On the March 16 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, host Glenn Beck relayed a message to a 7-year-old New York girl: “You want to go to Africa? I will personally purchase your airfare.” Beck made his remark in a segment on Autum Ashante, who garnered public attention after reading a controversial poem -- titled “White Nationalism Put U In Bondage” -- to a February 28 Black History Month assembly at a public school in Peekskill, New York (news accounts vary as to where she spoke and how many times). The Peekskill City School District reportedly sent an apology for any offense taken, in the form of recorded telephone messages to parents of students enrolled in the Peekskill Middle and High Schools. Ashante has since made public appearances to discuss her work.

Beck paraphrased a March 14 article in the Westchester, New York, Journal News that quoted Ashante as saying, “Even the ones [white people] that try to fix up with us, they're still devils. I feel they're devils and they should be gone. We should be away from them and still be in Africa.”

As Media Matters for America has noted, Beck -- who was recently hired to host a new program on CNN Headline News -- has repeatedly made controversial remarks on his show. During the same March 16 program, for example, he asked if America was “as dumb” as Nigeria.

From the March 16 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: She [Autum Ashante] has told the Westchester Journal News that “white people are devils. And should be gone. We should be away from those devils and we should still be in Africa.” I will gladly send you a ticket. You want to go to Africa? I will personally purchase your airfare. I'll do it. It's one-way. You have to sign a contract that you will never return to the United States. Of course, if you go there, remember -- I mean, they seem to be having a problem with the bird flu.