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Bill O'Reilly is making people wonder "Oh, really?" after the conservative talk show host shared some thoughts about famous Harlem soul food restaurant Sylvia's. O'Reilly told radio listeners that he treated the Reverend Al Sharpton (because Sharpton frequently appears on The O'Reilly Factor) to dinner at Sylvia's the other night. He said he had a great time, but couldn't leave it at that, noting "all the people up there are tremendously respectful." And then:
I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship.He also said that the other restaurant patrons "all watch The Factor!"...There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M-Fer, I want more iced tea.' ...You know, I mean, everybody was -- it was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun. And there wasn't any kind of craziness at all.
Media Matters, the watchdog group that pointed out Don Imus' Rutgers women's basketball team comments, had video clips and excerpts ready for other media outlets to pick it up, and that they did. Now O'Reilly is accusing Media Matters and CNN "hatchet jobs" and "dark side" plots against him.
Proprietor Sylvia Woods' graddaughter Trenness Woods-Black told the Daily News, "It is very insulting... O'Reilly's knowledge about the African-American community is limited and his statements are outrageous and unfortunate." And O'Reilly dinner companion the Reverend Al Sharpton wants O'Reilly to come onto his radio show to talk about his remarks. We'd like to listen to that, but we're sure O'Reilly's handlers are telling him to use Don Imus as an example and opt out.
And we always thought that O'Reilly's foot-in-mouth issues with food were limited to falafels.
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This is outrageous!
I hope this gets him kicked off the air.
At least Keith Olbermann will get another three months worth of shows out of this incident.
I don't see what the big deal is. Again with this politically correct bull shit!!
The really awful part is that I'm sure O'Reilly honestly thought he was coming off as complimentary.
please...what a waste of a human being...
It may be insensitive but you know all of you are thinking the same thing. Go to a movie in Times Square and tell me there isn't a difference between that experience and say, Loews Lincoln Square.
is it true that black people can also wipe their ass?
amazing
Did he think they'd be jumping up and down on their luggage? Throwing feces on the wall?
oreilly is the man. this country has become so pc. cant say anything anymore, except that you hate bush
Man, wouldn't it be great to not head that red-faced, blotchy looking moron spout inane and ill-conceived ideas anymore?
I'm all for freedom of speech but I'd dance nude in the streets if this guy lost his show.
i know he sounds like a boob, but a lot of the people who watch his show have probably gone through a 50-year life without actually meeting 10 black people. his comments might actually come as news to them, and they trust him, so maybe it's a positive thing.
i don't like bill-o, but there is a big difference between what he said and the don imus thing, which was not complimenting anyone, even in a dumb nabob way.
While I am no fan of Billo, this was taken way out of context.
Somebody calls into the show and starts bitching about rap, saying it's vile and hateful and all that.
And Bill says, basically, even though black people have different tastes in music, it doesn't affect their cultural sensitivity to the point where they are saying "MF-er, bring me some more iced tea."
He wasn't saying he was genuinely surprised by that, he was speaking to a comment made by the listener.
We almost got him this time, but this one would have been waaaaay too easy.
what came out of his mouth was the worst attempt at PC behavior ever.
thats fuckin hilarious
was he expecting the patrons to talk in clicks and pops?
he knew what he was doing, that ice tea remark was the clincher.
this was disgusting and shame on you marygrace.
you and your PC shit is right, you're full of it. shit.
it's the vast left wing conspiracy
I do declair, dem darkees is cooked up sum goodness grub , I tell you !
Considering there's not a single black contributor to gothamist, chicagoist or torontoist (or most other ists as far as I know) I don't think this site should be getting on its high horse.
This just makes him sound like an ignorant throwback.
Wow, you mean the blacks can act civilized? And there are orientals who are good at English? And not all jews are accountants or diamond purveyors?
I've met plenty of people who think their being complimentary, and mostly I just grit my teeth through a fake smile.
they were well spoken and articulate, too.
some of his best friends are black
i dont see what the problem,
they always do KungFu at my local chinese takeout!
I don't want to seem racist, but ....
why do i want to bang jen chung?
The folks at Amy Ruth's -- home of the Sharpton Special -- are going to be pissed at Big Al.
Sylvia's is a crap joint now anyway. It belongs in Times Square.
24: i had her in college
not too bad for a week-long fuck-fest
As a black person, I am too busy laughing to be offended. "My goodness, they were so respectful! And they ate at tables, just like white people." WTF?? Hilarious.
wow black people can use computers?
Bingo, #18.
While O'Reilly tends to represent a certain constituency of unevolved Archie Bunkers, I would like for there to be a little more context around the entire conversation he had with Juan Williams on his radio show. What bothers me about Media Matters is that they only post the most incendiary pieces of claptrap without much context, and then everybody scurries around, arms flailing, crying racism, sexism, fascism, Bushism, whatever.
The guy was a raging jackass before this. He's a raging jackass now, a raging jackass tomorrow, and a raging jackass forever.
Poster boy for shanty Irish. Sad thing is he probably thinks he's being enlightened. Sadder still, he'll probably catch hell from his own clientele for such open-minded thinking.
oh please, jen chung! this was completely taken out of context! he was talking about his racist grandmother!!! did you listen to the entire hour show before reporting!
#26, if you're serious, we need details, like, didja spew in the rack?
It's true what O'reilly said. I was surprise myself when I went I first met a black person and they wore PANTS!!! Holy shit! I usually thought they'd be wearing grass skirts with their titties flying about and bones in their noses. They actually spoke english too instead of grunting and saying OOGA BOOGAH!. I am amazed! People should know about this! Bill Oreilly should be the one to tell them.
#26 - is it sideways?
I don't see what the big deal is. Again with this politically correct bull shit!!
The reaction to his diatribe is not about political correctness, it is about not being an ignorant degenerate.
#19. "Oriental" is considered a derogatory term. We prefer the word "Asian". Thanks.
1. I'm black and was not offended @ what O'Reilly said. Listen to the WHOLE interview. He's an idiot, but this is not a good example of why.
2. Who is Gothamist to wonder if anyone knows blacks? Probably 98.9 % of the readership and 100% of the authors are white. Probably goes similarly for the support staff. If you're not writing about the Caribbean Day parade, Isaiah vs. Anucha or a shooting (oh my! in NYC? WTF?) blacks don't get reported about much here.
3. #18, if you did hit it, who gives a shit anyway?
Please tell me you used "oriental" with irony ...
News Flash to whites: Blacks eat with folks and spoons too!
Sigh...I see that irony is lost on commenters here. Ok, I'll spell it out. YES, I was using oriental purposefully....christ. As I'm oriental, I should know.
I have the Dirtiest Dirt on the so called 'Reverened' Al Sharpton.
http://www.maytheygetwhattheydeserve.com/ReverendAl.html
As he himself quoted not so long ago ---
"Pinhead"
I hate Bill as much as anyone, but I can sorta see his point.
The first time I went to Sylvia's I was also struck by how nice and "civilized" everyone was. Then I realized it was because I was living in the East Village (this was back in the bad old days) and I was living surrounded by so many drugdealers and muggers and burglers etc that it had warped my perceptions. I had gone to a mixed high school and had middle-class black friends, but being constantly exposed to gansta culture had poisoned me.
I wondered why the black power structure didn't push the Sylvia's lifestyle instead of the gangsta lifestyle. It was like a secret world they hid from white people, while their music, movies, ads, etc pushed the "loud, rude, destructive" style.
But I also knew that no good comes of discussing racial issues in public, so I never mentioned it to anyone. No matter what you say, those who feel different will label you a "racist" and try to destroy you.
- More correct than you
All of you are racist.