Many bigots do not realize how racism influences their view of the world. Even media personalities with influential television and radio shows and popular books, who think they are informed on race relations, often spew opinions that reveal their intolerance of other groups.
Others are aware that their personal views could be considered racist and so take measures to disguise their bias and avoid public backlash. To pull the sheet off some of these media personalities, we have compiled a list of 10 of the most covert racial bigots on television.
Bill O’Reilly is a very tactical, in-the-closet bigot, who seems to have low tolerance for people who look and dress differently from him. He blames Trayvon Martin for his own death, saying the reason the unarmed Florida teenager was shot to death by George Zimmerman is “because he looked a certain way, and it wasn’t based on skin color.”
On his Fox News television show The O’Reilly Factor, he said to former Congressman Allen West, “If Trayvon Martin had been wearing a jacket, like you are and a tie, Mr. West, this evening, I don’t think George Zimmerman would’ve had any problem. But he was wearing a hoodie and he looked a certain way, and that way is how gangstas look. And therefore he got attention.”
Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh is a very outspoken racial bigot, probably the most vocal of them all. On June 4, 2009, a few months after President Barack Obama’s inauguration, Limbaugh predicted “angry” minorities will use their newfound “power” to enact retribution on whites. Limbaugh’s rhetoric is a prime example of the fostering of white fear that has crippled race relations in America.
