Alex Constantine - August 22, 2013
August 21, 2013
Trayvon Martin's death has brought attention to racial inequities on a national scale. Rather than confront the reality of being black in America, the racist right wing now claims that any discussion of racial issues is racist. Moreover, they are seizing on any incident, in which black males have engaged in criminal behavior towards whites, to say that these assaults are motivated by black racist hatred. They demand that black leaders address these supposed hate crimes which can't, under any circumstances, be compared to a killing that is part of a long tradition of whites profiling and killing blacks because of racist hatred. Recently, in Oklahoma, a white man was allegedly killed by a mixed race group of teens. The racist right wing (including Fox's Todd Starnes) is racializing the incident and asking if the President, who, I guess is responsible for the behavior of the entire African-American community, will speak out about this heinous act which doesn't appear to be a hate crime. Predictably, Fox & Friends stoked the flames of white, racial resentment in claiming that all three shooters are black when one is Hispanic and the other white. But this is a Fox "opinion" show so it's all good ...
The killing is quite horrific. In what appears to have been a "thrill kill," three teens targeted an Australian who was here in the US on a baseball scholarship. After the Australian press identified the suspects, the right wing blogs immediately ran with headlines that described all three youth as black. Drudge's headline was "Bored Black Teens Kill White Baseball Player for Fun." Even after it was disclosed that one of the boys is Hispanic and the other white, The Daily Caller's banner was "Black Teens In Oklahoma Murder White Jogger for Sport" under a photo in which included the white teen. So the stage is set and enter, stage white and right, Fox & Friends.
This morning, Steve Doocy set the stage for this "hot topic all across America." He showed a photo of the victim and stressed that he was "murdered" (no actual verdict yet.) He then showed a photo of the three young men as he described the accusation against them and described how the African-American kid "apparently danced and laughed as he was carted off to the police department." Brian Kilmeade said "as far as Chris Lane, a guy who was shot by three black teens, arbitrarily shot; but that didn't stop Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and President Obama from weighing in." Photos of Sharpton and Jackson were shown while crickets chirped. Anna Koiman said "we're still waiting on the tee-shirts." Steve Doocy wanted to know where Al Sharpton was because "he's so good at starting rallies for people." Kilmeade interjected, "the Duke Lacrosse non rape story." (So, I guess, Christian right leaders wouldn't defend one of their own who was allegedly victimized?)
Advancing the blacks are thugs meme, so popular in the racist right wing, they showed a picture of the black suspect holding a gun which, when held by white guys like Ted Nugent, is considered sacred. (Ewww scary black man). They showed a tweet from acceptable black man, Allen West, who described the shooters as three black men. (West, as you recall, had some problems related to gun use while in the military). West asked "who" Pres. Obama will identity with. Steve Doocy opined "once again, probably crickets."
Of all the lies and propaganda pushed by Fox & Friends, this has to be the worst that I've ever seen and I've seen a lot. First of all, the race of the alleged perps is not relevant to the story. Unlike Fox News, which is focused on the race of the boys, when mainstream media mentions it, if they mention it at all, it is as an informational point. Second, the racial makeup of the group has been available for at least a day. Photos have been circulated which show the white boy; but Fox & Friends didn't use the photos. It's really ugly. Not for nothing is Fox & Friends the "morning happy-talk show that Ailes uses as one of his primary vehicles to inject his venom into the media bloodstream."
And this time, the "venom" is straight up racist.
