CNN news anchor Rosemary Church raised many eyebrows when she recently suggested that Ferguson police should use "water cannons" instead of tear gas when attempting to deal with large crowds of emotionally charged protesters. While she most likely didn't make the statement with any malicious intent, her words didn't sit well with many viewers due to the fact that "water cannons" or water hoses were often used during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s as a way to attack Black protesters.
It may in fact be a more effective way to take aim at specific individuals instead of shooting tear gas into a large crowd, but using fire hoses against Blacks has too painful of a legacy to even be considered today. Right after Ms. Church made the careless statement, her Black co-anchor, Erroll Barnett, shot her a sharp side-eye look, as if to acknowledge that she made a great mistake by suggesting that on national television.
Viewers have since been expressing their disgust on Twitter. Ms. Church really upset a lot of people.
Check out the many reactions above.
Source: Uproxx
