8530: BHM 2011—Pepsi Max.

This Pepsi Max commercial probably wasn’t intended to be a BHM spot, but Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee turned it into one.


Of course, America’s favorite drug addict-radio personality weighed in.


As did Bill O’Reilly—who took the stereotypical route of finding a Black woman to insist the commercial was not demeaning at all. Why Falafel Boy feels qualified to comment on anything regarding any woman of any color only demonstrates the asshole’s arrogance.


Quick, somebody get a quote from Don Imus to complete The Three Stooges of Cultural Cluelessness.

8472: Bill O’Reilly MVP—Most Vulgar Prick.

The Super Bowl featured a much-anticipated showdown between Bill O’Reilly and President Barack Obama. The live event displayed quite clearly that O’Reilly is a rude, offensive, loud-mouthed, arrogant prick. If the interview had been an NFL game, the man would be recognized as a dirty player. Somebody hand O’Reilly a falafel loofah and send his ass to the showers.

5171: Oh No, Mr. Bill!

Fox News Jackass Bill O’Reilly made another stupid comment, inspiring the following open letter from Star Jones Reynolds.

I’m sick to death of people like Fox News host, Bill O’Reilly, and his ilk thinking that he can use a racial slur against a black woman who could be the next First Lady of the United States, give a half-assed apology and not be taken to task and called on his crap.

This week O’Reilly gave the following response to a caller on his radio show who was making unsubstantiated negative charges against presidential candidate Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama:

“And I don’t want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there’s evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that’s how she really feels -- that is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever -- then that’s legit. We’ll track it down.”

What the hell? If it’s “legit,” you’re going to “track it down?” And then what do you plan to do?

How dare this white man with a microphone and the trust of the public think that in 2008, he can still put the words “lynch” and “party” together in the same sentence with reference to a black woman; in this case, Michelle Obama? I don’t care how you “spin it” in the “no spin zone,” that statement in and of itself is racist, unacceptable and inappropriate on every level.

O’Reilly claims his comments were taken out of context. Please don’t insult my intelligence while you’re insulting me. I’ve read the comments and heard them delivered in O’Reilly’s own voice; and there is no right context that exists. So, his insincere apology and “out-of-context” excuse is not going to cut it with me.

And just so we’re clear, this has nothing to do with the 2008 presidential election, me being a Democrat, him claiming to be Independent while talking Republican, the liberal media or a conservative point of view. To the contrary, this is about crossing a line in the sand that needs to be drawn based on history, dignity, taste and truth.

Bill, I’m not sure of where you come from, but let me tell you what the phrase “lynching party” conjures up to me, a black woman born in North Carolina. Those words depict the image of a group of white men who are angry with the state of the own lives getting together, drinking more than they need to drink, lamenting how some black person has moved forward (usually ahead of them in stature or dignity), and had the audacity to think that they are equal. These same men for years, instead of looking at what changes, should and could make in their own lives that might remove that bitterness born of perceived privilege, these white men take all of that resentment and anger and decide to get together and drag the closest black person near them to their death by hanging them from a tree -- usually after violent beating, torturing and violating their human dignity. Check your history books, because you don’t need a masters or a law degree from Harvard to know that is what constitutes a “lynching party.”

Imagine, Michelle and Barack Obama having the audacity to think that they have the right to the American dream, hopes, and ideals. O’Reilly must think to himself: how dare they have the arrogance to think they can stand in a front of this nation, challenge the status quo and express the frustration of millions? When this happens, the first thing that comes to mind for O’Reilly and people like him is: “it’s time for a party.”

Not so fast…don’t order the rope just yet.

Would O’Reilly ever in a million years use this phrase with reference to Elizabeth Edwards, Cindy McCain or Judi Nathan? I mean, in all of the statements and criticisms that were made about Judi Nathan, the one-time mistress turned missus, of former presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, I never heard any talk of forming a lynch party because of something she said or did.

So why is it that when you’re referring to someone who’s African-American you must dig to a historical place of pain, agony and death to symbolize your feelings? Lynching is not a joke to off-handedly throw around and it is not a metaphor that has a place in political commentary; provocative or otherwise. I admit that I come from a place of personal outrage here having buried my 90-year-old grandfather last year. This proud, amazing African-American man raised his family and lived through the time when he had to use separate water fountains, ride in the back of a bus, take his wife on a date to the “colored section” of a movie theater, and avert his eyes when a white woman walked down the street for fear of what a white man and his cronies might do if they felt the urge to “party”; don’t tell me that the phrase you chose, Mr. O’Reilly, was taken out of context.

To add insult to injury, O’Reilly tried to “clarify” his statements, by using the excuse that his comments were reminiscent of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ use of the term “high-tech lynching” during his confirmation hearing. I reject that analogy. You see Justice Thomas did mean to bring up the image of lynching in its racist context. He was saying that politics and the media were using a new technology to do to him what had been done to black men for many years -- hang him. Regardless of if you agreed with Justice Thomas’ premise or not, if in fact -- Bill O’Reilly was referencing it -- the context becomes even clearer.

What annoys me more than anything is that I get the feeling that one of the reasons Bill O’Reilly made this statement, thinking he could get away with it in the first place, and then followed it up with a lame apology in a half-hearted attempt to smooth any ruffled feathers, is because he doesn’t think that black women will come out and go after him when he goes after us. Well, he’s dead wrong. Be clear Bill O’Reilly: there will be no lynch party for that black woman. And this black woman assures you that if you come for her, you come for all of us.

Star Jones Reynolds

Essay 4523

From The Chicago Tribune…

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Giving soft bigotry a break

By Clarence Page

Does ignorance about race make you a racist? That boiling question bubbles at the heart of the controversy that Fox News star Bill O’Reilly’s kicked up with his poorly received compliments of black diners in a New York restaurant. My answer is, no, ignorance about race does not always make you a racist, but it can make you sound like one.

That’s O’Reilly’s problem. O’Reilly has been vilified recently by the liberal-leaning Web site Media Matters for America for insinuating how surprised he was to discover how (Gasp!) civilized black folks behaved while dining in Sylvia’s, one of (Double gasp!) Harlem’s best-known restaurants.

“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 marveled. “I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by blacks, primarily black patronship.”

Yup, they had knives, forks and everything! Just like white folks!

“It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people [who] were sitting there,” he said, “and they were ordering and having fun. And there wasn’t any kind of craziness at all.”

Nope, no lap dancing, either.

“There wasn’t one person in Sylvia’s who was screaming, ‘M-F-er, I want more iced tea!’” O’Reilly said, sounding almost disappointed.

No, ignorance about race might not make you a racist. It only makes you ignorant. That’s why I think O’Reilly deserves a break. When someone is ignorant you should try to teach them. Instead, a lot of otherwise good-hearted, fair-minded and charitable people want to tar and feather O’Reilly.

Peace, people. I know O’Reilly. I’ve argued with him about various topics on his radio and TV shows. I relish a good “gotcha” moment against inflated egos as much as anyone does. But I also believe that this Sylvia’s kerfuffle is a bum rap.

You see, in the context of a later lengthy chat with author Juan Williams, a black National Public Radio reporter and Fox News commentator, O’Reilly wasn’t trying to sound racist. Quite the opposite, he actually was criticizing all of those white people who don’t personally know many black folks.

What O’Reilly doesn’t seem to understand is the weariness black Americans feel over constantly being compared to our community’s worst role models.

That’s a big reason why it seems curious that O’Reilly, after years of roiling up public outrage against raunchy gangsta rappers and other frightening figures, suddenly expresses what sounds like genuine surprise that some black people are not scary at all. At worst, O’Reilly appears to be afflicted with what President Bush calls “the soft bigotry of low expectations.”

But that’s OK. How else will O’Reilly, I or anybody else learn anything if we don’t make a few boneheaded mistakes once in a while? My greater fear than hearing O’Reilly talk himself into a politically incorrect hole is the silence of those afraid to say anything about race for fear of offending someone. We need more candid talk about race and class, not less.

Besides, look at his upbringing. Through no fault of his own, O’Reilly came from a socially and economically isolated background. He calls himself “working class” in his first book, “The O’Reilly Factor,” although compared with my factory laborer dad in Ohio, O’Reilly’s family was well-to-do. He grew up in white middle-class Levittown, on New York’s Long Island. Like other socially handicapped folks, O’Reilly is a product of his environment. To borrow a line from “West Side Story,” “He’s depraved on account of he’s deprived!” Liberals, of all people, should avoid blaming the victim.

Nevertheless, let’s give O’Reilly credit for trying to widen his horizons. It turns out, he was dining that night at Sylvia’s with Rev. Al Sharpton, who has made re-educating white folks his life’s work.

Does that dinner date surprise you? Who would guess that, after railing against Revs. Sharpton and Jesse Jackson as some sort of race hustlers and poverty pimps, O’Reilly would take the “A Train” up to Harlem to go cattin’ around with Rev. Al? Hey, that’s show biz. Don’t take it personally. Or seriously.

Essay 4518

Men behaving badly in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Isiah Thomas, testifying at the sexual harassment trial, sought to undo the PR damage sparked by his earlier commentary on calling women bitches (see Essay 4479). “It’s very offensive for any man, Black, White, green or purple, to call a woman a bitch,” declared Thomas, but claimed that if the man is White it “compounds the issue because now you have perceived racial undertones added to it.” Guess there would be extraterrestrial undertones for green or purple men.

• Bill O’Reilly fired back at the group that initially criticized him over remarks about a Black restaurant in New York (see Essay 4513). O’Reilly declared they “fabricated a racial controversy where none exists,” and he labeled the critics as “smear merchants.” Isn’t that pretty much O’Reilly’s job title?

• Sen. Larry Craig announced he will remain in office until a judge rules on his attempt to withdraw the infamous toilet-stall guilty plea (see Essay 4513). The senator originally said he would step down on September 30. Yo, Larry, it’s time to turn in your Senate bathroom key.

Essay 4513

Pleading innocent in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Sen. Larry Craig hopes to flush away his infamous toilet-stall guilty plea, as his lawyers will meet with a judge today. Perhaps he can have the plea revised to “guilty pleasure.” No word on whether the senator will seek to revise his contention that he’s not gay.

• Bill O’Reilly is catching heat for remarks he made about Sylvia’s, a Black restaurant in Harlem he recently visited. O’Reilly said, “I couldn’t get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia’s restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by Blacks, primarily Black patronship.” Sylvia’s staff probably thinks there was no difference between serving O’Reilly versus any other ignorant bigot in New York City.

• Nike is creating a shoe designed specifically for Native Americans. The Air Native N7 has a larger fit for Native Americans’ unique foot shape, plus a “culturally specific” look. The shoe will be available at assorted casinos nationwide. Just kidding.

Essay 4425

Slams and slammers in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Nas slammed Bill O’Reilly after the old man criticized the rapper’s free concert for Virginia Tech students as an “abomination.” O’Reilly griped, “Having a rapper who trades in violence perform at Virginia Tech insults the [shooting] victims, the university and the entire commonwealth.” Nas declared, “He’s a racist. … Everybody has a marketing plan; his marketing plan is racism. … It just shows you what bloodsuckers do; they abuse something like the Virginia Tech [tragedy] for show ratings. You can’t talk to a person like that.” Bloodsucker. Marketing plan. Racist. Hey, O’Reilly ought to be on Madison Avenue.

• Former Duke lacrosse team prosecutor Mike Nifong reported to prison for his one-day sentence. Meanwhile, lawyers for the three players are threatening to sue Durham, North Carolina, for $30 million and reforms in the legal process. Looks like the experience has turned the players into bold defenders of justice.