ESPN Announcer To Black NASCAR Crew Member: "Tap Dance For Us"

[Deeper_Background]

This weekend's NASCAR race at Pocono was delayed at the start by rain and the ESPN team was forced to fill the first 30 minutes of the broadcast with banter and discussion. At approximately 1:38 PM EST, they start an interview with the "over-the-wall reporter" for the day Kenyatta Houston — a pit crew member for Kevin Harvick and graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program.

The conversation is fairly normal until, out of nowhere, one of the broadcasters says: "We call this in the television business the tap-dance and people know we can't dance. Can you... gotta little tap for us down there?"

Houston, for his part, is able to whip up a short dance before returning to work. It was an odd moment and Jalopnik readers weren't the only one to notice. Matt McLaughlin over at Front Stretch also picked up on this strangeness and noted the double standard:

During the rain delay, an ESPN broadcaster asked a black crew member if he could tap dance. Oddly enough, I can't recall any white crew members being asked to do so.

Funny, we can't either. Can anyone identify the voice of the broadcaster? The main announcers are Rusty Wallace, Allen Bestwick, and Brad Daugherty with Andy Petree, Dale Jarrett, and Marty Reid on the play-by-play.

UPDATE: Some of our commenters think it's Marty Reid. We agree, it sounds most like him.
http://jalopnik.com/5602629/espn-announcer-to-black-nascar-crew-member-tap-dance-for-us

 

[DanOregon]

Completely innocuous in context. I find announcers who refer to black running backs avoiding tacklers as "jitterbugging" more troublesome.

Reminded me of an interview with Dule Hill who is a trained tap dancer and danced on a recent episode of Psych. They asked him why he never danced on The West Wing - he said being one of the few black people on the show, he didn't think it was appropriate to be tap dancing in the Oval Office.

 

[doubledown68]

I didn't know there was any racial undertones to the word "jitterbug" And if there was, I'd have thought that Wham! killed them off years ago.

 

[Boom_70]

I didn't know there was any racial undertones to the word "jitterbug" And if there was, I'd have thought that Wham! killed them off years ago.

Besides coaches do not like running backs that "jitterbug". With closing speed of LB's and DB's nowadays backs need to hit the hole and turn on the jets.
No *****footing or Jitterbugging.

 

[DanOregon]

I didn't know there was any racial undertones to the word "jitterbug" And if there was, I'd have thought that Wham! killed them off years ago.

These guys? The poster-children of the family values crowd?

 

[mustangj17]

Outing alert: Deeper Background is Jesse Jackson.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

I fail to see racist intent in that segment.

 

[93Devil]

Was Mr. Bo Gangles written in the 70s or 60s?

Does Steve Smith eat there?

 

[Ace]

I fail to see racist intent in that segment.

I don't know if it is racist, but it's certainly "racial" if you say that "everyone knows we can't dance" but ask a black dude to boogie for you.

You don't see that?

 

[SportsDude]

Completely innocuous in context. I find announcers who refer to black running backs avoiding tacklers as "jitterbugging" more troublesome.

Reminded me of an interview with Dule Hill who is a trained tap dancer and danced on a recent episode of Psych. They asked him why he never danced on The West Wing - he said being one of the few black people on the show, he didn't think it was appropriate to be tap dancing in the Oval Office.

Dule Hill should be a household name.

 

[Double J]

I didn't know there was any racial undertones to the word "jitterbug" And if there was, I'd have thought that Wham! killed them off years ago.

These guys? The poster-children of the family values crowd?

Were George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley the inspirations for the C. Thomas Howell movie "Soul Man"?

 

[murphyc]

In the early 1990s, when ESPN needed to fill time during a NASCAR rain delay, all they had to do was interview DW. First as DW the driver, then as DW the car owner. He did quite the Junior Johnson impersonation.
Here's one example: