Race Issues

While its leftist critics continually ignore them, Fox News Channel employs a number of liberal commentators. Unfortunately, it is continuing to stand by one of them, Democratic strategist Jehmu Greene, who insulted Daily Caller editor Tucker Carlson as a “bow-tying white boy.”

Greene, former national director of the liberal group Project Vote, made the insult during a debate with Carlson on last Thursday’s “America Live” show and has since apologized privately, however in an interview with Accuracy in Media, the network did not indicate that Greene would face further repercussions for her racist outburst.

"It is inconceivable that had a white mob set upon two black Americans the media would sit it out."

So said Fox News's Bill O'Reilly Monday about the media's almost total silence about a white couple that was attacked by a crowd of young African-Americans three weeks ago in Norfolk, Virginia (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

The liberal media sure are playing the race card to get Barack Obama reelected.

On HBO's Real Time Friday, host Bill Maher said, "For the sake of black America, he needs the second term" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

If you hoped the race card wasn't going to be played by media members this election, think again.

On Fox News's America Live Friday, liberal commentator Jehmu Greene said to the Daily Caller's Tucker Carlson, "To question [Massachusetts Democratic senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren] on her qualifications is going to be something that does appeal to folks like you, voters like you - bow-tying white boys" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Another head has rolled behind NBC’s iron curtain as the troubled, so-called "news" network continues to drop the guillotine on those responsible for the deliberately misleading edits to Zimmerman’s 9-1-1 call.

NBC has now fired three people from two different offices over at least two different edits of George Zimmerman’s now infamous 9-1-1 call prior to the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Both edits were clearly designed to portray Zimmerman as a racist while raising tensions in an already volatile situation.  This latest firing from NBC once again goes unexplained.  NBC’s actions vindicate the Media Research Center’s original point that NBC's two-sentence (non)apology was an insult, and that this is a network out of control.

On Wednesday's NBC Today, panelist and attorney Star Jones fretted over a recent campaign ad mocking President Obama's celebrity status and implied racial overtones in the criticism: "...what worries me is that it's another attempt to paint Obama as an 'other.' You know, they tried that with 'Oh, he ate dog meat when he was a boy.'" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Even fellow liberal panelist, advertising executive Donny Deutsch, called out Jones for her suggestion: "I hope this is not a black/white issue....Star, you're misreading." Jones stood by her accusation: "When you're pointing the finger saying he's different than us in some way, I think it's a....subconscious attempt to differentiate him from the rest."

Leave it to MSNBC to attempt to guilt socially conservative African-American Christians into acting against their religious convictions on same-sex marriage in the name of civil rights and "tolerance." Anchor Thomas Roberts, who is openly gay, conducted a softball interview with an African-American Baptist pastor from the Tar Heel State who opposes Amendment 1, the pro-traditional marriage ballot initiative going before North Carolina voters on May 8.

"For African-American churchgoers, this creates quite a quandary... while some religious leaders are urging their congregations to stick with tradition, some high profile ministers are speaking out against it to promote tolerance," Roberts noted in his introduction of Dr. Ricky Woods. With his first question to Woods, Roberts described the disagreement among African-American Christians as pitting those in favor of "social justice" against backers of "tradition" and "moral values" (emphasis mine):

New York Times reporter Trip Gabriel is still searching out electoral problems for Republicans among Hispanics: "Crucial to Romney, Florida’s Latino Voters Are Wary of Him, Too."

If Mitt Romney is to overcome his problem with Hispanic voters, he is going to have to start by changing a lot of minds in central Florida.

A key battleground in a vital swing state, the region is home to growing numbers of non-Cuban Hispanics who have always been viewed by Republicans as open to their economic and social views but reluctant to back the party in part because of its position on illegal immigration. With Mr. Romney having taken hawkish stances on immigration during the primary season, he and his campaign are now trying to shift the debate to what they feel will be friendlier terrain -- jobs.

CBS's Bob Schieffer ended Sunday's Face the Nation by disgracefully connecting the 20th anniversary of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles to Trayvon Martin.

After showing videos of the King beating as well as the aftermath of the criminal trial, Schieffer stated - with a black and white picture of the Sanford teenager on the screen - "When the Trayvon Martin case came to public attention this year, King said the screams on those tapes reminded him of his own" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Sunday must have been reverse racism day for past and current New York Times employees.

After David Brooks and Helene Cooper expressed concern about there possibly being two "white guys" on the Republican presidential ticket, former Times columnist turned New York magazine flame thrower Frank Rick wrote "Sugar Daddies: The Old, White, Rich Men Who Are Buying This Election":

Is the New York Times afraid of white men?

One certainly got that feeling watching Sunday's Meet the Press as guests David Brooks and Helene Cooper both expressed concerns about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney potentially picking a "white guy" to be his running mate (video follows with transcript and commentary):

CNN's Candy Crowley on Sunday asked Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) if he had more concerns for the safety of President Obama because he’s African-American than he had for George Bush.

This came near the end of a discussion on State of the Union dealing with the recent Secret Service sex scandal in Colombia (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Geraldo Rivera on Friday accused MSNBC anchors of not caring at all about the evidence concerning the shooting of Trayvon Martin and instead "cheerleading for the conviction of George Zimmerman."

Appearing on Fox New's The O'Reilly Factor, Rivera specifically pointed his finger at Martin Bashir, Chris Matthews, Lawrence O'Donnell, Al Sharpton, and Ed Schultz (video follows with transcript and commentary:

Maybe it's time for MSNBC's Chris Matthews to retire.

On Friday's Hardball, the 66-year-old host actually said that people's view of the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case is impacted by "so much history ever since the first slave arrived in the United States" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

As NewsBusters previously reported, CNN's Don Lemon two Saturdays ago advocated journalists actually say the N-word in news reports rather than the more politically correct, sanitized version we've grown accustomed to in recent years.

On Sunday, I chatted with Lemon about this issue - along with Big Journalism's Dana Loesch - on CNN Newsroom (video follows with transcript and lengthy commentary):

MSNBC on Monday featured 9/11 truther and network analyst Toure to slam the "paternalistic" Bill Cosby for suggesting the Trayvon Martin shooting is more about guns than it is about race. Toure derided this "dangerous sentiment" as "not at all true" and implied that the popular comedian is dumb: "But in terms of nuanced political thinking, [Cosby] has not shown himself to be a big fan of that."

Toure used Cosby's recent comments as a jumping off point to scold the former sitcom star: "And he has quite often said things that put him into the category of, with friends like these, who needs enemies?" Specifically, Toure bashed Cosby for talking about "a lack of morality in the black community." News Nation host Tamron Hall was so taken aback, she sputtered, "But Bill Cosby is not anti-black. What are you saying?"  [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

NBC incessantly talked about race and racism after the Trayvon Martin shooting, but on Monday race took a back seat to guns as the problem at the heart of the case. On Monday's Today show, host Matt Lauer cited comedian Bill Cosby and asked if the media has focused too much on race "when guns are the real problem?"

Thus the liberal discussion shifted from race to guns as the Today's Professionals panel responded in the affirmative. Attorney Star Jones avowed that "the issue is guns."And citing his own business experience, former CNBC host Donny Deutsch insisted "when you go after the guns you're solving problems." [Video below the break. Audio here.]

Bill Maher on Friday told what many would consider a rather racist joke.

After commenting at the beginning of HBO's Real Time that it was Friday the 13th, the host warned his audience, "If a black cat crosses your path it is bad luck – except in Florida where you’re allowed to shoot it" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Last week, CNN had to walk back its assumption that George Zimmerman uttered a racial slur in his 9-1-1 call, and now an affidavit from the prosecution in the case says no racist words were voiced.

CNN first suggested on March 21, according to its "sophisticated" audio editing, that Robert Zimmerman said "f***ing coons" on his 9-1-1 call. But the network had to throw water on that assumption once they re-assessed the audio clip, changing Zimmerman's words from "coons" to "cold." [Video below the break. Audio here.]

In a statement totally disconnected from the reality of media coverage of the Trayvon Martin shooting, on Thursday's Today show, NBC chief medical editor Nancy Snyderman proclaimed that the case, "...underscores the fact that we don't talk about race enough in this country and that race does matter, it's always under the surface."

NBC alone – not to mention the other networks or MSNBC – made race so much of a central issue to the tragedy that the network aired a story that dishonestly edited a 911 call from accused shooter George Zimmerman to make it seem as if the neighborhood watch volunteer singled out the black teenager for his race.

While the network issued an apology on paper and fired the producer responsible for the false editing, NBC News has yet to apologize on air for the report, which appeared on Today.

Some reporters have been so determined to prove that George Zimmerman's shooting of Trayvon Martin on February 26 was due to racism that they've been willing to go to virtually any length to find evidence that supports their claim, even against the recommendations of fellow journalists not wanting to rush beyond the evidence.

The case of CNN's rush to promote the idea that Zimmerman had uttered a racial slur during the call is perhaps the best example of this.

The media is beginning to investigate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith and its racial history, and CNN continued the race narrative on Wednesday morning when it wondered if Romney is simply writing off the African-American vote.

Apparently, CNN never got the memo that Herman Cain all but officially endorsed Romney on Tuesday. Citing a Daily Beast report that Romney has no high-profile African-American endorsements or staffers, CNN's Carol Costello went ahead and asked if the candidate was "kissing off African-American voters". [Video below the break. Audio here.]

Oh the delicious irony.

On ABC's The View Tuesday, as co-host Whoopi Goldberg supported Saturday's call by CNN's Don Lemon for reporters to say the N-word when quoting folks that have, the censors actually bleeped her when she said the word herself (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart surprisingly took on NBC News Monday for the network’s dishonest editing of George Zimmerman’s 911 call regarding Trayvon Martin.

Less shocking, the Daily Show host also took some punches at conservatives for how they handled this story including Media Research Center president Brent Bozell (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Following up on P.J. Gladnick's NewsBusters story about reports of non-existent neo-Nazi "patrols" in Sanford, Fla. in response to potential racial violence there, ABC News.com's Candace Smith apparently hasn't gotten the memo that there are no such patrols going on. As Gladnick reported two days ago, Professor William Jacobson of the Legal Insurrection blog did the legwork that reporters like Smith are supposed to do. Get this -- he e-mailed  the Sanford Police Department and simply asked them if there were indeed neo-Nazis patrolling the streets of Sanford. "No confirmed reports" was the reply. Jacobson then -- get this -- followed up by asking the police if they just weren't yet aware of any patrols: There was "no indication" of any such patrols, the Sanford police responded.

Yet ABC News.com reports today (my emphasis):