Much has been made about the McCain camp's attacks on tonight's debate moderator, Gwen Ifill. It's surprising, then, that I haven't seen anyone recall the last time that Ifill tangled with racial stereotypes. In the early nineties, when Ifill was the New York Times' White House correspondent, shock jock Don Imus told his audience, "“Isn’t The Times wonderful? It lets the cleaning lady cover the White House.” In 2007, when Imus got himself into hot water again for referring to the Rutgers' women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos," Ifill wrote a column on the subject, and, referring to the old slur, wrote:
"I haven’t talked about this much. I’m a big girl. I have a platform. I have a voice. I’ve been working in journalism long enough that there is little danger that a radio D.J.’s juvenile slap will define or scar me. Yesterday, he began telling people he never actually called me a cleaning lady. Whatever....Every time a young black girl shyly approaches me for an autograph or writes or calls or stops me on the street to ask how she can become a journalist, I feel an enormous responsibility. It’s more than simply being a role model. I know I have to be a voice for them as well."
Ifill isn't a lightweight. She doesn't care what the McCain campaign or anyone else says about her. She's going to ask tough questions of both candidates, and do herself proud.
-- Tim Fernholz
