Bill's Take on Racism

[Wayne Goodwin]

Like it or not here's Bill O'Reilly take on Racism .....

Open For Discussion .....

http://www.billoreilly.com/video?chartID=556&vid=88031002096952...

[frenchy]

well so far i've taken the time to type up what i think and feel and while its nice sometimes to quote someone else why not just say what you really feel ..don't just put up a link of what he said or she said .. what do  YOU SAY ?? WHAT DO YOU THINK THE PROBLEM IS ?? WHAT DO YOU THINK CAN AND SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT IT AND HOW SHOULD THEY DO IT ??  its always easy to dismiss someone who's opinions run polar opposite of your own but is that really bein fair ?/ to be honest i never watch fox news because they lean too far to the right .. and stopped watchin msnbc because they're too far to the left ..but on both sides there's an once of truth and sometimes maybe even a few pounds ..  what we need is a way so both sides can actually talk to each other and stop all the bitchin and bullshittin .. 

[crestofwaves]

I can't disagree with a some of what he says.  The disintegration of the family in the dysfunctional culture that allows girls thirteen to  have babies, not by mistake but as a way of life, is a problem that no one wants to talk about. Everything is NOT ok.  The series the Wire, of lwhich I watched all FIVE seasons, depicts life on the streets in Baltimore.  A documentary about Frederick Douglass high school shows an empty auditorium on parents night.  Five hundred freshman enter the school, but only 200 graduate. What happened to the other 300 kids?  Lost on the streets, unemployable, probably dealing drugs so that they can survive.

 

I had to take my daughter to probation in East Orange on  a marijuana possession charge.  I went the first couple of times because I was afraid for her.  A room filled with at least 150 black mostly youths and us and a couple of other white people.  That's not my point.  You had to see the cars parked in the lot and on the streets.  Lexus big ass SUVs.  They couldn't afford those on food stamps.  They were getting drug money.  Who wouldn't sell drugs knowing that one could have a good life?

 

PS:  My daughter bonded with the people there.  Once I picked her up, they were all outside smoking cigs.  A bunch of people making bad decisions, including her. 

 

  We turn a blind eye to it because it's not happening in our neighborhoods, and that is racism of the most blatant disregard for acknowledging a problem that exists and is killing poor people--not only black but Native American, rural whites, etc.

 

Here is Chris Rock, and if anyone doesn't like whitey, it's him, talking about rap music.  It's two short videos. The second continues the first.  I may have to do it in two posts.

 

 

 

 

[crestofwaves]

The other posts, like Moyers, take the "victim" stance. We'll never help the crumbling, impoverished communities with that attitude.  Instant gratification is not a goal.

BUT, we have to bring jobs back!!!

I watched Edward R Murrow's Harvest of Shame from 1960 about migrant workers.  One woman was 34 years old and had 14 children.  What the hell was she thinking? And yes, the agri lobbyists got their way so that they could exploit the workers, but where is the workers' responsibility not to have so many kids. They all, all, mostly black--a few white, had 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 kids. How can they ever move out of poverty?

 

 

[frenchy]

i agree cresty .. people wanna say oriley is a blowhard and thats probably true sometimes .. but no more of a blowhard than al sharpton .. but if you say hes wrong say why he's wrong .. to just dismiss him doesn't advance the conversation and get us to a point of understandin between both sides .. as much as i dont like al sharpton from time to time he has made some sense too and when he does i'll admit it .. do white people have more opportunities than black people ?? probably .. but with affirmative action if you take the time to get yourself qualified that gap can be shortened .. doors have been opened if you are willin to work for it .. you can't just showup and expect someone to give you a highly qualified job without the qualifications just because you're black .. so what is the black white problem they want to discuss ?/ how is it that we can help ?? any ideas here ?? i'm not bein sarcastic .. its an honest question ..   

[Snagg]

The problem with that argument, Frenchy, is your "acceptance" of affirmative action doesn't validate it one tiny bit - It glosses over the fact that, if there was no racism in America, then affirmative action wouldn't need to exist in the first place.

I've never heard of any high school drop-out black person who walked off a minimum-wage loading dock job and DEMANDED, in the name of job equality, to be appointed the head of neurosurgery at John Hopkins. When scaremongers and race-baiting conservatives even pretend that something like that has ever happened, then what they're doing isn't addressing any existing problem, but instead  deliberately creating a new and non-existent one in order to avoid dealing with the old problems.

Just because they've trained their so-called brains to automatically reject the very idea that there is still bigotry and prejudice in America - Especially the bigotry and prejudice from which they directly profit - Obviously doesn't mean that it ain't still there. I mean, Hell - Bill O'Reilly is the proudest catholic in America; To him, pompous denial of his own wrong-doings, responsibilities and even of observable reality itself isn't a sin, it's a sacrament.

[ProblemAgain]

oh yeah...blacks should be just as grateful to white people for bringing their ancestors to this country as slaves as the irish should be to the english for the great tumbledown and the subsequent migration of the ones who didn't starve to death to america or the jews to the nazis cause, after all, if it hadn't been for buchenwald and auschwitz and such, they may never have gotten to israel....or the poles to both the germans and the russians for helping to foster their national unity....or the indians to the whites for bringing them 'civilization'

[Wayne Goodwin]

I didn't post this on whether you liked OReilly or not . It was for discussion . It did start discussion and sort of iron out the facts . I used to watch Fox continuously . After the election i had my Cable cut off and what ever feeds through the lines id good enough . Felt like i was being processed . I still enjoy reading or listening to Gredda , Can't stand Hannity . Now a day i listen to anything and try to understand if right or not . Thanks for responding ...

[blithe spirit]

What was it you wanted to discuss....That white conservative pundits love to declare racism over and evryome else should get over it? So it's about how we feel...thats what I got out both of the pieces you wrote, Wayne. I am not blaming the messenger, being you, just irritated that something O"Reilly says or feels about race even merits any seroius discussion.

Playing "victim" really? Then by all means then they can be dismissed and told to get over it...problem taked care of. Sorry, I interjected the Moyers pieces...although it wasn't a "victim" thing at all.

I get irritated when serious problems like racsim are reduced to what some while conservative pundit
writes about how they feel...like they have the inside scoop when they don't have a clue. Not a single fact, just feelings....and then get huffy when I haven't responded in kind.

This piece sort of sums up my "feelings" about the O'Reilly piece.

Here's a rabid liberal writing his feelings about what O'Reilly and Buchanon have to say about their feelings on racism.

WARNING...BAD LANGUAGE...!!!!! Not to be taken personally...unless you are a white conservative pundit who panders to the fears about race.

For the life of me, I’ll never be able to figure out why white, American conservatives feel it’s in their job descriptions to declare racism over in America.

Sean Hannity is a royal dick, isn’t he? It’s hard for me to imagine anyone taking President Obama’s surprise speech at a press conference last week about Trayvon Martin and spinning them into some kind of political agenda, but then again Hannity and Rush Limbaugh make millions of dollars every year doing just that. In case you missed it, our first black president made some very beautiful, blunt and frankly healing remarks about the death and trial of Trayvon Martin — a case that has reopened the wounds of racial divide — on Friday. More importantly though, he spoke to race in America with a calm and frankly artistic way that of course fell on deaf ears over in the conservative ignorance feedback loop.

Obama had said before that Martin could have been his son, but last week he brought it even closer to home, saying that Martin could have been the president himself, 35 years ago. He drew a direct line from Trayvon Martin to himself, which of course is something that human herpe sore Sean Hannity just couldn’t wait to pounce on. He must get a bonus from Faux News every time he paints himself in an ever more racist light.

Hannity said on his radio show that ”the president’s saying Trayvon could’ve been me 35 years ago…Is that the president admitting that I guess because what, he was part of the Choom Gang and he smoked pot and he did a little blow — I’m not sure how to interpret because we know that Trayvon had been smoking pot that night.” Racist, insensitive, or a little of both? I can’t quite decide. Hannity knows full-well what Obama meant, it’s just that Hannity’s a white, American conservative and therefore he has anointed himself as the arbiter all racial issues in America today.

For some reason white, conservative American males think it’s morally reprehensible to discuss whether race still plays a major role in the difficulties people of color in this country face. They call it “race baiting.” You know, “rilin’ up the Negroes to get them all angry about somethin’.” Racism, the stealthy little bastard, has taken the form of single-minded, flat-out denial of its own existence. The extreme right-wing has found a way to perpetuate institutionalized racism by downplaying it altogether. After all, you don’t need to fix something that isn’t broken, and since racism has already been cured, there’s no need to have laws on the books that make discrimination illegal. There are even sects of conservative history revisionists that insist slavery was on the way out already, didn’t really play that big a part in our country’s history, and that Lincoln was just a tyrannical big government prick who didn’t care about freeing the slaves; he just wanted to crush the insurrection.

No one is more nauseating than the white, American conservatives peddling their bullshit about racism’s epic decline in America.

It’s “race baiting” apparently to just simply acknowledge your country’s blatant and naked aggression towards “others” throughout its history. Whether it’s black people, Chinese people, Irish people, Mexican people, gay people or even vagina people, “others” are who Republicans most want to stymie — who they most want to stifle. I think I’ve reached a tipping point with it though. I can’t hear another sociopathic, racist douchebag in a suit sit on Fox News and call President Obama a terrible human being for daring to be black and speaking about a subject that impacts every black person in this country.

Here’s the thing white, American conservatives: shut the fuck up.

That is of course unless you’re going to join the rest of the world and acknowledge that race is still a huge issue in this country and that you finally understand how stupid, arrogant, ignorant, insensitive and inane it is for you — the white, conservative American male — to make any assumptions about how race and racism effects people of color in this country to this very day. Otherwise, shut the fuck up.

Let me repeat — shut the fuck up.

Before things spin off the track too far, allow a moment of clarification. I’m a lefty if there ever was one. Want to burn a flag? Go ahead. Want to spit intolerant hate speech out of the corners of your mouth while you tell us all that unless we go back to Old Testament laws we’re all doomed? Feel free. No one loves it when a racist piece of shit reveals themselves to be a racist piece of shit because I hate having to guess. What I’m saying is here is that you’re doing yourselves no favors because no one and I mean no one feels bad for you. More importantly though — you’re the problem. You’re the reason that African-Americans are still systematically discriminated against to this very day.

I don’t know if anyone’s clued you in, but white guys have pretty much always had it the best in this country and despite what Rush, Hannity and Glenn Beck are telling you — we still do. Do you get looked at like a criminal when you walk into a store? Or are you told from before you’re even sexually aware that what you find attractive is “gross” or worse, a sin worthy of rotting in Hell for? No. Of course not. All of these things do happen to people of color and members of the LGBT community though, so stick that in your perspective pipe and smoke it.

You don’t belong to a group that was still an enslaved race all of a hundred and fifty years ago. You are not picked on. You are not forgotten. You call all the shots and will for the rest of your life. So how about you just slide your ass over on the bench a few inches and let the rest of society play? When you whine and complain about not getting a “white history month” to go with February being dedicated to black history month, you can dry your crocodile tears on every goddamned history book ever written. White history is pretty much the only history taught in this country until you get to the higher levels of education.

Look — I’m not stupid. I see a distinct lack of lynching and slave auctions being held in this country nowadays, but if that’s your only bellwether of racial progress — extrajudicial murders and slavery abolished — then you really have no idea what racism in America is all about.

Racism in America isn’t Jim Crow-style segregated diner counters and drinking fountains — it’s disproportionate numbers of black people being arrested for drug violations. Racism in America is in all the bogus studies on immigration that the right-wing does that show immigrants take more welfare and suck more away from the country’s GDP than they put into it. Racism in America is just more subtle, and yes that is indeed progress. Progress however, isn’t the goal. Fixing the problem in the first place is the goal.

I know that it’s hard for you — the white, conservative American male — to grasp this concept, but there’s nothing to be afraid of. Just because we tell you that you can’t write laws that force the poor and minority communities to jump through insane hoops to vote that doesn’t mean “THEY” are trying to take over. The bottom line is one that’s so simple it’s hard to believe you haven’t grasped it yet. You don’t get to declare racism “over” in America just because you don’t have any idea what it’s like to be a person of color in America — you just get to roll up your sleeves and help us make it better.

Or you know, there’s always shutting the fuck up, like we talked about before. There’s always that option, too.

- See more at: http://www.politicalgarbagechute.com/hey-white-conservatives-maybe-...

[Wayne Goodwin]

Didn't mean to stir you up so . Thanks for your response . I guess when i grew up i was shielded from groups of the KKK . I remember seeing them marching when i was in my teens . I didn't think it was right then and don't today . Only when i was in 11th grade did i see the hate for the black when they came to our school . Fight's broke out . I guess because the whites taught their kids to hate a black . I never was taught that . After the election i had to get out of watching news especially the one sided news . I dislike Obama because of his healthcare laws . It scares me on how it will effect me in a limited income . Until i know for sure i can't rest my mind on it . I also don't feel the Republicans could have done any better . Everything is so one sided and very sadly they can't agree on anything that gives one side more than the other . I dought i will ever vote again unless some sort of miracle happens . I would like to see a Woman be elected as president ....

[Snagg]

When Bill O'Reilly opens his mouth, just keep in mind that you are hearing a rich, proudly ignorant, intentionally-uninformed narcissist with a vested interest in "The System" remaining exactly the way it is, a man considered a "success" in what is known to be one of the dirtiest, back-stabbing-iest, most dishonest and least respected businesses in the world -

Swearing to you that there are no problems and that the only thing that needs to change is your attitude towards him.

[frenchy]

i think we hit a nerve there vicki .. sorry about that .. the thing is , i never said there wasn't a problem .. i'm just not sure what to do about it .. so are you suggestin we all just shut the fuck up ?? how does that fix the problem ?? i'm not tryin to be a smart ass here .. i'm askin a sincere question and got a diatribe about what whitey thinks is fine .. i don't think everything is fine . i can see problems .. what are the solutions ?? i think its education and mentoring .. how do you think we should go about it ?? besides get pissed at hannity and limbaugh .. i don't like them either .. but i also don't like al sharpton for the same reason .. how do we meet in the middle ?? i mean can we keep this rig on the road ?? instead of runnin it in the ditch ..  

[crestofwaves]

I didn't think this was about Bill OReilly.  I thought it was about points he made. Bill Cosby says the same things. The part that gets to me is that Chris Rock says the same thing as Bill about the "art" the  urban kids emulate.  He says it too because it's true. I don't think anyone here can find a black person who would not say the same thing. This does not mean that all black people have no family structure.  Of course not. But go into an urban community and look around. Those families trying to hold on and move forward are the ones I feel sorry for. And the kids, the little kids, so filled with hope--so sad. Between the system in the US being rigged against them and the dysfunction within the community, they have little hope.

Of course the conservative pundits are truly a bunch of rabble rousing, scum, firebrands.  I TRY to listen to them because I have two friends who love them and keep telling me that I will learn something, especially Mark Levin.  He says the same thing EVERY NIGHT. I have learned nothing except that they are what makes the Republican party look even worse than the Republicans themselves.

Last night Levin said " middle class" was a term coined by Karl Marx!!! And he's still talking about Obama and Saul Alinsky. How can people listen to the same words over and over every night?

 

My daughter, and excuse me if you heard this story already, came home from work flummoxed one day.  She hangs with lots of young black women, some from Haiti.  They were conversing as to why she has no children.  She said she does everything in her power to NOT to have children.  They asked why. She said she can't afford them.  They said " Oh, the state helps." That is NOT an ok thought!

This is fact and disintegration of family IS a problem and call me racist if I say that because I will say it over and over again because it's true.