Why is Beck asking his hand-picked all-black audience to respond to this audio?
November 13, 2009 5:53 pm ET
From the November 13 edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck:
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It sound to me that you are suggesting that any black people who happen to have conservative views are Uncle Toms are something?
Is it truly that hard for "progressives" to believe that some black people have a conservative political ideology.
It's not good vs. evil, or good vs. racist, with progressives ALWAYS being on the side of good. People can have different political ideologies and still be decent people.
The fact is, Beck has NEVER said anything that I consider to be racist, and I'm black. Don't believe me, then come here and discuss it with me. My screen name is Ong-black.
http://group.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=groups.groupprofile&groupID=103309870
I look forward to the day when we can have political discussions, without labeling the people with whom we disagree as racists or some other vile label.
Except "socialist". That's still okay.
I don't think I'm a sellout, or self loathing, for having primarily conservative political ideas.
It's like Chris Rock said, "Anyone who is one thing politically is an idiot."
I just tend to LEAN conservative.
I think you people don't know any better because it is much easier to label someone as racist and blow them off, rather than try to see where they are coming from.
Beck is a paranoid Lonesome Rhodes, nothing more, nothing less. He'll say anything to keep people watching. And most people watching him are probably white. And his most avid watches are likely anti-Obama given Beck's subject matter (ACORN, Van Jones). And many in the anti-Obama crowd are racists, open or closet.
So Beck has to sprinkle in a little racism into his rants to keep his audience happy. That's all.
You don't see any hypocrisy in that?
My real concern is that a black person can't have conservative POLITICAL ideas without being called a sellout or an Uncle Tom.
I just think that Glenn Beck is a racist or that he's so insensitive and lacking in empathy that he's clueless.
He's made a fortune by attempting to take away the humanity of others.
You act as if he's lynching minorities or something!
I truly have no idea what you are talking about. Please elaborate?
Have you never listened to Air America or Keith Olberman?
If you think only the "right" does this, you're sadly mistaken.
You're a person who can recognize hypocrisy in those you disagree with.
I know damn well that there are racists, seeing that I grew up in Texas and was attacked by racist mobs and had dogs sicked on me growing up.
Do you think ANY(ANY) of the rhetoric out of Obama's "former" church could be considered racist?
If so, why can't you comprehend that SOME people may hear such things and think that Obama shares those views?
Would people also be "stupid" to assume that Bush might share those sentiments?
Saying that black people stole jobs from white people would not be a commentary on institutional racism. That would therefore be racist fearmongering.
In the actual quote, the point is that black people are equal, therefore they should have an equal share of jobs. In your version, the aspect of equality is not there, so it becomes "black people don't deserve our jobs". You can't flip the quote to apply it to a different race, because the meaning changes dramatically.
Surely this difference in racial dynamics is easily understandable to someone in a minority race that experiences institutional racism. Right?
"Nothing said in Obama's 'former' church is even remotely racist or insensitive to white people. Beck is a racist for suggesting that Obama shares the views of his 'former' church."
I guess there is nothing racist about thinking that white people created AIDS to kill black people.
The stealing jobs thing was hypothetical.
You do know that this church allowed white people, and there were white members, right?
And so what if white people attend the church? Rev, Phleger, the man who preached there and called for whites to "give their wealth to blacks," is white.
Also, I love how you defend Beck, but say you know nothing of his claim that we should be scared of the black men "stomping" in the video clip he showed on his show. Don't you think you should know stuff like this before you stick your neck out to defend his outrageous statement that Obama is a racist and has a deep-seated hatred for "white culture"?
And if you don't think that the acceptance of white people in his church means anything, then why did you think that Beck having a black audience had any bearing on whether he could be considered a racist or not?If you really think that it proves something that Beck can have one show trying to establish some post-racial malarkey with black people, then surely it means something that church policy allowed white people to attend Wright's church every damn week. If you want to argue that it's for the sake of appearances, then the same principle would clearly hold true for Beck.
I guess "whites created AIDS to kill blacks" is another reasonable assertion out of Trinity?
To the 7-year old African-American author of a controversial poem: "You want to go to Africa? I will personally purchase your airfare."
"Obama is very white in many ways...He is. He's very white."
"Are we as dumb as Nigeria?"
On American Indians in South Dakota considering skirting a state ban on abortion: They "will have found something that can be more profitable than casinos, and that's abortion clinics."
Mexico "is a country that has been overtaken by lawbreakers from the bottom to the top. And now, what you're protesting for is to have lawbreakers come here."
Either "they're terrorists," "they're escaping the law," or "[t]hey can't make a living in their own dirtbag country."
"And that's all we're hearing about, are the people in New Orleans. Those are the only ones that we're seeing on television are the scumbags."
"Obama's SS" Glenn Beck sees scary black people
Ah, forget it. I was going to clip more quotes and give you some more links, but what's the use? Beck could use the n-word on the air and you still wouldn't think he's a racist.
If you have some rationale behind that, great. Otherwise, you're just defending Beck for the sake of it.
But, my opinion regarding him calling Obama a racist is that I can UNDERSTAND why some could think that, given the rhetoric out of Obama's "former" church.
What do you think is racist about it?
The fact that they are black? Is that all that makes it racist?
How about if you take this in conjunction with his comments about Obama having a deep-seated hatred for white culture? I'm not quick to call people racists, as many liberals here will confirm, but Beck's pattern of behavior is difficult to treat charitably.
I dont see the racism in what you have listed above. Take your 'politically correct' filter off and be real. Given your apparent definition of racism based upon the above statements, no one would be able to even talk about someone that is different then themselves.
Maybe it's me, but I just don't see the connection.
IF ANYONE questions whether Obama shares Rev. Wright's views, one only has to look at candidate Obama's March 18th speech on race.
Candidate Obama gave an intensely personal speech on race relations in this country. Obama didn't try to sugarcoat the issue, he discussed Black anger, White resentment, the legacy of slavery AND Rev. Wright.A more perfect union...
And I have nothing against Black Republicans, but I'm disgusted and disappointed with Black Republicans who cannot or will not address the racial intolerance of the Republican party.
I cannot understand how Black Republicans can be proud of a party that compared Michelle Obama to a escaped gorilla, sends a picture of U.S. presidents with Obama depicted as a set of cartoon eyes, questions whether the White House will still be considered white if Obama became president, and depicted Obama on food stamps, surrounded by watermelon and fried chicken and on and on.
There's a reason why the Republican party only has 4% Black and 89% White and it's not because Black folks are in love with the Democratic party.
Your conservative views do not make you an Uncle Tom (who uses that anymore?), but your complete lack of understanding about your party and your race is shameful.
Believe me, I'd take subtle racism that I don't even notice over having dogs sicked on me like in Texas ANY day.
If someone doesn't like me because I'm black, hey, I'm cool with that as long as they keep that crap to themselves.
Legitimate labels like conservative (real or Great Americans) and socialism (everyone who is not a conservative).
The way you worded that implies that they're the two predominate political philosophies is the country.
Which brings us back to the way conservatives have written off the left, making their opinions appear unworthy of debate.
Which takes us back to eliminationism and the denying of humanity.
And he's also the guy with a personal vendetta against Van Jones.
Can you not understand (at least UNDERSTAND) how someone could think that Obama has something against white people because of the rhetoric out of the church that he attended for 20 years?
At least understand?
No.
You OK with a self proclaimed communist advising the President? You OK with the garbage he spewed about whites steering pollution into minority neighborhoods?
If you're black and support the party of this and this and this, I'd say the burden of proof is on you. What's "truly disturbing" is fake concern trolls and fake African-Americans combined into one.
He played the audio of an obviously uneducated woman or group of women and then tried to paint the entire audience with the same brush stroke. He expected this audience to somehow have insight as to why this woman behaved and said the things that she did because she was black and so are they. That's why it was offensive and that is why Media Matters posted it. It is a legitimate question to ask.
How is that being suggested?
It's hard out here right now and Beck is BOTHERED by people who are looking for help. Wow. And obviously the guy who was asking the questions was trying to illicit a "gotcha" moment because he didn't want to educate the ladies only expose their ignorance.
I've watched and listened to Beck play this clip over and over and he is disgusted by these people. A rich, stupid, idiot is made at these people for being poor and in need of assistance during a RECESSION!
A Detroit talk radio show host showed up to inteview people in line. He asked respondents the same set of questions. From the information below you can surmise that what he encountered, in the near "circus" atmosphere, was very similar to what Jay Leno gets when he does his Jaywalking segments. It was just a matter of selecting the most "ignorant" sounding responses to air on the radio.
Limbaugh has used the same tape to rant about Obama giveaways and entitlement mentality amongst blacks.
I don't purport to know what point Beck was trying to make, but by omitting the context, it makes sense for MMfA to ask the question.
The story:
Rumors had spread that the government was at Detroit's Cobo Center handing out $3,000 checks. All they were doing was giving out applications for Federal Aid so people didn't wind up homeless. Only 3,500 people/families are eligible for it, and over 50,000 applications were given out.
Depending on the source you reference, unemployment in Detroit (population 912,000) is as high as 25%, and home foreclosures are still at one of the highest rates in the country. While they were misinformed as to what was really going on, you can't fault people for wanting some of that money.
No, not many liberal-minded fellows think ill of Colin Powell even after his support of the Iraq War. On the other hand, Hannity's Token might as well be Clayton Bigsby. As far as Beck goes, we'd just like to see him pull off this little stunt with an audience more representative of the actual black community. And I, personally, would like to see him pull off this little stunt at a Ghostface Killah concert.
What does it mean? One woman said something stupid. One woman. It's meaningless.
Not to nutjobs like Beck and those who think like him. That woman is black society to him. Always looking for a handout. And tying it to Obama is the daily double of deception.
It wasn't that meaningless, dm -- she was probably talking about this:
I watched parts of his show today and when it started, the first thing I thought of was how McDonalds uses this strategy for their commercials.
The Mormonster probably tried to have every "black" Republican in America on this show.
With a few notable exceptions (Alan Keyes, Don King, etc.), I think he did.
It wouldn't matter to Beck anyway - in his addled mind, if 40 people out of a group of tens of millions agree with him, then they all do.
Ma and Pa Racist. Can't have them darkies gettin' too uppity, ya know.
He staged it just to save is job.