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alex housden apology to jason hackett screenshot

Source: KOCO-TV / Screenshot

A white television anchor got a strong lesson in how words can harm Black people when racial sensitivities aren’t acknowledged, this after she compared her co-anchor to an ape. What came next was a tearful apology and an acceptance of the gesture by the Black anchor.

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Deadline reports:

During a morning broadcast on Oklahoma’s KOCO-TV, an ABC affiliate, Alex Housden was reporting on gorillas at the local zoo. While doing so, Housden told her co-anchor, Jason Hackett, a black man, it “kind of looks like you.” Hackett responded, “He kind of does, actually, yeah.”

It may have seemed innocent at the time but the optics make the situation say otherwise. History has shown that black people have been wrongly compared to primates and is a form of racism, obviously.

The following day, Housden did a tearful apology with Hackett by her side. “I’m here this morning because I want to apologize, not only to my co-anchor Jason but to our entire community,” she said. “I said something yesterday that was inconsiderate, that was inappropriate, and I hurt people. And I want you to understand how much I hurt you out there and how much I hurt you.”

Check out the offending video and apology clip below.

 

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Photo: Screenshot

White TV Anchor Compared Co-Anchor To An Ape, Apologizes Tearfully [VIDEO]  was originally published on hiphopwired.com