On Africa, "I've been to Africa three times. All right? You can't bring Western reasoning into the culture. The same way you can't bring it into fundamental Islam."
O'Reilly made more, many more, observations and statements that passed as the fount of learning and wisdom about blacks. And with each racist putdown, O'Reilly's ratings soared to the sky, major corporations flocked to the show in droves and plopped tens of millions into advertising, and policy makers of all stripes begged to be on his show. O'Reilly was Fox's cash cow. The more O'Reilly insulted blacks, the more he was hailed as the one guy on the airwaves who was not afraid to defy the so-called 'race hustlers" and apologists, i.e. civil rights leaders and liberal Democrats, and tell it like it supposedly is about blacks. As long as that was the case, O'Reilly was virtually sanctified and was TV's equivalent of the "made man" who was untouchable.
All the while, Fox boss, Rupert Murdoch, Fox management, and legions of women in and about Fox knew that O'Reilly was a sexist scumbag and sexual predator who cost the network millions in hush money to cover for his groping, predatory lust. But, it was not just the money shelled out, corporations fleeing the scene, and the passage of time that would undue this sexual vulture. It was also the instant fury and force of women's groups that rattled the Fox empire. This was not something that could be winked and nodded at, and laughed away. Blatant sexism and its manifestation in sexual philandering, simply will not be tolerated. It will always bring an instant white hot reaction, as it should.
But routine racist slurs before millions of viewers also should be instant cause for an O'Reilly to be jerked from the air. This wasn't the case, and it reinforces the age-old line that a rich, white guy, can say whatever he wants about blacks in public space and at worst will get a hand slap reprimand, make a phony apology, and then skip away to racially slur another day.
O'Reilly's getting the boot for being a sexual reprobate isn't likely to change that.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is the author of the new ebook How the Democrats Can Win in The Trump Era (Amazon Kindle). He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on Radio One. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles and the Pacifica Network.
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