Fox host Todd Starnes had a problem with comedian Larry Wilmore telling President Barack Obama, on his time as the nation’s first African-American president, “Yo Barry, you did it, my n***a.”
The president responded by smiling and embracing Wilmore. While the term is used as one of endearment among members of the black community, it didn’t stop Starnes, who is white, from posting wrathful tweets about it.
Dear @larrywilmore -- race baiting isn't funny -- and using a racial epithet is incredibly despicable. #NerdProm #shameful
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) May 1, 2016
What @larrywilmore called the President at the end of that disgusting speech was despicable -- incredibly shameful.
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) May 1, 2016
The use of the n-word came at the end of a heartfelt thank-you to the president:
“When I was a kid, I lived in a country where people couldn’t accept a black quarterback. Now think about that. A black man was thought by his mere color not good enough to lead a football team — and now, to live in your time, Mr. President, when a black man can lead the entire free world. Words alone do me no justice. So, Mr. President, if i’m going to keep it 100: Yo, Barry, you did it, my n---. You did it.”Yet Starnes was still outraged.
Funny thing -- Starnes wasn't nearly as upset in August 2015 at a very deliberate use of multiple epithets intended as racial slurs. In fact, he was angry because others were upset:
All it took was 140 characters for Texas Christian University to suspend a conservative student who posted a series of social networking posts that insulted the Islamic State, the Baltimore rioters and Mexicans....Vincent also wrote:
On April 29 TCU sent Harry [Vincent] a letter accusing him of violating the university’s code of student conduct....
The charges stemmed from a half dozen tweets he had posted online referencing radical Islam along with a Facebook message about the Baltimore riots.
“These hoodrat criminals in Baltimore need to be shipped off and exiled to the sahara desert,” he wrote. “Maybe then they’ll realize how much we provide for them (welfare, college tuition, Obama phone’s, medicare, etc.”
In regards to Islam he wrote, “This is clearly not a religion of peace.”
“#Baltimore in 4 words: poor uneducated druggy hoodrats”And:
Responding to someone who complained about his comments, he responded: “When I said you would be reincarnated as a beaner I was being generous”Starnes called this use of "beaner" an "unintentional Mexican slur," apparently because Vincent, like so many racists after their words are brought to light, claimed he had no idea he was offending anyone.
“I did not know that word was such a hurtful word,” [Vincent] said. “I do regret that one because I do realize that could have caused harm to some people.”Vincent also posted this, which he apparently didn't regret afterward:
You can question the disciplinary actions TCU took, but the school is a private institution that attempts to balance free speech and, in the words of its student handbook, "respect [for] the rights of all individuals." But Starnes not only expressed outrage at the discipline, he wouldn't acknowledge the racism at all:
It sounds to me like Harry Vincent is guilty of being a Christian Conservative white guy -- and on a university campus that’s a crime worthy of death penalty.So, to Starnes, Larry Wilmore's language needed policing. Harry Vincent's didn't.
Ellen Brodsky of NewsHounds adds:
If you are suspicious about the nature of Starnes’ racial sensitivity, you should be. This is a guy who has made a Fox News career out of bigotry. He has accused the Obama administration of “orchestrating” civil unrest in Ferguson, called him the “Race-Baiter in Chief,” and complained that a woman of Indian descent was not American enough to be Miss America in 2013.
Oh, and here's a video of the remark that offended Starnes so much last night:
2 comments:
I hate to refer to my youth (which is now so long ago) but when I drove a school bus, one route I had was East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park. I had the opportunity to listen to young blacks talk to one another. One common reference, especially between young black males was "Yo, niggaah." It was not "nigger" as used as an epithet by whites to blacks. Rest assured I did not use either this reference or "Yo Mommah" to any of my black students on my bus. That is their speech for them to use with each other.
Right-Wingers only hate that they can't say the word!
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