CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS TARGET A&E’s ADVERTISERS AMID NEW DEMANDS TO CANCEL BOUNTY HUNTER

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Prominent civil rights leaders have turned up the heat on the A&E network — demanding it permanently cancel its Dog the Bounty Hunter show or face an organized campaign targeting its advertisers, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.

Duane “Dog” Chapman made two TV appearances in which he apologized for his taped racist rant, but he also tried to rationalize his use of the “N” word, while going on the attack against the release of the private tape. Dog’s TV interviews featured bizarre and contradictory statements and many civil rights leaders are outraged.

“I think that black America has forgiven me more than white America right now,” Dog told Larry King. But activists and Black leaders are spreading a completely different message. They want his show scrapped and promise a “huge and public outcry” against the A&E Network if it’s not.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, President of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, told The ENQUIRER: “For A&E to simply take Dog off its schedule and stop showing it for a while is not enough. What he said is so damaging and offensive that the only acceptable thing for the network to do is cancel the show permanently.

“And that’s exactly what we’ve demanded that A&E do.

“The important thing to realize is that what Dog said and how he said it is far more damaging that what Don Imus said.

“For one thing, Imus’s nasty comment was basically an off-the-cuff remark, a sick joke, as horrible as it was.

“But Dog was telling his own son that having a relationship with an African-American woman is totally unacceptable and that he would have to end it or get fired. This sends a horrible message.

“Basically, he seems to be saying that all black women are no-good whores and crack addicts.

“There is also an incitement to violence in the statement — it says that having an interracial relationship is so unacceptable that if it isn’t ended strong action will be taken against you — you will be fired.

“Dog’s statement is sending a very destructive message.

“This is why we’ve demanded that A&E cancel the show permanently.

“Now we’ll give it some time for the dust to settle.

“But — if the network is not forthcoming with a statement about the show’s permanent cancellation — we will call for a huge and very public outcry against the network, with hundreds of letters to A&E and its advertisers.

“That will be far more effective than a boycott.”

Eddie Jones, President of the Los Angeles Civil Rights Association, supports Hutchinson and joined him in sending a letter to A&E asking that they terminate their relationship with Duane “Dog” Chapman and cancel the show outright.

Jones said Dog’s comments were a violation of the woman’s civil rights and that even a public apology to her isn’t enough. “She should be compensated by him,” Jones said. “She should take Dog to court for slander and defamation of character.”

Dog has damaged the credibility and reputation of A&E, Jones said and held a press conference asking for a boycott of the network. He has not received a response from the network and said the media isn’t doing enough.

“If we don’t stand up and do something, we won’t see change. Sometimes the boat doesn’t just need to be rocked, it needs to be sunk.”

In Hawaii, Alphonso Braggs, President of the Honolulu chapter of the NAACP, told The ENQUIRER: “So far A&E has done the right thing by temporarily removing Dog The Bounty Hunter from it’s lineup — but it’s clear that they are going to have to do more and cancel the show permanently.

“At this point it’s premature to mount a public campaign against them now.

“I want them to have time to investigate the situation, realize its full magnitude, and come to the decision to cancel the show permanently on their own.

“But if they don’t do it on their own, it will be time for us to take action and call for a public outcry. “What’s happened is really very sad.

“This man was viewed as a reformer and leader in the community, a real mentor for our children.

“But the revelations about him and the destructive statements he’s made have made it very clear that he doesn’t deserve to be held in respect.

“And he certainly doesn’t deserve to profit from us.

“If A&E does not cancel the show presently there will be massive public outcry against them.”