Thanks Leatha
No matter how you feel about Star Jones, she righteously jumps down Bill
O'Reilly's throat in the communication below.
comment about having a lynching party for Michelle Obama if he finds out
>
> that she truly has no pride in her country.
>
> Bill O'Reilly said:
>
> 'I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama
> unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman
> really feels. If that's how she really feels - that is a bad country or
> a flawed nation, whatever - then that's legit. We'll track it down.'
>
> Star said:
>
> 'I'm sick to death of people like Fox News host, Bill O'Reilly,
> and his ill thinking that he can use a racial slur against a black
> woman
> who could be the next First Lady of the United States, give a
> half-assed
> apology and not be taken to task and called on his crap.
>
> What the hell? If it's 'legit,' you're going to 'track it down?'
> And then what do you plan to do? How dare this white man with a
> microphone and the trust of the public think that in 2008, he can still
> put the words 'lynch and party' together in the same sentence with
> reference to a black woman; in this case, Michelle Obama? I don't care
> how you 'spin it' in the 'no spin zone,' that statement in and of
> itself
> is racist, unacceptable and inappropriate on every level.
>
> O'Reilly claims his comments were taken out of context. Please
> don't insult my intelligence while you're insulting me. I've read the
> comments and heard them delivered in O'Reilly's own voice; and there is
> no right context that exists. So, his insincere apology and
> 'out-of-context' excuse is not going to cut it with me.
>
> And just so we're clear, this has nothing to do with the 2008
> presidential election, me being a Democrat, him claiming to be
> Independent while talking Republican, the liberal media or a
> conservative point of view. To the contrary, this is about crossing a
> line in the sand that needs to be drawn based on history, dignity,
> taste
> and truth.
>
> Bill, I'm not sure of where you come from, but let me tell you
> what the phrase 'lynching party' conjures up to me, a black woman born
> in North Carolina . Those words depict the image of a group of white
> men
> who are angry with the state of the own lives getting together,
> drinking
> more than they need to drink, lamenting how some black person has moved
> forward (usually ahead of them in stature or dignity), and had the
> audacity to think that they are equal. These same men for years,
> instead
> of looking at what changes, should and could make in their own lives
> that might remove that bitterness born of perceived privilege, these
> white men take all of that resentment and anger and decide to get
> together and drag the closest black person near them to their death by
> hanging them from a tree - usually after violent beating, torturing and
> violating their human dignity. Check your history books, because you
> don't need a masters or a law degree from Harvard to know that is what
> constitutes a 'lynching party.'
>
> Imagine, Michelle and Barack Obama having the audacity to think
> that they have the right to the American dream, hopes, and ideals.
> O'Reilly must think to himself: how dare they have the arrogance to
> think they can stand in a front of this nation, challenge the status
> quo
> and express the frustration of millions? When this happens, the first
> thing that comes to mind for O'Reilly and people like him is: 'it's
> time
> for a party.'
>
> Not so fast...don't order the rope just yet.
> Would O'Reilly ever in a million years use this phrase with
> reference to Elizabeth Edwards, Cindy McCain or Judi Nathan? I mean, in
> all of the statements and criticisms that were made about Judi Nathan,
> the one-time mistress turned missus, of former presidential candidate
> Rudy Giuliani, I never heard any talk of forming a lynch party because
> of something she said or did.
>
> So why is it that when you're referring to someone who's
> African-American you must dig to a historical place of pain, agony and
> death to symbolize your feelings? Lynching is not a joke to
> off-handedly
> throw around and it is not a metaphor that has a place in political
> commentary; provocative or otherwise. I admit that I come from a place
> of personal outrage here having buried my 90 year-old grandfather last
> year. This proud, amazing African-American man raised his family and
> lived through the time when he had to use separate water fountains,
> ride
> in the back of a bus, take his wife on a date to the 'colored section'
> of a movie theater, and avert his eyes when a white woman walked down
> the street for fear of what a white man and his cronies might do if
> they
> felt the urge to 'party'; don't tell me that the phrase you chose, Mr.
> O'Reilly, was taken out of context.
>
> To add insult to injury, O'Reilly tried to 'clarify' his
> statements, by using the excuse that his comments were reminiscent of
> Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' use of the term 'high-tech
> lynching' during his confirmation hearing. I reject that analogy. You
> see Justice Thomas did mean to bring up the image of lynching in its
> racist context. He was saying that politics and the media were using a
> new technology to do to him what had been done to black men for many
> years -- hang him. Regardless of if you agreed with Justice Thomas'
> premise or not, if in fact -- Bill O'Reilly was referencing it -- the
> context becomes even clearer.
>
> What annoys me more than anything is that I get the feeling
> that one of the reasons Bill O'Reilly made this statement, thinking he
> could get away with it in the first place, and then followed it up with
> a lame apology in a half-hearted attempt to smooth any ruffled
> feathers,
> is because he doesn't think that black women will come out and go after
> him when he goes after us. Well, he's dead wrong. Be clear Bill
> O'Reilly: there will be no lynch party for that black woman. And this
> black woman assures you that if you come for her, you come for all of
> us.' -- Star Jones Reynolds
>
>
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