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Bill O'Reilly's comments about Harlem restaurant draw fire

By David Bauder, Associated Press
NEW YORK — After eating dinner at a famed Harlem restaurant recently, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly told a radio audience he "couldn't get over the fact" that there was no difference between the black-run Sylvia's and other restaurants.

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

O'Reilly said his fellow patrons were tremendously respectful as he ate dinner with civil rights activist Al Sharpton.

The comments were made during O'Reilly's nationally syndicated radio broadcast last week. The liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America called attention to them by distributing a transcript and audio clip on the Internet.

"This is nothing more than left-wing outlets stirring up false racism accusations for ratings," said Bill Shine, senior vice president for programming at Fox News Channel. "It's sad."

O'Reilly spoke during a general discussion about racial relations with Fox News analyst Juan Williams. O'Reilly said he believed black Americans were "starting to think more and more for themselves" and backing away from a race-based culture encouraged by Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

He said he treated Sharpton to dinner to thank him for appearing on his Fox News Channel show.

O'Reilly pointed to the lack of difference between Sylvia's and other restaurants as a marker of racial progress. He also noted that he went to an Anita Baker concert recently where the audience was evenly mixed between blacks and whites.

"The band was excellent, but they were dressed in tuxedoes, and this is what white America doesn't know, particularly people who don't have a lot of interaction with black Americans," he said. "They think the culture is dominated by Twista, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg."

Williams concurred that too many people believe there's little else in black culture beyond profane rap.

"That's right," O'Reilly said. "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M.F.-er, I want more iced tea."

Sharpton said he was taken aback that anyone would be surprised at how blacks acted at Sylvia's and will ask O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor Wednesday to explain what he meant. Nothing O'Reilly said at the dinner was offensive, said Sharpton spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger.

Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters, called O'Reilly's comments "ignorant and racially charged."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

I posted this because i thought it ws relevant in light of our other discussions on this board. And if you wanna talk about influence, this guy isnt making 9 million a year, with the highest rated cable show, for nothing. This is a huge part of the reason so much racism and racial tension exists in this country. People like him, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, et al, are all doing their part to dumb people down about race relations, the war in Iraq, social spending, how the richcontrol everything, etc, etc. It is truly a sad day when you realize how much power this guy has.

muthaf cker please...

imho this guy has always been one colossal jackass. i wonder how much influence he has though. does he change anyone's perceptions or just preach to the choir and massage a bunch of people who already thought that way to begin with?

I love Sylvia's.

I have no idea who this guy is and what he sad doesn't mean anything to me.
I actually watching only Knicks and Rangers on TV.
There are much more cool things to do but watching 40+ channels of bullsheet.
Looks like I miss mass-culture alltogether. No regret.

I'm not a fan of his, but to be fair, he pisses off everybody, on the right and on the left. He is just an entertainer, no different from any rapper for example.

If I was black I would be upset with what he said though. So I would not contribute to his success. But this kind of thing happens both ways. A black show always has a token white character thats always humiliated and made fun of. Is that racist? Some would say it is, I just turn the channel.

First, to answer the topic question: Yes, I think the comments were racist. True, he may not have meant to say them the way he did so that they would be so inflaming, but his comments - at their root - are racist. I don't think you can deny it.

Secondly, because I feel like venting whenever I hear about this guy... I can't stand him. I don't watch his show, but apparently people do because it's still on. I don't understand how any reputable (maybe that's the problem) news network would let him have a show. I've seen clips of the show once in a while on youtube, and there are few people like him who can get me so irritated just from hearing them talk.

This is his M.O. it seems. He centers on an argument and the side he wants to take (generally right leaning), and then invite guests on. When there's a guest that disagrees, he cuts them off, doesn't let them explain or form ONE coherent sentence, and then verbally lashes out at them. When they try to cut in, he does some more screaming, because well - obviously saying something louder means you're right... right? Then for good measure, he might make some illogical connections between ideas, make up facts, and personally attack the "guest" a little more. He's like a petulant child.

I would say I lean mostly left on most issues, but I can respect other opinions. Discussion is great. Civilized discourse belongs on a news show. His show makes me sad. I only hope people watch it to see how ridiculous it is, and not because they believe in him.

What made me laugh out loud earlier today was when I saw a headline saying that "Bill O'Reilly says he's being smeared." Imagine that - coming from him. Oh, poor baby.

Alright. Rant Over.

It's a stupid comment and certainly not appropriate. Nobody thinks that is cool and I would be suspicious that the man is racist based on those comments. Either way, he should've kept those thoughts to himself. What concerns me more is a post like this, because based on past evidence from this board, if the situation was reversed (black broadcaster, "white" restaurant), I think some people on the board would be defending the comments, which is ultimately disappointing to me.

Posted by mattinNH:

First, to answer the topic question: Yes, I think the comments were racist. True, he may not have meant to say them the way he did so that they would be so inflaming, but his comments - at their root - are racist. I don't think you can deny it.

Secondly, because I feel like venting whenever I hear about this guy... I can't stand him. I don't watch his show, but apparently people do because it's still on. I don't understand how any reputable (maybe that's the problem) news network would let him have a show. I've seen clips of the show once in a while on youtube, and there are few people like him who can get me so irritated just from hearing them talk.

This is his M.O. it seems. He centers on an argument and the side he wants to take (generally right leaning), and then invite guests on. When there's a guest that disagrees, he cuts them off, doesn't let them explain or form ONE coherent sentence, and then verbally lashes out at them. When they try to cut in, he does some more screaming, because well - obviously saying something louder means you're right... right? Then for good measure, he might make some illogical connections between ideas, make up facts, and personally attack the "guest" a little more. He's like a petulant child.

I would say I lean mostly left on most issues, but I can respect other opinions. Discussion is great. Civilized discourse belongs on a news show. His show makes me sad. I only hope people watch it to see how ridiculous it is, and not because they believe in him.

What made me laugh out loud earlier today was when I saw a headline saying that "Bill O'Reilly says he's being smeared." Imagine that - coming from him. Oh, poor baby.

Alright. Rant Over.

Papabear says

Thats changing. I saw X Congress man Harold Ford eat up Sean Hanity on the air. Ford was prepared and factural. Ford did his home work. He show how the info Hannity had was false and Hannity was lying. But what made it so sweet Ford proved that hannity was lying.

Papabear

Posted by Marv:

Posted by arkrud:

I have no idea who this guy is and what he sad doesn't mean anything to me.
I actually watching only Knicks and Rangers on TV.
There are much more cool things to do but watching 40+ channels of bullsheet.
Looks like I miss mass-culture alltogether. No regret.

are you gonna tell me you don't know who spongebob squarepants is????

You see - I am a new immigrant. I am only 10 years in America.
And all this racial issues are very remote for me. Like live on Mars (may be there are some primitive forms?)
It is same for millions of people who came to US from Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa last 50 years.
We just don't get the significance of this. Not to mention that US TV and mass media is mostly retarded advertising machine.

Posted by Solace:

What concerns me more is a post like this, because based on past evidence from this board, if the situation was reversed (black broadcaster, "white" restaurant), I think some people on the board would be defending the comments, which is ultimately disappointing to me.

You are concerned and disappointed by a made up scenario consisting of imagined posters participating in reverse racism anticipated only by yourself, taking place in your own head?

I think then you should talk to yourself less.