In the continuing presidential contest examination of racial lines - or the perceived lack of them, in the rosy-tinted, surreal world of "color-blind" or "post-racial" Republicans and others - we look at majority White comments that are seemingly harmless, but are in fact, deeply painful for minority audiences...
Take the case of Jeff Van Gundy, former NBA coach, mid-forties White guy, now providing "color" commentary for the NBA Finals broadcasts on ABC. During the sixth and final game of the playoffs between the Celtics and the Lakers on Tuesday night, the camera found two older warhorse superstars of previous Celtics championship teams, Bill Russell and John Havlicek.
Immediately after the camera moved on to the game coverage, Van Gundy said "Isn't he (Havlicek) the definition of regal?" There was a pause, but then he reiterated his point by calling Havlicek regal again, without enumerating the reasons. The (presumably) White majority audience was supposed to be able to automatically agree with him - Havlicek sported a thick, white mane of swept back hair, looked solemn and serious, and wore a nice suit and silk tie. I guess that's "regal".
Russell, on the other hand, was not wearing a suit or tie, but with his close-cropped white hair and beard, and tall, slim, equally serious-looking gaze, looked to me to be equally regal. But, alas, he was Black.
The only link I have is to a sports blog, but it was only to document that Van Gundy said this, and that it wasn't at all obvious why this was a problem: http://paultaneo.blogspot.com/