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Hattie Leeper, the first black woman radio personality in Charlotte  history, was among the African Americans passed over for the inaugural class of the Charlotte Broadcast Hall of Fame.

African Americans were shut out of the Charlotte Broadcast Hall of Fame inaugural class.

The initial list of 11 inductees announced on July 23 included no blacks – an oversight a committee member acknowledged as “unintentional misstep.” As a result, the process will be reworked and the number of inductees expanded.

The class of 2015 includes the likes of evangelist Billy Graham, WCNC meteorologist Larry Sprinkle, retired TV anchors Bill Walker (WSOC) and Doug Mayes (WBT, WBTV and WSOC) and former CBS News anchor Charles Kuralt. Among those passed over are African American broadcast legends Hattie Leeper and Gene Potts of WGIV radio; Ray Gooding of WGIV and WBT radio and former television anchors Ken Koontz (WBTV) and Beatrice Thompson (WBTV and WCNC). Koontz was the first black anchor in Charlotte’s TV market; Thompson was its first black woman reporter. The class will be inducted August 21.

“That is a huge oversight,” said Cassandra Wynn, a Charlotte native and journalism professor. “With all this talk of black lives matter, it’s hard to see, given the context of what has happened in the country the last year or two with racial issues …it’s hard to think people would make decisions and not look at diversity.”

Amy Burkett, general manager at WTVI and a hall of fame committee member, said in a statement: “The Charlotte Broadcast Hall of Fame made an unintentional misstep and an error of omission in selecting the inaugural group of inductees – and for that we’re deeply sorry.”

The hall of fame committee is made up of representatives from Charlotte’s TV and radio stations, said Kathy Scott Rummage, a spokeswoman for Central Piedmont Community College, which operates WTVI, where the hall of fame will be exhibited.

“I was very shocked, surprised and dumbfounded,” said WBTV reporter and regional Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Steve Crump, who has worked in the market for more than 30 years. “Understanding what they went through so people of my generation would have a better day, for them to be left off the list or at least a level of recognition is most disappointing.”

“We’ve heard the thoughtful and concerned input from community members and have quickly recognized that the first slate of inductees for the Charlotte Broadcast Hall of Fame was not fully representative of Charlotte’s diverse broadcasting history,” Burkett said. “We want to make certain that this prestigious honor is determined and awarded in a manner that is inclusive of all of those who make up the breadth of Charlotte’s rich broadcasting heritage.”

Crump said he doesn’t believe the snubs were based on race rather than a lack of awareness.

“I think it was perhaps an unwitting oversight,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s one of those scenarios where people are saying ‘Wow, we didn’t know we did that.’”

Burkett acknowledged the missteps and insists there will be changes.

“Upon closer examination, the selection process was unintentionally flawed,” she said. “In an effort to fix it, the selection committee and its procedures will be examined more critically and the number of inaugural inductees will soon be expanded to be more inclusive.”

That would be a good first step, according to Wynn.

“I don’t have that much of a problem with going back and correcting the issue and maybe adding people to the list,” she said. “In a sad way, that’s the way America is. Often, black folks are invisible and so it’s not necessarily meant to be, but in many areas of society, all of us are victims of racism.”

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