Bughouse Square

Links and commentary -- Thrilling!

 

O'Reiley's Racial Miscues

Previously, I discussed Joe Biden's Racial Miscues.   Recently, Bill O'Reiley has made some remarks that are being used to accuse him of racism.  It's worth listening to the whole thing:

Ice Tea, M-Fer

O'Reiley insists he was taken out of context, and I think he has a point, but at the most charitable it must still be noted that he failed to avoid well-known pitfalls that anyone engaged in racial debates should be aware of.  He comes across as condescending, and while I'm prepared to take him at his word that all he was trying to say was that racial differences are not significant such that we should make the big deal out of them that we do, he nonetheless comes across as having a fairly negative view of blacks when he says he "couldn't get over" the fact that a black restaurant was like a white restaurant. 

His comment about "M-F'n Iced Tea" is less inflammatory in the context of the actual discussion, because he is comparing his experience of a black institution to the notion of black culture one could draw from listening to rap music.  But this is a case of protesting too much.  His stridency in pointing out the common ground between blacks and whites suggests that it's news to him.

So, the Daily Show bit on the subject, while funny, is somewhat unfair:

O'Reiley Brennt

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 10/01/07 15:20 | link | comments |