In an update on Hulk Hogan’s appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America”, a report from WTSP-TV in Tampa, Florida notes that Hogan’s comments have not gone down well with people in his hometown.

During the ABC interview, Hogan was asked point blank if he was a racist and responded, “No, I’m not. I’m not a racist, I never should have said what I said, it was wrong, I’m embarrassed by it, but a lot of people need to realize that you inherit things from the environment and when I grew up, it was South Tampa, it was a rough neighborhood, very low income and all my friends, we greeted each other saying that word, the word was thrown around like it was nothing”. Hogan was then asked if it was fair to say that he inherited a racial bias and responded by stating, “I would say that is very fair, the environment I grew up in, all my white friends, all my black friends, to hear that word on a daily basis, that’s how they would greet me in the morning, good morning so and so, I think it was part of the culture and the environment that I grew up in.

Speaking to WTSP-TV, Linda Bratt, who was described as a childhood friend of Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea) said that was not the culture when Terry grew up here and that Terry was the first guy to ever be a role model for their neighborhood and he had the kids wrapped around his finger, had the biggest fan base you ever could imagine and done nothing with it. The story also features a quote from another resident who wished to remain anonymous who stated that while the neighborhood was indeed poor, the “n” word wasn’t thrown around like Hogan stated.

More information is available at this link.