Yet another Bill O Reilly Goof

[PhiGam]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Because you live in Mississippi? Does this mean that everyone in Mississippi knows racism and understands it beyond its overt form? Please say "no" because the answer is "no."

There is a spot on my campus that they used to lynch black americans on and I don't dare pretend that I "understand" it. This whole thing makes no sense to me but I can say that what Bill O. said was NOT racist and that the word lynch is not necessarily racist either. Its a word that existed long before and will exist long after the tragic lynchings of blacks during the long period of systematic racism in America.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by PhiGam

This whole thing makes no sense to me but I can say that what Bill O. said was NOT racist and that the word lynch is not necessarily racist either. Its a word that existed long before and will exist long after the tragic lynchings of blacks during the long period of systematic racism in America.

In this instance, it is the context and not the word even if O'Reilly wasn't really attacking Michelle Obama.

People need to be aware of the context to avoid putting their foot in their mouths. The word "holocaust" also means "a thorough destruction involving extensive loss of life especially through a fire." However, people with any sense would try to avoid saying something for descriptive effect like "there was a fire at the local Jewish center...it was a holocaust" or "There was a holocaust at this family's (and people know or find out that the family is Jewish) home this evening...police and fire officials are investigating to see what caused the fire." Jews would more than likely have a field day straightening that slip of the tongue out. And the person who made the slip of the tongue would more than likely be asked to apologize or at least be told that they should've just said "there was a massive or deadly fire," just like O'Reilly could've said he "didn't want to unfairly attack Michelle Obama."

So, no, I don't think O'Reilly is racist because it takes a lot more than what O'Reilly has said over the years for me to label someone a racist. Plus, I think that the average racist today is the covert type rather than the type to make public statements. But I'm not jumping to the other extreme of pretending that people don't have to be considerate and aware of context if they don't want their message lost because of its delivery.

[nittanyalum]

O'Reilly is a blowhard and an idiot. And he LOVES any kind of attention, he particularly seems to thrive on the negative stuff (well, except that whole sexual harrassment case, Mr. Stand Up Moral Guy didn't seem to enjoy that too much).

Even with how little I think of him, I do believe it was just a poor choice of words. Which goes back to my point about him being an idiot. KIM.