Hulk Hogan's Childhood Neighbors Criticize Him For 'Good Morning America' Comments About Hometown

In the Hulk Hogan interview that aired in part this morning on ABC's "Good Morning America," one of the more curious comments was that Hogan cited his upbringing as leading to his casual use of the N-word. What was strange was not that he didn't say that racism was unfortunately ingrained in him as a product of an upbringing in the southeast in the 1950s and 1960s.

Instead, it was the opposite: "People need to realize that you inherit things from your environment. And where I grew up was south Tampa, Port Tampa, and it was a really rough neighborhood, very low income. And all my friends, we greeted each other saying that word." Given the racial climate of the southeast at the time (for example, interracial marriage was not legal in Florida until Hogan was 13 years old), it sounded like a stretch that the type of language was being thrown back and forth in a friendly way during his childhood.

In what can not exactly be termed a surprise, Hogan's old neighbors are, according to WTSP-TV in Tampa, not happy with what he said. Linda Bryat, who grew up with Hogan, said "That was not the culture when Terry grew up here." She added that "Terry was the first guy to ever be a role model for this neighborhood and he had the kids wrapped around his finger. He had the biggest fan base you ever could imagine and he did nothing with it."

Another neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous and raised his daughters in a house next door to Hogan's childhood home, said that "There was a time this area was poor but we didn't say that word." He also made sure to note that "My daughter's not like that. My son's not like that."

Source: WTSP-TV