NAACP Wants Action Taken Against St. Louis Anchor
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Last week, FTVLive told you that KTVI (St. Louis) Anchor Kevin Steincross was reading a story on the station’s on the station’s morning news show, when he said an upcoming tribute to the civil rights icon at St. Louis University would honor “Martin Luther coon Jr.”
He said he was sorry, but the incident is still not sitting well with the St. Louis County NAACP.
The group met with the Tribune station yesterday and called call for the removal of Steincross.
“The Fox2 management team spoke to Kevin following the mistake and we believe that it was truly inadvertent and does not reflect Kevin’s core beliefs,” a Tribune spokesperson said a written statement.
That answer didn’t satisfy the county NAACP chapter.
“There are some matters where it is imperative we take a stand, and this is one of them,” said St. Louis County NAACP President John Gaskin. “I understand some people believe it was a mistake, but there are some mistakes in every field that are grounds for termination.”
The slur has a painful history for African-Americans, often used by racists to denigrate King.
“It needs to be taken seriously,” Gaskin said.
After the meeting with KTVI leadership Monday afternoon, Gaskin said, “We’ve made our request and we’ll give them a chance to respond accordingly.”
He declined to provide more details about the meeting but said the NAACP was standing firm in its request for Steincross’ termination.
“We certainly understand people have brought up things about his character and him being an upstanding person, and although that may be the case, we’re talking about the incident at hand and it’s imperative we not get off the issue,” Gaskin said.
If the station does not fire Steincross, “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Gaskin said.
