On Wednesday, June 11, Fox news ran a text tag (a "chyron") referring to Michelle Obama as "Obama's Baby Mama" during an opinion piece by Michelle Malkin.

I was horrified. Even if you do not support Obama's campaign, I think all Bloghers should be horrified.

Fox should apologize. If you aren't clear on the meaning of "baby mama", here's the urban dictionary definition: urban dictionary.

A term used to define an unmarried young woman (but can be a woman of any age) who has had a child. As mentioned before in another definition, most of the time it is used for when it was simply a sexual relationship, compared to ex-wife or girlfriend. Usually this has a negative connotation, a lot of baby mamas are seen as desperate, gold digging, emotionally starved, shady women who had a baby out of spite or to keep a man. Sometimes they may act like this because of missed child support payments, unfulfilled promises by the father, or convenient sex by the father. Either or both may exist in any situation.

Can you imagine ANY news outlet referring to Cindy McCain as John McCain's “BabyMama”? How about "Sugar Mommy" or "Trophy Wife"? (And if they did, I'd be just as mad.)

Keven Haydin at the American Street writes:

Fox has stooped to a level akin to the 54 examples provided by Jeff Fecke and Jesse Taylor.
This isn’t journalism nor professional editorializing. This is lowbrow,
knuckle-dragging, ignorant hatefulness directly defiant of every
American ideal. It’s a gross insult, lacking merit and truth.

John Scalzi made it very clear:

Calling Michelle Obama a “baby mama” isn’t just Fox News having a happy casual larf; it’s using urban slang to a) remind you the Obamas are black, b) belittle a woman of considerable personal accomplishment, and c) frame Barack Obama’s relationship to his wife and children in a way that insults him, minimizes his love for and commitment to his family, and reinforces stereotypes about black men. Someone at Fox News just ought to call Barack Obama “boy” at some point so we can have all the cards right out there on the table.

Liza Sabatier at Culture Kitchen pinpoints Michelle Malkin's role in this:

Which is why having Michelle Malkin at the center of this "baby mama
drama" is so important. Ever the opportunists, "Malkin & Co." seeks
out race baiting opportunities the way sharks seek blood in the water :
If it is something "Malkin & Co" can profit from, she and her
husband run to it and unleash the racist wurlitzer on her blog.

Fox News has expressed "regrets" for the incident, but I'm still angry enough to file an FCC complaint

If you would like to keep up with news about Michelle Obama, the bloggers at What About Our Daughters have launched Michelle Obama Watch:

Michelle Obama Watch is a nonpartisan effort to monitor the media’s treatment and depiction of Michelle Obama, the most visible African American woman in popular culture. Michelle Obama Watch will become the repository of the good, the bad, the ugly and the indifferent.

A version of this post appeared previously at I Speak of Dreams