Dan Rather Explains "Watermelon" Remark

Veteran television anchor Dan Rather cites the way his comments about Dan Ratherwatermelon and President Obama went viral as an example of the dangers of "an online and cable echo chamber that claims the banner of news but trades in gossip, gotcha, and innuendo."

Discussing health care reform Sunday on television's syndicated "Chris Matthews Show," Rather said, "Obama couldnt sell watermelons if you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic."

"It's an expression that stretches to my boyhood roots in Southeast Texas, when country highways were lined with stands manned by sellers of all races," Rather wrote Wednesday on the Huffington Post site. "Now of course watermelons have become a stereotype for African Americans and so my analogy entered a charged environment. I'm sorry people took offense.

"But anyone who knows me personally or knows my professional career would know that race was not on my mind. Reporting on the injustices of race was part of the reason I became a reporter. I grew up in segregated Texas on the same side of the tracks as the African American community. . . . I do not take this issue lightly.

"I can understand why someone who just happened upon my comments could take offense or want clarification. But what has caused this comment to 'go viral' is the trumpeting of an online and cable echo chamber that claims the banner of news but trades in gossip, gotcha, and innuendo. Furthermore, even for those who brook no prejudice, when everything is condensed to 140 characters or a small YouTube clip, many people who got this 'news' did so without any context, just a headline that popped up on their phone or inbox."