"Dog" is "Toast"

A reality series star is about to be canned:

HONOLULU - TV bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman on Wednesday apologized for using the N-word repeatedly in a profanity-laced tirade during a private phone conversation with his son that was recorded and posted online.

Chapman, star of A&E's hit reality series "Dog the Bounty Hunter," responded after The National Enquirer posted a clip of the conversation in which Chapman uses the racial slur in reference to his son's black girlfriend.

The Enquirer and TMZ.com reported A&E suspended production on the series, the cable network's highest rated show, pending an inquiry. A&E did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment.

The recording was first posted online by the Enquirer. It was unclear who recorded the conversation or how the tabloid obtained the 1 1/2-minute clip in which the N-word was used six times. A woman at the Enquirer said no one would be available to comment after hours.

In the conversation, Chapman urges his son to breakup with his girlfriend. He also expresses concern about the girlfriend going public about the TV star's use of the N-word.

"I'm not going to take a chance ever in life of losing everything I've worked for 30 years because some (expletive) n--- heard us say 'n---' and turned us into the Enquirer magazine."

It's well known that you can get be forgiven of just about anything in this country except using the "N" word (assuming you're a person of pallor).

A BBC disk jockey is also getting heat for her remarks:

Sarah Kennedy, the BBC Radio 2 presenter, has been criticised by her own listeners for claiming that it is hard to see black people in the dark.

The controversial early morning disc jockey interrupted a discussion of road safety to say she had almost run over a black pedestrian because his dark clothes made him "invisible".

"It's lucky he opened his mouth to yawn or do something and I saw him," she said on her show this morning.

I can understand the people who are upset with "Dog", but I'm not sure why this second example is so terrible. A black person wearing dark clothing is going to be difficult to see on a dark street. That's not racism, it's reality. Maybe she was a little flippant in how she described it, but you can't deny the basic truth of what she said.

However, such is the world we live in today where we even have to deny reality to avoid offense.