Posted on 09/26/2007 4:00:36 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan
NEW YORK - Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly said Wednesday his critics took remarks he made about a famed Harlem restaurant out of context and "fabricated a racial controversy where none exists." He criticized the liberal group Media Matters for America as "smear merchants" for publicizing statements he made on his radio show last week.
O'Reilly told his radio audience that he dined with civil rights activist Al Sharpton at Sylvia's recently and "couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference" between the black-run restaurant and others in New York City.
It was just like a suburban Italian restaurant, he said. "There wasn't any kind of craziness at all," he said.
O'Reilly told The Associated Press that Media Matters had "cherry-picked" remarks out of a broader conversation about racial attitudes. He had told listeners that his grandmother — and many other white Americans — feared blacks because they didn't know any and were swayed by violent images in black culture.
"If you listened to the full hour, it was a criticism of racism on the part of white Americans who are ignorant of the fact that there is no difference between white and black anymore," he told the AP. "Circumstances may be different in their lives but we're all Americans. Anyone who would be offended by that conversation would have to be looking to be offended."
His radio show was a conversation with Fox News contributor Juan Williams, author of a book about the coarseness of some black culture. Williams defended O'Reilly during a Tuesday appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor."
"It's so frustrating," Williams said. "They want to shut you up. They want to shut up anybody who has an honest discussion about race."
The controversy was similar to one that enveloped presidential candidate Joe Biden last winter. When Biden praised rival Barack Obama as "articulate" and "clean," many saw this as a way of conveying these were unusual characteristics for blacks.
Sylvia's manager Trenness Woods-Black told the New York Daily News that O'Reilly's remarks were "insulting" and showed he has little knowledge of the black community.
At one point on the radio show, Williams mentioned that too many people see 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.'"
Karl Frisch, spokesman for Media Matters, said it is typical for O'Reilly to criticize his group for merely reporting what he says.
"We didn't call him a racist," Frisch said. "We said his comments were ignorant and racially charged and we stand by that."
O'Reilly said the Williams conversation was carried on more than 400 radio stations and there wasn't one complaint from a listener.
"This isn't about a racially insensitive remark," he said. "Anybody can listen to the unedited version of the conversation on billoreilly.com. You want to think I'm insensitive to race, you go right ahead."
The real story, he said, was about the "corrupt media culture" where outlets like CNN and MSNBC do stories about his remarks "because they're getting killed in the ratings."
"The O'Reilly Factor" is seen by more people — 2.2 million average this year — than its direct competitors on MSNBC and CNN combined. MSNBC's "Countdown" with Keith Olbermann averages 721,000 viewers in the time slot while CNN's 8 p.m. show averages 611,000, according to Nielsen Media Research.
since bor attacked fr
i don’t listen to him.
Yeah here's a great example:
Bill, remember that comment about someone on FR wanting Hillary dead? Remember how you lied about it, then wouldn’t give anyone a chance to explain?
Well, right about now it sucks to be you. I would have come to your aid. I actually liked you. Now? You can rot in hell.
This isn’t BOR vs. FR.
It is Soros vs. conservative commentary.
Who is next, ... Rush?
:) serve me a beer RabidBartender for that one:)
loudmouth blowhard,phony story about being combat veteran,kisses sharpton’s ass,favors increased gun control-the only good thing about his show is michelle malkin filling in for him-give her the show and dump his self aggrandizing rear end
>>-—This is a pattern of behavior targeting people perceived to be conservatives,——
Yeah here’s a great example:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1873938/posts<<
I’m not talking about your perceptions. To the rabid left, O’Reilly is king of the conservatives. Whether or not those of us at FreeRepublic think so is not the issue.
From the majority of posts in here, I gather that FR agrees with CNN, MSNBC, MoveOn, etc., that O`Reilly should go down in flames.
Hateful remarks being taken completely out of context?! Noooo! Say it ain’t so!! :-O
The deja vu here is so strong you can cut it with a knife! A little schadenfreude (sp?) come your way, Mr. O? What say you now about FR?!
Ditto here! I’ve boycotted him here in the evenings (my DH and I used to watch faithfully every night) and I won’t let DH watch him any more. I did flip a few nights ago and saw that CNN was really going after BOR in a long segment about this whole incident—didn’t sound good to the average joe who doesn’t watch on a regular basis, gotta say that. Makes BOR sound like he’s spewing out hateful, racist comments on a regular basis...whoa, I’m getting that creepy deja vu feeling again, I wonder why?!? ;-)
I noticed yesterday on Rush that there were a lot of ‘plants’ (liberals calling in innocuously then attacking him with wild all over the place comments) so I think that’s been happening already for awhile...but the pace certainly seems to be picking up. Be warned people. America is under attack by evil people, not just from outside our country, but from within. Please have the eyes to see this happening before it’s too late for all of us!
Personally, I think Bill O’Reilly needs to be monitored rather than freely expressing his opinions. When he was called on it after mischaracterizing FR as a “hate site”, that was the argument he made. We may as well throw it back in his face.
The people on here attacking O’Reilly don’t get it. He’s the one doing the outing, he is showing the left for the liars that they are. I’m saving my Venom for the Democrats.
Doesn’t that hurt? LOL
What goes around, Bill.
Freepers and the Swift Boat Vets are NOT 'the left' and they are not liars. Bill O'Reilly is a fool and he deserves everything he's getting.
Excellent!
Bill gets carried away occasionally, but he’s a straight shooter and real smart - he’s right, not left so posters here should not look at him as some sort of lefty devil.
I watch every night - very entertaining for that type of show.
I’ll arm wrestle you for it. Times Square...high noon.
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