black…MYstory

Major props to the folks over at News Hounds. They really stay on top of the madness at Fox News. In particular, I want to thank them for picking up on something I noticed last week, too.

On Friday, I posted a story about Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes dredging up a story from last year, solely for the purpose of sensationalism. The story revolves around the comments of a former North Carolina State professor who, at a Hurricane Katrina forum, spoke of exterminating all white people to allow for black folks to move forward. Obviously, this went nowhere and, by and large, you don’t have black folks out plotting anything of the like.

But, as I stated then, to avoid dealing with political issues because Republicans are not the flavor of the month anymore, Fox News, in general, and Hannity & Colmes, in particular, have taken the low road. Suddenly, this story about the isolated comments of one man has turned into a tirade against racism. Actually, I would argue it’s more about stoking white fears of annihilation at the hands of black folks.

Needless to say, rather than having a meaningful dialogue on race, it’s easier for Hannity and Colmes to turn the issue into a circus that has taken up three nights’ air time.

For the third night in a row last night, 12/6/06, Hannity & Colmes harped on the year-old non-story of a no-account black man’s statement that whites should be exterminated. Kamau Kambon is a bookstore owner and, supposedly, a former college instructor who made a horrible statement on a 2005 panel about media coverage of Katrina. Kambon no longer teaches. He owns a bookstore in North Carolina and has stayed out of the media since his controversial remarks. But Hannity & Colmes has done everything to hype the story and sensationalize the “threat” of white genocide and black racism. Kambon’s comments have received far more Hannity & Colmes airtime and webspace than the tragic slaying of African-American Sean Bell, the unarmed bridegroom who died in a hail of NYPD bullets on November 25.

Sean Hannity shouted accusations of “racial politics” at African-American activisits during the two discussions he deigned to participate in regarding the Bell shooting. As I wrote last week, Hannity could have provided a venue for dialogue and made an attempt to promote calm and harmony after such a tragedy. Instead, he used his bullyboy pulpit to fan the flames of hostility. But now, accusing blacks of racism is not enough. The ante has been upped to cries about white extermination, despite the fact that Kambon made no indication he intended to carry out his wishes and nobody seems to have stepped up to endorse them, much less assist in their execution. Nevertheless, Kambon has now been the subject of three Hannity & Colmes “debates” in as many nights.

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