Fox News Channel has taken support and encouragement of divisive racial double standards to new lows. Fox News has made a conscience decision to not only endorse black supremacists but also to give them sanctuary and turn a blind eye when they spew theirracism. Fox has long been a place where Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton were welcomed in prime time viewing slots and even encouraged to spew their bigotry–unchallenged. And they have now given Jehmu Greene carte blanche to make racist insults at her leisure without concern.
It is worth noting that Don Imus was a shock jock when he referred to the Rutgers’ women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos.” Making fun of people is part of what Imus was paid to do; it’s what his listening audience enjoyed. Sponsors paid huge advertising dollars because his edgy humor commanded a large listenership. To be fair, Imus and Sid Rosenberg were joking while Sid was doing the show’s sportscast. It was edgy, but neither Imus nor Sid meant it as anything more than locker room jocularity.
Imus apologized for his comments, and subjected himself to Al Sharpton’s “genuflection tour.” Sharpton and every other black face and wannabe came out of the woodwork excoriating Imus for his comments. Sponsors jumped ship and those that hadn’t immediately came under siege by hostile hordes demanding they drop him. Imus was humiliated, suspended for two weeks, and ultimately fired.
Donald Imus and his wife are philanthropic juggernauts. The Imus Ranch for children with cancer and their charities rival any individual charities in scope and magnitude in America today. But for all of his good work, Imus was forced to grovel and suffer humiliation before being fired.
Remember Los Angeles Dodgers’ General Manager Al Campanis and the comments that had him branded aracist, publicly humiliated and fired from his job? I’ll refresh your memory. During the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s breaking of baseball’s color barrier, Campanis was asked by Nightline host Ted Koppel about the dearth of black managers and the absence of black general managers. Campanis responded that blacks “may not have some of the necessities to be, let’s say, a field manager, or, perhaps, a general manager.” He would later explain that what he was trying to convey was that blacks “[lacked] the necessary experience, not things like inherent intelligence or ability.” But it was too late. Campanis was unceremoniously fired, driven out of baseball, and remembered as the baseball executive who made a racist statement.
What he was trying to say was absolutely true at the time. What wasn’t mentioned is that Campanis was anything but a racist. What went unmentioned was that in 1947, when Campanis and Robinson were both Dodgers, it was Campanis who offered to room with Robinson–when the other players wouldn’t even share a water fountain with him. It was Campanis who taught Robinson how to pivot at second base and throw the ball low enough that the approaching, Robinson-hating base runners couldn’t gore him with their spikes. In the minor leagues, it was Campanis who always invited Robinson to eat with him while the other whites shunned him. It was Campanis who, in the middle of a minor leagues game, threatened to deck an opposing team’s player who was bullying Robinson. It was Campanis who was responsible for signing Roberto Clemente, Tommy Davis, and Willie Davis.
White players, black players, and baseball personnel alike, openly insisted that Campanis didn’t have a racistbone in his body, but it was all for naught. The man who had, by his actions and life, exhibited anything but racism, was fired and suffered an ignominious fate of being remembered for one poorly worded answer. All of the good things he had done for Robinson and blacks in baseball were forgotten.
There was also sports announcer Howard Cosell. It is widely believed that he was driven from the airwaves because he made reference to Washington Redskins wide receiver Alvin Garrett, as “That little monkey gets loose doesn’t he?” The truth is he wasn’t driven from the airways, he retired at the end of the season to spend more time with his family and grandchildren, and because travel and sports casting were changing and he had grown tired.
The truth about his comment “that little monkey” is that it was a term of endearment Howard used. He called his grandchildren “little monkey” from the time they were able to crawl around. He referenced white athletes Mike Adamle in football and Glenn Hubbard in baseball as “little monkey” because he admired their skills and athletic ability. It was Joseph Lowery of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a virulent black group, who attacked Cosell as being racist and demanded a public apology. Cosell rightly and justly refused–standing on his insurmountable record of support for black athletes, not least of whom was Muhammad Ali. Lowery overlooked Cosell’s record and attacked him as racist.
Jehmu Greene, on the other hand, has continuing questions about her time with Project Vote and about her sordid relationship with ACORN: questions she refuses to answer and that Fox News has refused to address with her publicly. Greene has done nothing to enhance society; she has no reputable philanthropic involvements–she has only black supremacist and Marxist anarchy to show on her resume. I encourage all to read: Former ACORN Insider Infiltrates Fox News written by Anita MonCrief. (http://emergingcorruption.com/category/corruption/acorn/)
Fox News has not held Jesse Jackson accountable for him extorting $10 million from Texaco, for accusations ofracism that never took place. Nor have they held him accountable for his anti-Semitic barrage of “Hymies” and “Hymietown.” Fox has, however, rewarded Jackson by hiring his daughter Santita Jackson to be an on-air contributor. Fox News has given a complete pass to Sharpton’s Tawanna Brawley lies that nearly destroyed the lives of innocent police officers. They do not mention that he is responsible for the fire and murders at Freddy’s Fashion Mart in Harlem. And it would appear that they intend to extend the same courtesy to Jehmu Greene.
Show host Megyn Kelly had an opportunity to do the right thing by confronting black racism but instead she laughed it off. There isn’t a snowball’s chance in the desert that she would have laughed it off had a white male guest called Greene “Aunt Jemima.” It is time we stood up and stared down these types of double standards. People watched Fox News because it was, at one time, an honest alternative to the alphabet cable news channels. That can no longer be said.
I say Fox News should hold Jehmu Greene to the same standards that white hosts are held to. She should be fired or at the very least be made to issue a public on-air apology followed by a two-week suspension without pay. As for Megyn Kelly, Fox News should have her apologize for being complicit and compliant in sanctioning Greene’s racism.
Calls to Fox News Media Relations person Irena Briganti have not been returned.
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