Bill O'Reilly Blunders Into Controversey Over Comments on Asian-Americans

As much as I would really like to offer up some kind of eloquent rebuttal to the unquestionably racist comments and bigotry-laden assumptions on the political leanings of Asian-Americans offered up by Fox News stalwart Bill O'Reilly, Hawaii Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa has already summed up the views of hundreds of millions of people across the globe.

Let's review: During his show on Wednesday, in response to his own bafflement that despite the presence of a large Asian-American populace, the state of Hawaii faces the very same social challenges impacting Americans all across the nation including financial debt, substance abuse and homelessness, O'Reilly offered up the ludicrous assertion that: "Asian people are not liberal, you know, by nature. They're more industrious and hard-working." 

If this ass-clown of a television host was an influential sociologist, he might just be dangerous. But since he can't possibly testify as to what millions of Asian-Americans think and believe, he comes off as ill-informed, dense and as detached from reality as Donald Trump. And as an increasingly irrelevant right-wing media pundit/wind-bag who's famously long on opinionated, cranky nonsense and short on logic or reason, he's just plain useless to a decidedly (and increasingly) multicultural society that's evolved beyond some kind of strange nostalgic desire for the kind of endearing cultural intolerance of Archie Bunker.

As Congresswoman Hanabusa astutely observed, "Leave it to Bill O'Reilly to thoughtlessly insult 1.3 million people with one sweeping misstatement." The rest of her comments are a spot-on summation of the growing disgust with his simplistic efforts to paint easy-to-digest stereotypes over a diverse Asian-American culture that spans a broad range of nationalities, religions, beliefs and perspectives.

Sadly, Asian-Americans have long been used by conservatives in the US to justify outmoded beliefs and prejudices about non-whites in this nation. From disenfranchised Chinese-Americans workers building canals and railways alongside other Americans under horrendous labor conditions, to loyal American citizens of Japanese descent being herded into concentration camps during World War II (which never happened to German-Americans or Italian-Americans...) Asian-Americans have long been used by conservatives to inspire fear, loathing, jealously, patriotism or loyalty depending upon the need to scapegoat or hold up as a "model minority" in a deceitful effort to malign other minorities in the US.

As if detached conservatives like O'Reilly use Asian-Americans to serve a duel purpose in the US; to inspire either racial fear or hatred. Case in point: hopelessly confused self-hating Filipino and right-wing extremist media pundit Michelle Malkin's book 'In Defense of Internment: The Case for Racial Profiling in World War II and the War on Terror' defending America's imprisoning of Japanese citizens. Or by projecting sweeping generalities and positive "super-attributes" about Asian-Americans (all Asian-Americans are great at math, great students) to subtly justify bigotry or prejudicial beliefs against other minorities; as in O'Reilly's misplaced use of code words like 'industrious' and 'hardworking' as a not-so-subtle indirect attacks against Hispanics and African-Americans.

But don't take my word for it, I just watched former 'Star Trek' actor George Takei on television being interviewed on MSNBC's 'Ed Show' in response to O'Reilly's detached ramblings; the man who brilliantly played 'Mr. Sulu' on the deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise is even more offended by O'Reilly's statements than I am.

And he rightfully pointed out that not only did an overwhelming majority of Asian-Americans cast their votes for President Obama in the 2012 elections (73% according to some polls, so much for O'Reilly's "Asian people are not liberal" theory...) , the most influential Asian-American politicians (including the recently passed and well-respected Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii) in the US have been Democrats and tend to align themselves with liberal agendas and political objectives; begging the question so many of us have asked before - what the hell is Bill O'Reilly talking about?

Jon Gruden's "Beast" Comment Reflects Disparities in Media Coverage of Black Athletes

ESPN football analyst Jon Gruden

Like millions of other Americans I spent the first day of 2013 nursing a hangover and watching college football; caught a good game between #10 South Carolina versus #18 Michigan in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida.

But listening to ESPN football commentator Jon Gruden analyze South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney gave me a bit of a headache that had nothing to do with the Stoly and tonics I drank last night.

Clowney is African-American, in the first quarter while previewing the key player match ups, Gruden, attempting to convey the 6'6" 256-pound player's incredible talent, offered this three word analysis, "He's a beast."

Seemingly innocent comments like that, often said in front of millions of viewers during moments of passion and excitement, bother me as a former college and professional football player; and as a person of color.

Calling a young man a "beast", even though Gruden obviously intended it as a compliment, tends to have the unintended effect of dehumanizing Jadeveon Clowney to a degree, reinforcing myths of inherent physical superiority and minimizing the intelligence, exhaustive mental and physical preparation and skill required to perform at that level.

 Over the years I've watched enough football and basketball games to credibly make the observation that television sports color commentators and analysts who use adjectives like "beast", "animal" or "monster" to describe a player, tend to use those kinds of simplistic animal metaphors to describe African-American athletes much more so than white or Hispanic athletes. Conversely, comments about white players tend to revolve around assumptions about inherent mental superiority; for example a white quarterback makes a good pass and he's "got a good head on his shoulders" or is a "very smart player."  

I've lost count of the number of times an African-American basketball player blocks a shot, or a linebacker makes an intense tackle and the very first thing out of the color commentator's mouth is, "This guy is an animal!" Now I'm not suggesting the "beast" comment Gruden made was racist, but I do think it reveals and reinforces some unconscious, very old and deeply ingrained assumptions and myths about black physicality and black athletic performance that many Americans (especially sportscasters) unknowingly perpetuate.

Like race in America, sports broadcasters and the way they cover and talk about black athletes is a very complex issue as evidenced by infamous career-ending verbal gaffes by Jimmy the Greek and Howard Cosell. Or much more recently the media controversy created by ESPN "First Take" co-host Skip Bayless's moronic observations about Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin, III; or Terry Bradshaw's idiotic "bucket of chicken" comment which I blogged about recently.

But let's focus on Gruden's comment for a moment. Now I generally like Gruden as a color football analyst, he's got a decent sense of humor and he offers some valuable insights into the game. I don't think he's a racist or anything, but what exactly is going on in his mind when he comes up with the word "beast" to try and describe Jadeveon Clowney? Is he referencing his physical stature, his hard-hitting style of play, or something else?

Clowney is certainly an imposing presence on the field, but he also made an impact last season as a freshman in the SEC (Southeastern Conference) the toughest athletic conference in Division I college football. Not only was he the first freshman defensive lineman to start at South Carolina since 2007, Clowney was selected as the 2011 SEC Freshman of the Year, second team All-SEC, honorable mention All-American for SI.com, was selected to numerous Freshman All-America teams and was the only freshman in the SEC to be in the top ten leaders in sacks (8.0) in 2011. This year as a sophomore he won the Ted Hendricks Award which recognizes the nation's top defensive end; which analyst Desmond Howard noted over on ESPN's sister channel ABC during the half-time show.

Does that sound like a young man you would describe as a "beast"?

Or does it sound more like a committed student-athlete who's spent countless hours in the gym strengthening his body, hours studying game preparation film to analyze his opponents and critique his own practice tapes in order to become a better player? Not once did I hear Jon Gruden credit or mention the University of South Carolina's defensive line coach Brad Lawing; a man with 17 years of coaching experience who's a big part of South Carolina having back to back 11-win seasons and has clearly helped Clowney develop into the player he is.

Did Gruden bother to mention that Clowney was the nation's consensus top high school recruit as a senior? Nope, he pretty much summed up Jadeveon Clowney as a "beast".

Interestingly enough during the very same game a University of Michigan linebacker named Jake Ryan (a white player with long blond hair streaming out of his helmet) cut across the field and made a nice tackle, Gruden lavished him with praise too. But he didn't call him an "animal" or a "beast". Noting Ryan's outstanding play Gruden said admiringly of the Michigan sophomore, "Jake Ryan is a fine player from St. Ignatius High School in Ohio, I know exactly what kind of stock he comes from."

Jon Gruden's comments are neither unique, uncommon or unexpected. I conclude my first blog of 2013 with an excerpt from the forward of a fascinating paper written by Emily Plec, a faculty member of the Western Oregon University Communications Studies department entitled:
 "The Great White Hype:Rhetoric and Racial Biology in the Coverage of the 1968 Olympic Protest"

Plec observes:
"Since the 1950's, U.S. Americans have experienced a substantive shift in public discourse about racial identity, difference, and inequality. Despite those changes, popular ideas about inherent African-American physical prowess continue to demonstrate, and likely reinforce, racist thinking and rhetorical practices. Such discourses contribute to the production of racism in three major ways: (a) by essentializing difference in racial terms, (b) by alluding to a "law of compensation" in which physical ability is juxtaposed with mental acuity, and (c) by utilizing dehumanizing animal metaphors."