by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World
Yes class. This is why we double check and proofread our work. MSNBC reporter Norah O’Donnell, in an effort to get the news out ahead of the competition, sent this message out on Twitter, citing NBC Chief Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski as her source. You can imagine that she probably got more than a couple of tweet backs as a result. The killing of Osama Bin Laden was the big news of the day, but some would speculate that the killing of President Obama would make for a more shocking headline.
The saddest part of O’Donnell’s error is that death threats are very real for the Obama family. President Obama has received far more death threats than any president in American history. The Secret Service has reported that President Obama receives more than 30 death threats per day, leading to a 400 percent increase over the Bush Administration. Fortunately, none of these threats have come to fruition.
The fact that the president remains safe in spite of his status as a hero in the African American community runs in stark contrast to the more volatile political environment in the 1960s, which led to the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and John F. Kennedy. Even Abraham Lincoln, a man with whom President Obama regularly compares himself, died by way of an assassin’s bullet.
Perhaps Ms. O’Donnell might want to be a bit more careful in the future. She probably handed out a few heart attacks on Twitter.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.
