Glenn Beck and his defenders have fiercely denied allegations that he is a racist or has incited racial hostility on his radio and TV programs. But the evidence of his animosity toward people of color is abundant since the election of a black president.
Looking back on Beck’s crusades since the inauguration (which, coincidentally, was also the inauguration of his show on Fox News), Beck began with an attack on ACORN, a group of community organizers who advocated on behalf of poor and minority populations. Then he went after Van Jones, an African-America who sought to bring jobs and environmental justice to disenfranchised communities. Then it was Mark Lloyd, an African-America working to insure diversity in the media in his role at the FCC. Then it was Valerie Jarrett, the African-America aide to President Obama. The it was Shirley Sherrod, an African-American woman who was slandered by Beck and Andrew Breitbart in a phony attempt to cast her as a racist.
Now Beck is attacking Dolores Huerta, an Hispanic labor activist with a legendary resume. She co-founded the United Farm Workers of America with Cesar Chavez. She is presently working with the Department of Labor to insure that workers are not exploited by employers seeking to pay them less than they are entitled to under the law. Presumably Beck would like to bring back indentured servitude.
The real question is why are the targets of Beck’s attacks so often people of color? Even though there is the occasional Caucasian like Cass Sunstein (who is Jewish), the racial scale for Beck’s tirades is heavily weighted toward minorities. Anyone who doesn’t recognize the significance of that fact is dwelling in deep denial. With this assault on Huerta, Beck continues to prove that he is overtly discriminatory in his selection of enemies.
On a tangential point, the Obama administration has a pretty poor record of standing up for its people. They let Van Jones go. They forced Shirley Sherrod to resign (before apologizing). They never defended ACORN, even after they were absolved of any wrongdoing. If they permit Beck to railroad Huerta out of the Labor Department they are going to see the last remaining remnants of their support from progressives, and others on the left, drift away. So my message to the administration: Don’t be stupid.
I’m not sure Beck is racist but I’m sure having an “other” is good for his business. His predominantly white,Republican, Christian audience finds the African-American-Kenyan-Hawaiian-Muslim-Socialist Obama to different from them to be comfortable. Beck merely exploits this tribe narrative. What his personal feelings are I can’t say, but it is certain he exploits his audience, and that gives rise to a whole new question: Why would any human being squander the results of millions of year of brain evolution and allow someone else to use their fears rather than exhibit some form of self and confront the irrational thoughts they hold?
His true colors are green and, of course, gold.
If you bother to listen to his criticism of these people – it has to do with their beliefs and ideology – not their skin color. no racism here, but of course your definition and the evidence you provide is meant to skew peoples thinking. You continue to provided evidence of just how screwed up you and the progressive thinking people, which is totally crazy in my view. IF someone can’t debate ideas anymore just because one party in teh debate is a person of color – then we’re all doomed. You contribute to the devisiveness of today with your attacks every bit as much as those you attack.
If anything, your evidencd shows how people of color see the US and what they believe to be the correct course of action – and trust me, having had discussions exactly like this with people of color – not hard given where I work – socialism and similar ideologies are exactly what minorities think is right. You may live in fantasy land, but those of us who have had to listen and debate these ideas daily with average citizens – both minority and not – can probably speak to GB comments better. You are more uninformed than you think – at least on this subject (I wont’ comment on others)! I can’t believe diversity training has actually paid off in some way – you could probably use some yourself to get informed about the reality of how minorities actually see this country.
I think your comment speaks for itself. No need for me to respond.
Didn’t think so – dillusions of grandeur on your part. No surprise. How can your greatness and brilliance ever be questioned?
Steve, I do not know if Beck (or Rush) is racist or not. I do not know what is in his heart. But he (and Fox News) do spend an inordinately large amount of time in condemnation of blacks (unless they’re running negative stories on Muslims or Mexicans or gays). If blacks make up 12% of the population and Muslims 1/4% and gays 1%-2% (and Latinos still a minority nationwide), and Fox and Beck can spend this much time on such small groups, one has to wonder what the motive is. Race baiting and conjuring up constant negative images of non-white people, and then presenting them to a largely white audience – an audience more likely to include those who are already leaning towards bigotry – is in and of itself racist.
Sammy, thanks for the intereting comment back – In my opinion, we’re talking about the president of the US, probably one of the most scrutinized positions on this earth – anything he does, anyone on his team will get grilled no matter what, so I’m not sure why anyone expects anything different here. All the presidents I can remember couldn’t get a hair cut without scrutiny. Yes, the president is black, and some of his advisors are minorities, so what, given their position in this country, their going to get scrutinized. I think, based on the GB shows i’ve seen, he continiously tries to build a case, based on who the president surrounds himself with, that he isn’t pushing the kind of “change” that is consistent with our constitution and/or what has made us successful in the past. You can agree with that or not it’s up to you, but clearly he is trying to have and impact with his viewers and whoever will listen – I agree this president is not going in a direction i like, his intentions may be good, but his choice of remedies to our problems is absolutely terrible in my opinion – not sure if that makes me a racist in the eyes of some here, but if so, so be it.
No Steve, it doesn’t. However Beck accused the President of having “a deep seated hatred of white people”. Do you subscribe to this view? If so, how can you justify this within the realm of reality?
Steve, I understand what you’re saying, that the president is going to always come under heat from the opposition. But Fox (and Beck) have gone after ACORN based on carefully edited video. The same for Shirley Sherrod. They’re going after the Mosque (more mostly brown folks) and that has nothing to do with Obama or his “change” or cabinet. They’re going after brown immigrants in Arizona even as every agency that tracks immigration shows illegal immigration is down and border enforcement spending is up (all under the evil Obama). They went after the New Black Panthers which is such a small group in such a non-story (no one has yet come forward to openly complain about intimidation). All of these incidents relate to minorities and have little to do with Obama. Why is that?
No Tinfoil, I don’t think the president hates white people. I think he (the president) believes he is doing the right thing – I don’t, but that’s what the elections are for.
Mark, you may still believe you have some special information and knowledge of the differences between how people see this country from a racial point of view, but if you saw what I see on a daily basis, your attitude may be different – ie actually informed. I don’t claim to have any answers, but the racial nonsense goes both ways, not just white to non-white.
“Deep denial…”
The deep denial is coming from you and your website. Nearly every time that criticism of liberal policies is made public, the left-wing now instinctively tries to shut down that criticism by screaming racism just like the boy who cried wolf. Well, that tactic is collapsing.
Furthermore, you leave out the criticism that Beck levels at libbies like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and you ignore the fact that he defended Shirley Sherrod at the outset. The evidence that you have no clue about the true state of affairs is abundant.
Deep denial is what the right has been doing my entire life. Denial that capitalism, empire, and democracy are incompatible. Denial that their decade-long campaign of deregulation led to many evils and attempts to turn around and blame poor people for the problem. Denial that giant corporations have different interests and values than the majority of Americans and the need to blame everything on the Federal Government. The right-wing in this country has been drifting farther and farther into fantasy land (Nixon would be a RINO now) and Beck is leading the way. If you really want to discuss issues, fine. But you’ll need to stick to the facts. That will necessitate using other sources of information besides Fox News who’s credibility is justifiably suspect for so many reasons.
Tinfoil – Now I’m really curious – what do you think is “compatible” with democracry if not captialism (per your comment above).
Cmon tinfoil – if you believe something else is better, please share…..Not sure what you meant by empire and how that fits, obviously you feel we’ve been trying to expand our american “empire” whatever that is.
There were some people at the 8/28 rally actually claiming that Beck never called Obama a racist, one of them even getting pissed that the interviewer said he said it. It was hilarious.
I saw that video. I couldn’t believe that these people, who are Beck’s biggest fans, had never heard of the most famous thing he ever said. They are deeply submerged in Beck cultism.