On October 15, 2014 Bill O' Reilly visited Jon Stewart's
"The Daily Show" to debate whether white privilege is an actual
problem in our nation's post-slavery, post-Jim Crow era. As many of you already
know Bill O' Reilly is not a fan of the term "white privilege" and
even goes so far as to say that it does not exist. Jon Stewart, on the other
hand, is a firm believer that white privilege does exist, and holds that it has
a significant effect on African-Americans and other people of color. With these
differences it is of no surprise that both men are on opposite sides of the
political spectrum, and with the popularity of their shows it's safe to say
they are main contributors for talking and the rallying point for their liberal
and conservative audiences. I say all this to make the point that these two men
coming together to discuss something such as white privilege would appear
utterly hopeless. Personally, when I clicked the link I could only hope they
did not come to blows before the debate was over.
To my surprise, however, as I watched the debate, the two
men seemed rational, willing to listen to and understand one another before
responding. The purpose of the debate was simple as Stewart informed O'Reilly,
"All I want, I want you to admit that there is such a thing as white
privilege". As mentioned above this was not something that was going to
come easy. O' Reilly brought up the traditional talking points that many
conservatives use to combat the idea of white privilege. Things such as, there
must be Asian Privilege because Asian American's collectively make more money
than white people do, there is no more slavery and the Jim Crow era is over,
two of the most powerful figures in the U.S. are President Obama and Oprah
Winfrey who are both black, and of course the unforgettable point that if a
person works hard and gets an education they can succeed in America. The reason why these talking points do not
necessarily irritated me as a young African American male is because these
talking points represent real voices in the U.S. and deserve to be heard and
understood. Especially, when taking into account that Bill O' Reilly's
"The Factor" is the #1 cable news show on television; therefore an
authentic attempt should be made to understand the things that are believed
because so many Americans are watching it every day.
I commend Jon Stewart because instead of writing Bill O'
Reilly off as a hopeless lost cause conservative, he actually acknowledges the
valued points that O' Reilly made and used that to further state his case on
white privilege being a real issue in the U.S today. In the same sense, I comment
Bill O' Reilly for not writing Jon Stewart off as an overzealous liberal who
has nothing educated to say. Stewart's
argument to O' Reilly was "there has been a systemic systematized
subjugation" (in the U.S)… in which though slavery and Jim Crow are dead
"the systemic effects of that system exist today." The is very hard
for conservatives to understand specifically when they take into account their
own lives and how hard they had to work to achieve the success they have
obtained.
The term "White Privilege" was not going to work
for O' Reilly but the two men ended up agreeing on the fact that the systemic
systematized subjugation brought on from slavery and the Jim Crow era is a
"factor" in the lives of people of color today. This is huge! As Jon
Stewart proclaimed, "This was a beautiful moment in healing." Stewart
continues in a comical but genuine tone, "Your humility has healed me…
You, You Bill O'Reilly can lead the flock of Fox fearful to a better place, I
believe in you." As offensive as the last remark may have been for O'
Reilly he took it with a grain of salt and kept with the light comical context
of the moment.
While the audience laughed and cheered in awe, what I took
from this moment was that it wasn't a win for the left and a loss for the
right, neither was it the opposite, but it was a win for the United States of
America who is trying to move forward. Both sides were represented equally and
respectably. Some headlines will lead you to believe that it was a screaming match
or that Bill O' Reilly looked like a complete idiot, but this was by no means
the case. The two men sat down and had a passionate conversation in which their
voices briefly rose, but they came to a comprised agreement based off of
trading one word "factor" for another, "Privilege." Simply by switching up a word, a leap was
made towards unity and understanding in this nation. So if you expected me to
bash one man or the other you are disappointed. I want to affirm both man and
their maturity and humility to sit down with their opponent and have a real
dialogue that led to a real solution. Anyone who turns this debate into an
avenue to spew hateful remarks about either one of these men is out of line,
misinformed and utterly incapable of understanding the true beauty in
legitimate debate. Please don't miss the beauty in this moment. I believe that
this debate is reason to celebrate. Yes, people will still have their
differences, but a landmark was achieved and no negative or misleading headline
is going to lead me to miss it. Meaningful discussions such as this is how we
as a nation are going to continue to move forward!
No comments:
Post a Comment