Herman

Cain

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October 1, 2007

In Attack on Bill O’Reilly, CNN Plays the Race Card

There are a lot of things that move race relations forward in this country that most people never hear about, but there seems to be more things that move race relations backward due to “race-colored” glasses, an abundance of negative racial stereotypes in entertainment, making condescending remarks and taking comments out of context to attack someone.

Looking through race-colored glasses almost sent several Duke University lacrosse players to jail for rape, when in fact the charges against them were bogus. These same glasses tried a black teenager as an adult for a fight with a white student in Jena, Louisiana.

The “hip-hop” and “gangster-rap” business too often portrays violence – abusing women and not cooperating with police authorities – as being “cool” to youngsters. These images distract kids from the real secret to success, which is education.

And the next time one of my white brothers or sisters tells me that one of their best friends is black, I might need an airline barf bag. It has not happened to me lately, but it has happened to me many times. That’s how not to impress a black person. It’s just condescending.

Hillary Clinton’s recent attempt to connect with a black audience by reciting the lines of a well-known gospel song (“I don’t feel no ways tired”) in a fake southern drawl was just disgusting and condescending.

The latest negative infraction to race relations in America was CNN’s attempt to brand Bill O’Reilly as a racist because of some comments he made about an experience he had at a well-run black owned restaurant in Harlem, known as Sylvia’s. I have only met Bill O’Reilly casually while passing him in the “green room” at a Fox News studio, so I am not trying to defend a close friend. I am defending right from wrong.

It is wrong to label someone a racist when they are not. O’Reilly commented to Juan Williams, a senior correspondent for NPR and a Fox News analyst, that he was pleasantly surprised that there was no one shouting profanity, and no one threatening people while in Sylvia’s.

Juan Williams clarified the context of the comment in a Time article dated September 28, 2007 (“What Bill O’Reilly Really Told Me”) and stated emphatically that O’Reilly is not a racist because of his comments during a radio interview. But, Williams was then branded by one CNN commentator as a “Happy Negro” (meaning Uncle Tom) for allowing O’Reilly to get by with making racist comments.

It is also wrong to label Juan Williams, whom I happen to know and respect tremendously, as an Uncle Tom. Read his book, “Enough”, and you will know why.     

O’Reilly just had low expectations because of his upbringing as explained in the article. He now has much higher expectations of well-run, black-owned businesses.

Being called an Uncle Tom when one does not see everything through race-colored glasses is not new. It has happened to me and I’m sure it will happen again, because not all black people live down to low expectations. Condescending remarks to try and score racial points with someone is not new. And as long as someone is making money from negative racial stereotypes, they will continue.

Most of us are accustomed to some individuals trying to play the race card for their own personal gain even when it is not warranted. But when a major cable news channel plays the race card out of context, it’s out of bounds and does nothing to improve racial attitudes.

Maybe CNN should raise its expectations.

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