to the girls parents and is even expected to appear on Larry King Live to apologize for his flagrant use of the 'n' word.

As a former inmate and current bounty hunter, Chapman is no stranger to controversial situations, but the public outrage with this latest tirade may just put an end to his television career.

Excerpts of a conversation with his son Tucker Chapman were released to the National Enquirer, containing numerous racial slurs used when referring to Tucker’s African-American girlfriend, Monique Shinnery.

[11-08-07] at
BuddyTV:
Days after a taped conversation, wherein Dog the Bounty Hunter star Duane "Dog" Chapman can be heard liberally using the N-word, was leaked, the famed bounty hunter and reality star went on FOX News Hannity & Colmes, and tearfully apologized for using the racial slur and explained what prompted him to do it.

Apparently, the 54-year-old has always felt a certain kinship with the black community, and claims he never used the N-word out of hate.

"There's a special connection that I thought I had between me and black America. And I used to say, 'I'm black, too,'” Duane Chapman told Hannity & Colmes' Sean Hannity on Tuesday. “In other words, my whole life I've been called a half-breed, a convict, king of the trailer trash, this and that… so when I stood there and said, 'I kind of know what you feel like, because I've been there, too,' that I felt that I could embrace and like, as brothers… say the word.”

Leonard Pitts at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Beg pardon, but who died and made Al Sharpton president of the Negroes?

Not that Sharpton has ever declared himself as such. But the fact that some regard him as black America's chief executive was driven home for the umpteenth time a few days ago after TV reality show bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman got in trouble for using a certain toxic racial epithet - six letters, starts with "n," rhymes with digger - on the phone with his son.

As you may have heard, Chapman was expressing disapproval of the son's black girlfriend.

"It's not because she's black," he said. "It's because we use the word 'n-----' sometimes here. I'm not going to take a chance ever in life of losing everything I've worked for for 30 years because some f------ n----- heard us say 'n-----' and turned us in to the Enquirer magazine."

Naturally, the son sold a tape of the conversation to the National Enquirer. Which leaves me in the awkward position of simultaneously loathing what Chapman said and pitying him for having raised a rat fink son who would sell out his own father for a few pieces of silver.

Anyway, with his life and career circling the drain, an apologetic Chapman fell back on what is becoming standard operating procedure for celebrities who defame black folk. He contacted Sharpton.

In so doing, he follows the trail blazed by Don Imus, Washington shock jock Doug "Greaseman" Tracht and Michael Richards, who sought out Sharpton (or, alternately, Jesse Jackson) after saying what they wished they had not. They were all, in turn, following the news media, which, whenever a quote on some racial matter is required, turn to the right reverends by reflex.

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