Bill O'Reilly meets civilisation.

[InsaneApache]

What a moron.

"There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M-Fer, I want more iced tea.' You know, it was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb. People were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun. And there wasn't any kind of craziness at all."

I liked this quote.

Paul Waldman of Media Matters fired back: "If Bill O'Reilly got caught robbing a bank he would say he was taken out of context."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2177841,00.html

Seriously, what did he expect? Guys and gals in grass skirts jumping up and down shouting 'wogga wogga'.

This helps to confirm what 'mom' has told me over the last few years. She says that the USA is in reality 2 or 3 different countries, depending on your race.

Is O'Reilly an example of this?

[CountArach]

Bloody moron.

[Ronin]

racist moron....

at least have the courage to stand by the stupid things you say......but no....it´s always a" mis-understanding" or "taken out of context".....

yeah Bill´s out of context.....by about 200 years.

[Odin]

This helps to confirm what 'mom' has told me over the last few years. She says that the USA is in reality 2 or 3 different countries, depending on your race.

That would put your mom in the same league with O'Reilly. Thump that chest in pride my mighty european friend !

[Proletariat]

Pretty sure IA's mom is American. She's wrong anyway, if she really thinks O'Reilly's views on race are echoed all over America.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

O'Reilly is nearing the end of his career -- or would be if major journalists did not commonly work into their 70s.

His generation is the generation of my parents. He undoubtedly meant the statements as a compliment -- an attempt to assert that there is no valid reason for difference/sense of difference.

The "velvet racism" label is a telling one. Does O'Reilly consider himself a racist or would he knowingly act in a discriminatory manner because of race? Of course not. Is he still a prisoner of the mental constructs of his generation -- the systemic racism that underlies the "velvet" label? Pretty likely. My mother won't admit that some of her attitudes are racist either -- because in her head they are not. Bull Conners is easy to identify and ridicule. Mental police work in the corners of your mind much harder. I still have odd thoughts/beliefs that my parents instilled that don't make sense -- takes ongoing active effort to weed them out when they crop up.

Those born after the "Boomer" years have less of this stuff trapped in the corners of their mind. The next generation, even less.

[Crazed Rabbit]

The furore is the latest evidence that previously untouchable rightwing talkshow hosts are now vulnerable to scrutiny as a result of blogs.

I guess according to the guardian the age of the superhuman titans known as pundits is over! Really, they've never been untouchable.

Now it seems that Bill is a 'velvet racist' or whatever, but his words may have been magnified by the extremely liberal media matters and then again by the guardian.

CR

[Watchman]

Or he's just an ass. Since when did anyone have any shortage of those ?

[Odin]

Or he's just an ass.

I think Watchman is right on the mark, His book "cultural warrior" was a real gem...

[Husar]

It surprises me that a white man can be intelligent enough to be a velvet racist, though it's good to know.

[Geoffrey S]

Unfortunate he's famous. If it were any older person, like a grandparent, it would be put down to getting on a bit and possibly senility, accompanied by a shake of the head. But he's famous, so he gets quoted and ridiculed; though it's debateable which is worse, that he's still in business at his age or that he's being grilled over this.

[HoreTore]

How much does it take to accept that some people are bloody racists?

[Watchman]

Not much in my case; I tend to be somewhat cynical of my fellow man.

Out of idle curiosity, why is it all the "voices of the Right" in the States, as well as apparently virtually all the Republican bigwigs, seem to be "White" ? I've wondered about this for a while now.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Out of idle curiosity, why is it all the "voices of the Right" in the States, as well as apparently virtually all the Republican bigwigs, seem to be "White" ?

Probably because the media emphasizes that view.

One of the biggest Conservative voices is Michelle Malkin, asian american woman. Heck, O'Reilly is much more of a populist than a conservative. just listen to his illogical rantings on oil prices.

CR

[Xiahou]

Probably because the media emphasizes that view.

One of the biggest Conservative voices is Michelle Malkin, asian american woman. Heck, O'Reilly is much more of a populist than a conservative. just listen to his illogical rantings on oil prices.

CR

O'Reilly is no conservative. He's far too pro-regulation. Anything that he doesn't like, he calls for new laws to fix.

Both party's leadership are almost totally white. Bush's administration has seen more minorities in it than many previous to it. But, personally, I don't care what race someone is- they should be given positions on merit alone.

[Geoffrey S]

How much does it take to accept that some people are bloody racists?

Doesn't really come into it. My grandparents if asked about relevant matters prove to be easily as racist as O'Reilly. Let's face it, the older generation is by and large stuck in its views; the difference between my grandparents and O'Reilly is that no-one gives my grandparents airtime. I find it curious such relevance is placed on an old man's rants.

[CrossLOPER]

Or he's just an ass. Since when did anyone have any shortage of those ?

Anyone call?

[InsaneApache]

Doesn't really come into it. My grandparents if asked about relevant matters prove to be easily as racist as O'Reilly. Let's face it, the older generation is by and large stuck in its views; the difference between my grandparents and O'Reilly is that no-one gives my grandparents airtime. I find it curious such relevance is placed on an old man's rants.

That's me buggered then.

[The Wizard]

Regardless of anything, Bill O'Reilly makes me think of owls, doubt, and famous Internet memes. Only then do I remember he's also some paleoconservative nutjob.

[Geoffrey S]

That's me buggered then.

Hmph. Reading my post again, it's very generalized. Guess I could allow for some elderly/oldish(/anyone over 50...) people who can still think straight...

[Louis VI the Fat]

This helps to confirm what 'mom' has told me over the last few years. She says that the USA is in reality 2 or 3 different countries, depending on your race.

Is O'Reilly an example of this?

If I remember correctly, your 'mom' is your Black American stepmother. I think she is spot on. Of course America is divided along racial lines, to its very core.

As for O'Reilly, I don't know what to make of his remark. I don't know more about him than 'conservative Fox pundit'. I can't judge his character.
For all I know, he intended it in a positive way. 'Well, what do you know...I may need to revise some of my opinions...'
And sixty years ago, telling a Black man that he is up to the standard of a middle-class white person was a compliment, nowadays it is a grave insult. The underlying assumption has changed.
But I don't know him and I don't reilly care if I never do.


More interesting to me are some reactions from some Americans here. Some are, not for the first time, close to denying that America is a racially divided country. Which seems a clear, undisputable description to me.

It is possible to be a racialist country without being a country of racists! I don't think a whole lot of Americans have more than a single use for their bedsheets. Maybe they are a bit fed up with that racial guild trip? Maybe the race card is pulled a bit too often?

But racial divisions occur through more subtle forces. It is for the most part not owing to any deliberate, methodical effort, by either individuals or larger groups.
Racism can be very subtle. It can work through very subconscious means. O'Reilly is a good example. He may not have even been aware of his racism.
Racial identity runs deep. Who is really colourblind? Who never ever judges a person not stricly as a person but as a representative of his etnicity? Here's a test: I started this post by stating that IA's mom is a Black American. Did it for you, even subconsciously, add extra weight to her assesment that America is several countries in one? Did you not, not even to a tiny extent, think 'well she's Black, she would know about these things'?

I know I did, briefly. I also realise some subtexts of it: apparently, to me at least, Black Americans are the spokespersons for American racial issues. Hence victims, not perpetrators. Something is done upon them. They undergo, not act. Passive.
I filtered her statement through a whole set of subconscious meanings. All of which make me an O'Reilly lite.

[Lemur]

At least he's taking it like an adult:

"These people aren't getting away with this. I'm going to go right where they live. Every corrupt media person in this country is on notice, right now. I'm coming after you." He went on to warn: "You smear somebody and you can't back it up, you're gonna get it. ... You go after somebody's family, you go after them and smear them with defamation that you can't back up, I'm coming to your house. I'm coming to your house. You'll have a camera up your nose. OK?"

[Csargo]

Nice...

[Uesugi Kenshin]

At least he's taking it like an adult:

"These people aren't getting away with this. I'm going to go right where they live. Every corrupt media person in this country is on notice, right now. I'm coming after you." He went on to warn: "You smear somebody and you can't back it up, you're gonna get it. ... You go after somebody's family, you go after them and smear them with defamation that you can't back up, I'm coming to your house. I'm coming to your house. You'll have a camera up your nose. OK?"

O'Reilly really needs to take some valium, maybe that'd bring him down to a normal level of unreasonable rage and hatred...

[InsaneApache]

O'Reilly really needs to take some valium, maybe that'd bring him down to a normal level of unreasonable rage and hatred...

I wouldn't recommend anyone partaking of the benzodiazepine family of drugs. Very nasty stuff to get off. No, what he needs is a big, fat spliff.

[PanzerJaeger]

edit: nevermind, its not worth the warning.

Needless to say - coming from a community with a large black majority - I can understand how O'r would be surprised there are places where blacks do not embrace thug culture.

[Del Arroyo]

What Bill O'Reilly said was not tactful, but it was honest. I'm sure he was very impressed to see a black restaurant which met all the high-class standards of, to use his words, "a nice Italian restaurant in a white suburb". So would the vast majority of Americans. The vast majority of Americans would think exactly what Bill O'Reilly said, then point fingers at him and act shocked. Because people can be hypocrites.

What O'Reilly said was massively condescending, which is inappropriate for a public figure with that kind of visibility.

And as far as him chasing people down into their homes, WTF??

[Ironside]

What Bill O'Reilly said was not tactful, but it was honest. I'm sure he was very impressed to see a black restaurant which met all the high-class standards of, to use his words, "a nice Italian restaurant in a white suburb". So would the vast majority of Americans. The vast majority of Americans would think exactly what Bill O'Reilly said, then point fingers at him and act shocked. Because people can be hypocrites.

Are you telling me that the vast majority of Americans can't really differ from "da man in da hood" and Colin Powell (or insert any other successful black american)?

If thats true (wich I doubt), then US truely is a racial society.

[Redleg]

Europeans should be very careful about pointing racism fingers as a generalization at America. I could point out a few condemning instances of racism that happens in different parts of Europe, does that make all Europeans racist? Unfortunately all nations still have narrow minded folks that live within their borders that believe the color of the skin or what ethnic group one's background is important.

Bill O'Rielly made a stupid comment that crosses the line into a racist comment, and his subsequent reaction is acidine.

[Del Arroyo]

Are you telling me that the vast majority of Americans can't really differ from "da man in da hood" and Colin Powell (or insert any other successful black american)?

What I am saying is that the vast majority of White-, Mexican-, and Miscellaneous-Americans hold a certain set of preconceptions about Black-Americans, which are re-inforced by Black-Americans who hold these same preconceptions about themselves.

For example, Colin Powell's "black"-ness has been publicly challenged on more than one occasion.