Carl Limbacher Jr.
Monday, July 23, 2001

The leader demanded that Rather apologize or be sacked.

Rather made the racial slur while explaining why CBS News brass finally caved in to mounting pressure over his decision to ignore the Chandra Levy-Gary Condit story.

Rather told Imus on-air:

"What happened was they [CBS management] got the willies, they got the Buckwheats. Their knees wobbled and we gave it up."

The Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, head of the Los Angeles-based Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND), told NewsMax.com that Rather's reference to "Buckwheat" - the easily frightened black character in the 1930s' "Little Rascals" comedies - is demeaning to African-Americans.

"Whenever you think of Buckwheat you think of black people," the Rev. Peterson said, adding that the comment has been cited as that used by racists and others to describe a frightened black man.

"You think of the 'Little Rascals' and the character Buckwheat. You think of 'Amos and Andy' where they played roles like that. The Buckwheat image has been used against black people for decades.

"Had a white conservative said that, or someone from Fox News Channel said that, there would be an outcry today from the black community," the civil rights leader predicted, "because that is a derogatory term which mostly applies to black Americans."

Repeated calls to the Baltimore headquarters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition office in Chicago, as well as the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network in Harlem, were not returned.

Several staffers at CBS News in New York, where Rather does his broadcast, declined to comment on Peterson's complaint. A spokeswoman for "CBS Evening News" did not return two calls seeking comment.

But a source familiar with the CBS news operation told NewsMax that Rather's appearance on Imus' show had CBS executives very worried.

NewsMax broke the story last Wednesday night that CBS executives had forced Rather to report the Levy-Condit story after Rather had censored the story for more than two months. Rather himself confirmed the NewsMax report on the Imus program Thursday morning.

CBS was worried enough about Rather's appearance on Imus that he was briefed heavily for the show, and CBS news staff prepared "talking points" for him to read to answer likely questions and issues raised by Imus during the phone interview.

But no one expected that Rather would come out swinging against CBS management, which included his use of the racial term "Buckwheats," the source said.

Despite CBS stonewalling about Rather's nationally broadcast racial slur, the Rev. Peterson remains adamant that he won't let Rather get away with his racist remark.