Yesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to speak to Bill O’Reilly via telephone. Of course, we spoke about the recent controversy related to his comments about Sylvia’s Restaurant. After talking to him, I am convinced that he had no idea that his comments would be taken up the way they have in the national media. Furthermore, after reviewing the full audio, I don’t believe the media has represented his words in a “fair and balanced” manner.

That said, Bill O’Reilly’s comments were condescending, patronizing, and reflective of a deep ethnocentrism that impairs his ability to look at the world outside of Eurocentric gaze. Moreover, his (feigned?) surprise that Black people walk erect and speak more than jive talk in public spaces is prompted by a set of ideologies and privileges that are part and parcel of White supremacy. Nevertheless, there is a difference between the run-of-the-mill racism that undergirds O’Reilly’s daily professional life and the Imus-esque character that the media has ascribed to his most recent words.

Inevitably, some of you will ignore my words and claim that I’m “defending” O’Reilly out of self-interest or flat-out wrongheadedness. To be clear, I found O’Reilly’s words to be offensive and problematic. It is for that reason that I go to war with him as often as possible. The Sylvia’s remarks, however, are par for the course with the Right-wing commentator. Rather than twisting his recent words to make them especially troublesome, I simply prefer to fight real political battles that have more pressing consequences in our lives.