So this happened.
Fox News host Bill O’Reilly took some time to tell oppressed people how to be oppressed Thursday night while responding to reports that the U.S. Department of Justice will not recommend civil rights charges be filed against the Ferguson police officer who killed an unarmed Michael Brown Jr. last year.
Scolding protesters for jumping to conclusions after Brown was shot, O’Reilly said this:
“All of those people who committed crimes in the name of Michael Brown or judged officer Wilson without the facts should be ashamed this evening,” O’Reilly said. “But of course, most of them are not.”
Tell that to the police department.
There was also this:
“We the people often form judgments based on nothing.”
Sadly, the death of a black teenager at the hands of a white cop warrants scrutiny given the history of this country. But we suspect O’Reilly didn’t put any of this in context.
He continued, bypassing the symptoms of white supremacy by asking protesters if they believe Attorney General Eric Holder is racist, given the DOJ’s refusal to file charges against Darren Wilson. After all, O’Reilly suggested, protesters have long said the justice system is racist. Why not the DOJ?
Essentially what O’Reilly is doing here is wagging the finger at protesters — even our black Attorney General is clearing Wilson of all wrongdoing. Don’t you feel ashamed? You were wrong all along.
Guess it’s a good time to note that the words black and civil rights are not excluded from institutionalized racism. And that’s not saying that Holder is in some way racist — it’s acknowledging that few things in this nation are impervious to supremacy, even the DOJ, and dismantling O’Reilly’s point that protesters should feel silly and ashamed for wanting to indict a system that has historically failed them.
But hey, we’re dealing with a guy who still thinks white privilege is a myth.
Watch the video above to see O’Reilly make his point and let us know what you think in the comments section below.
SOURCE: Mediate | VIDEO SOURCE: YouTube
