Fox's Bill O'Reilly Says His Stereotypes Taken Out of Context
By Paul Farhi
Washington Post
Bill O'Reilly says he thought he was dispelling stereotypes when he told his radio audience last week about his recent trip to Harlem with the Rev. Al Sharpton. Instead, O'Reilly found himself yesterday fighting accusations of racial insensitivity.
During a 35-minute discussion about race relations last Wednesday on his syndicated "Radio Factor," the pugnacious host repeatedly decried "demeaning" portrayals of African Americans, particularly in hip-hop videos. To illustrate his contention that such images provide a false impression of black culture, he recalled having dinner with Sharpton at Sylvia's, a famous soul-food restaurant in Harlem:
"I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City," he said. "It was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks [and has a] primarily black patronship. It was the same. And that's really what this society is really all about now here in the U.S.A. There's no difference."
He later added: "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, '[Expletive], I want some more ice tea.' It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there ordering and having fun and there wasn't any craziness at all."
On the same program last week, O'Reilly also described going to an Anita Baker concert at Radio City Music Hall at which "the blacks [patrons] were well dressed." He added, "This is what white America doesn't know. They think the culture is dominated by Twista, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg."
The comments were picked up last Friday by the liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America, and were broadcast for the first time Monday on CNN. That drew more attention to the comments Tuesday, prompting O'Reilly on his Fox News show, "The O'Reilly Factor," to accuse CNN of seeking to boost its ratings at his expense.
(Continued here.)
Washington Post
Bill O'Reilly says he thought he was dispelling stereotypes when he told his radio audience last week about his recent trip to Harlem with the Rev. Al Sharpton. Instead, O'Reilly found himself yesterday fighting accusations of racial insensitivity.
During a 35-minute discussion about race relations last Wednesday on his syndicated "Radio Factor," the pugnacious host repeatedly decried "demeaning" portrayals of African Americans, particularly in hip-hop videos. To illustrate his contention that such images provide a false impression of black culture, he recalled having dinner with Sharpton at Sylvia's, a famous soul-food restaurant in Harlem:
"I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City," he said. "It was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks [and has a] primarily black patronship. It was the same. And that's really what this society is really all about now here in the U.S.A. There's no difference."
He later added: "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, '[Expletive], I want some more ice tea.' It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there ordering and having fun and there wasn't any craziness at all."
On the same program last week, O'Reilly also described going to an Anita Baker concert at Radio City Music Hall at which "the blacks [patrons] were well dressed." He added, "This is what white America doesn't know. They think the culture is dominated by Twista, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg."
The comments were picked up last Friday by the liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America, and were broadcast for the first time Monday on CNN. That drew more attention to the comments Tuesday, prompting O'Reilly on his Fox News show, "The O'Reilly Factor," to accuse CNN of seeking to boost its ratings at his expense.
(Continued here.)
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