"cotton pickin" is a replacement for "damn", because people didn't want to cuss. It harkens (you heard that word?) back to how sh!tty the job of cotton picking was, for everybody that did it. Kind of a "if you're stupid enough to do this..." thing.
It is a nice replacement for "mother f***in", if I do say so myself. Fun fact: people of all races picked cotton and all agreed it sucked ballz. This term should unify us, not divide us.
I've heard and used the phrase plenty in my life. I've never thought anything negative about it. The announcer didn't mean anything by it. None of that changes that we probably should avoid the phrase.
I agree that context matters. In this situation, I don't think race crossed this guys mind. Would Michael Cage been suspended for this comment?
The historical association of the language is the overriding factor here, not necessarily the intent. A white guy sees a black kid and says, oh look at that cute little monkey. Typically a harmless phrase but in context, inappropriate. The context includes who is saying something and who is being targeted by the language.
I don't think "Cotton pickin'" was originated as a racial comment at all. So trying put race into the comment all this later time seems pretty silly to me. That being said, if someone is offended by it then why bother to use it? I don't think anyone is in the right telling other people they can't be offended.
I think you shouldn't tell people that they can't be offended, but at the same time it's perfectly acceptable to ignore people who say they are offended or even laugh at them for it. Gotta have give and take on the issue.
I hate this PC era we're currently stuck in. This isn't offensive IMO but some people are just too ****ing sensitive these days.