Bill O'Reilly's Throwing a Lynching Party

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 America 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.

Comments

[brobike42]

Thank you, Ms. Jones.

[JMEB]

Star, I know you work in media and so O'Reilly is a colleague, but to us, he's just another talking head on television, obviously pandering to a large audience of very, very old, constipated conservatives that are, *surprise*, racist. The problem is not O'Reilly but his audience that laps that stuff up.

Please remember what Oprah has done since the late 80s - she refuses to give airtime to bigots and other miserable people. She refuses to give them the attention they crave.

Please, please, please stop giving this talking head any more attention. He deserves NONE.

[pedrothemigrant]

Only the diseased leftist mind could construe something said in defense of the indefensible and contort it into something offensive to your delicate sensibilities. Nice try to shift the topic from America-hating Madame-Obama to not even marginally offensive use of 'lynch.' Let's just ban the word. Let's just ban discourse in general and have only this site as the single mode of media exposition allowed. Maybe your new God Obama will help you there. Pathetic Jones. How truly pathetic.

[Didi47]

A new report from Canada's CTV says that according to Canadian government sources, a senior official from the Obama campaign secretly assured a Canadian official not to take Obama's talk about threatening to pull out of NAFTA too seriously, noting that it was just "campaign rhetoric":

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs did not strictly deny the allegations, only saying that it sounded implausible to him. "Senator Obama does not make promises he doesn't intend to keep," Gibbs added. Clinton campaign officials strongly denied similar allegations.

If this report catches on, it has the potential undermine Obama's outreach to working-class whites in Ohio, many of whom still resent the Clinton Administration's passage of the free trade deal back in the 90s. It could also take the steam out of the Obama campaign's claims that Hillary favored NAFTA, something she denies.

[Neocon187]

And there I was wondering why there aren't any blacks in the republican party.

If ignorance isn't strength: why are there republicans?

[amorvincitomnia]

Wow, I'm sure this will be astonishing news to General Colin Powell, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Ward Connerly and the singularly charming Don King.

[Palomares]

You speak the truth, Pedro.

[RevoVansen]

Ladies and gents, this is a prime example how a dictionary can make you feel smart, however ineffective the statement may be. Big words, no substance, just assumption. But if you feel smart, by all means, post on!!! You just might get your own show doing what you are doing. Just Like Bill'O.

[Bearzerker]

Why the hell doesn't the US have anti hate speech laws on the books [just like 90% of the free world does]... and please don't yell at me for being anti free speech because I have put my life on the line for free speech, and would die protecting free speech!

I'm just against free hate speech is all... hate is hate, and racism is the worse form of hate induced speech... it must stop... and the first way to stop it is to introduce anti-hate laws...

land of the free...
what a joke you yanks are becoming

[kgb999]

And I assume you should be the one to define "hate speech"?

No thanks, I'm perfectly happy saying "geez that O'Reliy is an ass" - and letting him continue to discredit his "movement". If we ban him from being a jackass, it will be that much harder to deal with him!

[Lap48]

Nonsense...ask Canadians how well their hate speech laws are doing. Despite all the nonsense over the last quarter century the US is still the place to be because of two things: its economy and the freedom to speak one's mind.

Enough with the inclination toward nannystatism

[Lap48]

Instead of "economy" I meant to write "opportunity." My apologies

[amorvincitomnia]

What a winning argument against hate induced speech. I particularly admire how you close by referencing all Americans with a slur. Truly a brilliant way to champion your cause.

[Anonymiss]

It's strange how O'Reilly is never punished for his actions yet he's always calling for someone's job (i.e., Pres of Va. Tech) and helping entertainers lose their endorsements over what he finds offensive (i.e., Ludacris and Pepsi).

[Loki1967]

"How dare this white man with a microphone and the trust of the public"

You got the white man correct but Public Trust I think is way off. It's like saying the public trusts Bush Cheney Limbaugh etc which would be a false statement.

And the fact is the U.S. is not a good country. We did three great things: Revolution, WW1, WW2 most else we were a bunch of bastards..­slavery...­imperialis­m...greed.­....glutto­ny...
murder....etc

[kgb999]

We invented the integrated circuit, AIX and the TCP/IP protocol (and ARPAnet backbone) among many other things (phone, lightbulb, Windows, etc). That's pretty much the backbone modern technology has been built around! These advances have been credited the world over for raising awareness of worthy causes and giving a voice to those who would not have one otherwise (like say ... a bunch of opinionated morons on a blog).

You REALLY think our greatest achievements are a couple of wars?

[tao53nyc]

This quote says it best for me...

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."
--Noam Chomsky

When we start "banning" speech because it might offend a certain group, where does it stop? When minorities finally come up with a term that actually offends white people to the point of anger? (Hasn't happened yet - there's a message there somewhere...)

Bill'O is a bloviating, ignorant asshole. But government guns are not the answer, and never have been. The best cure for his type of commentary is total abandonment of his program on the airwaves, the boycott of his published works for sale, and the refusal to do business with his advertisers and publishers. Dollars, and the choices we make with them, have far more power than anything else to sway those who pay Bill'O's salary.

But then he's Bill O'Reilly, and perhaps he should be held to a higher standard simply by virtue of his position in the media. If he uttered such crap as a "common" person in a public bar, the response might be different - and when he left the hospital he might have come away learning a thing or two about hate speech.

But perhaps the only way to enforce that higher standard in the media is by judicious and frequent use of the channel-changer and the off switch.

[realpolitic]

O'Reilly can say what he likes. He is not guaranteed a television show as a forum to make his remarks.

Your very argument is contradictory. You are saying O'Reilly has every right to make his remarks, but we have no right to criticize his remarks. So who is parceling out freedom of expression other than you?

[Robin08]

What's the problem? Isn't Star simply exercising her right to freedom of expression? Just because one is free to express one's self does not mean others are not free to express an opposing point of view.

I say BRAVO Star -- well said.

[Neocon187]

I thought Bush and the rest of the neocons were already stomping free speech: what else are the "free speech zones" for?

Hate speech is not free speech. Just like you don't have the right to yell fire in a crowded theatre, you don't have the right to allude to physical harm against a person or group. Everyone knows that O'Reilly would not have bothered to use the term if Michelle Obama were white.

If ignorance isn't strengh: why are there republicans?

[RevoVansen]

Noam Chomsky also believe the whole world loves america and americans.........

[duffster]

well... he used to be right until we wound up with a crew of neo-con thugs in the White House for seven years.

[realpolitic]

O'Reilly might throw the lynching party at Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem where he was surprised the mostly black patrons were not saying: "M'Fer, get me some more icea tea" to the waitresses.

O'Reilly can explain away every insipid remark by claiming "out of context." I guess one would have to listen to all shows from the very beginning in order not to misunderstand his context. How he tries to explain away his remarks, which are usually captured on tape, are often more of an indictment than the remarks themselves. Though not in this case!

[DNVigerJr]

What would Bill O'Reilly say in his defense? Do you really think he is against black people? Do you really think he is prejudiced? I don't think he is. Imus really seems so, and his remarks should have had him banned for life from that network that he worked for! Insulting young athletes is irreprehensible, and although there is always room for repentence, there is no room for those remarks, period!

I did not get the same drift from O'Reilly. What he was trying to tell the person whom he was responding to was: don't be so quick to judge Michelle Obama. You have to fully understand the context and point she was trying to make when she said what she said, and could have been misunderstood. He was not being quick to judge. Prejudiced people as obviously some of the people commenting here seem to be, because it goes both ways, as Christ said it, "Judge not, lest ye be judged, as well!", are always quick to judge and condemn, not really interested in the spirit of what the person had in mind.

I would hope that what Michelle Obama really meant to say, had she been given another opportunity to say it over would have gone something like this: "It was a really sad time in America when people would never dream of a black man becoming president, or even having the right and opportunity to run. However, now, isn't it great that my husband has not only this right, but the support of so many Americans, white, black, hispanic, or whatever else. That makes me really proud, in fact the proudest I have ever been in my lifetime of what America has become, and is!"

We all, including O'Reilly, have one thought, even a good thought in our mind, and it somehow doesn't always come out just right, or leaves room for those who would want to attack and hate us to spin it in their image!

[realpolitic]

It does not matter what Michelle Obama said. She could have said she is a Russian spy who has been passing them defense secrets. A pundit does not say he is going to lynch her. That is just territory that one does not approach.

O'Reilly makes his most insipid comments on his radio show where he feels there are like-minded listeners. This reamrk was a perfect example.

[kgb999]

OK, now this is stupid. Does anyone really believe that the plan was to go get a rope and string up Michelle Obama? This was an unfortunate metaphor (one that he has actually used many times in reference to white people without complaint from Ms. Jones) - not a death threat.

And now that you guys have forced me into defending (sort of) O'Reilly - I must go take a shower.

[RevoVansen]

The difference between Imus and Bill'O is simple, Bill'O never assumes he has nothing to be wrong about so there is no room for self-reflection on his part he doesn't feel the need to. However you call Don Imus on something and there he goes trying to right his situation by apologizing. Bill Loves himself and you are hard pressed to get between a man and his love.

[Lap48]

O'reilly comes from a particular segment of the populace, and raised in a particular time and place [the ethnic, restricted suburbs of NYC of the late 40's, 50's and sixties] that he's woefully ignorant of minorities and, as a result, has some preconceived notions about blacks that have no place in current America. That having been said, the word "lynch" originally wasn't specific to describe an extralegal or illegal process meted out to African-americans. It began with hostilities during the Revolutionary War and spread to the West and Southwest where Vigilantes and posses utilised the rope to mete out "justice" to suspected cattle-rustlers, thieves, man-burners and other accused criminals when there was either no law or the law, in their eyes, was inadequate. Well after it had spread to the Frontier territories and well after the Civil War, toward the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries terrorists like the Knights of the White Camilia and the Ku Klux Klan began to employ the device-- the use of which reached its zenith in the immediate years after World War I-- as a means of terrorising the Southern Black populace.*

I first heard the word, as a six year old, watching some hoary "MIllion Dollar Movie" episode, William Wellman's 1943 "Ox-bow incident (actually, a very powerful movie starring Henry Fonda, so the word "hoary" is somewhat inapt, here)." Here is the type of vehicle, ie., the Western, that familiarised pre-boomers and baby boomers like O'Reilly with the term where some accused cattle-rustler or alleged murderer was strung up, or threatened with a lynching. The term became reinforced in the collective consciousness of millions of television Western watching Boomers and their Greatest Generation parents in the aforementioned '50's and '60's.

I'd say O'Reilly is an insensitive anachronism BUT he should know better since he presumably has his well-paid thumb on the pulse of America--so, you do have to wonder, especially given his other ruminations into ignorance concerning African-americans.

*The Willie Lynch speech is an internet hoax--the word "Lynch" goes back to the eighteenth century and the American Revolution beginning, apparently, with the actions of a colonial by the name of Charles Lynch and was an action not specifically aimed, at that time, at free or enslaved blacks.

[bheartlib]

This man makes me sick.. I cannot believe that there are no calls for his firing from everyone!! Look what happened to Imus...why can't the same happen to o'reily? He has so many totally racist comments under his belt...(remember "hey mo-fo, where's my iced tea!!) He is clueless, heartless, and brainless. He has no business on television and radio.
Michelle Obama is a strong, smart, self-confident woman. She speaks her mind, and the rest of you go jump. Personally, I love that!! The crap about her patriotism is just that....CRAP!!
Obama's campaign erases race. O'reily can't erace the race. He needs to go the way of the dinosaurs. He is over.

[pece]

Oh yeah he knew what he was saying, because he thinks he is so clever, but in reality he is such a narrowminded man, just like another man we all know.The people who should be called on this is the people who pay him, but that won,t happen because they condone this sort of thing.I know that a lot of white poeple don,t know much about lynchings, so they need to go to :Without Sanctuary.com and they can see the horrible things that was done to Black People...

[ibivi]

Dear Ms Jones: It is nice to have you back as a journalist. I think you present your position very well. Welcome back.

[ChelleGeo]

MarkS I'm not sure where you are from in this nation, but I'm a 40 year old white woman living in the South and a wild west lynching was NOT what Bill O'Reilly was referring to. I thought it was an extremely offensive comment and if his bosses had any sense of decency they would take care of this. Star, I am not African American so I'm not coming at this from the same place you are, but I agree with you 100%. And if he comes for Michelle Obama he not only comes for all Black Women, but he comes for some white ones too.

[MarkS]

I don't want to bother you, but most of us white folk have never seen a lynching, and we use the term in the western movie sense (horse stealing). He was not referring to the lynching of blacks, or a party to organize the lynching of a black of any sex.

Most of the whites I know - including myself, were involved in civil rights marches, not lynching parties.

[amorvincitomnia]

While I'm quite convinced that someone such as yourself doesntt think in the terms Ms.Jones described, I'm not so sure about Bill O'Reilly based on years of barbarously ignorant remarks and ridiculous statements he's made. He was speaking figuratively but his choice of language struck me as something of major Freudian slip.

[gardenbookie]

O'Reilly ~ and some persons who have commented here ~ should have refrained from making ANY statement about Mrs. Obama until he heard her comments BEFORE they were altered and spliced. Bill O'Reilly thinks he's a "good American"; he's a dog. Imus got fired for his nasty remarks, why does O'Reilly still have a job?

[blaze]

I'm just curious how Michelle Obama so easily skated when she said about Hillary Clinton... "If you can't take care of your man, how can you take care of the country?" That is a pretty foul attack on a woman who's husband cheated on her. I think Michelle deserves a little grief for some of her statements.

That said, Bill O'Reilly is a racist.