Over the weekend I read many letters to the editors, columns in newspapers and online to find Fox News was not alone. Nor is it just conservative White people. I could not find one talking head or columnist, white or black, who related this story to racism. Rather it was universally about Bad Blacks saying or doing Bad Things.
I do not like Hip Hop. But for different reasons than raw speech. I do not like it because there is NO, NONE, ZERO musical talent involved. There is no melody, unable to sing, they shout rhymes, they don’t play any instruments, and most of the actual music is stolen and remixed. It is absurd. I could have handled it as a fad for a few years, but it now has been the cultural musical standard for 20 years. And if you add nasty demeaning sexist, violent and vengeful lyrics to no musical talent, I can well understand people giving it a kick in the ass. It is also likely that Don Imus picked up his horrible blurb from Hip Hop. But Hip Hop is not racism. It is foul demeaning crap. Two very different things.
Most everyone is a racist to some degree, Don Imus and Michael Richards are both far less racist than most, but they lost control for a few seconds and used racist speech. All over America, 24/7 there are literally thousands of Right-wing AM radio hosts pushing “racism”. Michael Savage is the worst of the bunch, he makes no bones about it, Blacks and other non-Whites are INFERIOR and should not have equal rights, or civil rights and be shipped back to wherever they came from. And regards Muslims? Kill 100 million of them now. In fact that genocidal racist statement is the core to his popularity.
Savage and others on the top of the AM radio dial do not use nappy words. But the programs overflow with a low down racist hum. Whether from Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck and so forth, these hosts often spend entire shows denigrating and personally attacking one Black person or Black group after another. What is that called? We all know damn well what that it is. Unlike Imus none of these hosts have spent $100 million dollars of their own money to fund services for minority indigent children, mostly Black.
Calling these Rutgers ladies, “nappy headed ho’s” was not racism, it was a nasty personal racial attack on women who most certainly did not deserve it. And I respect their response and the outcome of all this.
But everyone seems to be missing the real issue. In both the Richards and Imus situations it concerned personal attacks, not the endemic intellectual racism dispensed so ubiquitously from conservative radio and TV hosts. How anyone in their right mind could comment on this issue without mentioning Michael Savage is beyond me. In fact thus far, I have yet to see anyone include his name other than myself. A national discussion on racism on the radio, WITHOUT mention of not only the number top racist savage, but the third most listened to... And no comment.
It's a conspiracy I tell you! Vast! And Right-wing!
Chris Wallace, conservative moderator of Fox News Sunday, had Al Sharpton in the hot seat for most of a half an hour to discuss the Don Imus issue. Other than referring to Don Imus in the first sentence, Wallace spend the entire time attacking Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Hip-Hop, Black Comedians, Twaina Brawley and the Duke Stripper. The issue of racism on AM Radio (or anywhere else) was most obviously avoided. Even Juan Williams (Half of Fox News’ Liberal GoFor Duo – Allan Combs the other) chimed in to only attack Sharpton, Jackson and Hip Hop. Williams was followed by Brit Hume and Bill Kristol to reiterate the horror of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Hip Hop while they laughed and giggled that liberals are more racist than conservatives. Gosh... And they get away that.
that he would not only yanked off of the air, but forever banned from the privilege of any further airing of his racist propaganda in any medium. Do only whites deserve this leeway to the point of abuse?
I hope those in charge will use this as a springboard to clean up their acts,
but I'm not holding my breath.
The very fact that they generate enough
advertising dollars to keep these hate mongers on, speaks volumes about this country.
The blame goes to the voters and the listeners.
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