Accusations against Bill O'Reilly - 9.26.2007.1

Why does the left like to use racism like a weapon? I’m so tired of it. It’s aggravating. If you have not noticed it yet, there has been a lot of media stating that Mr. Bill O’Reilly is a racist. They state that his commentary from his radio show was racist.

"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” he said. "And there wasn't any kind of craziness at all."

That is the main quote. It is referring to a dinner at Sylvia’s, a famous restaurant in Harlem, NY. Something that needs to be understood at the outset. The dinner was with Mr. O’Reilly and Rev. Al Sharpton.

I want that to be clear because if this was really what was going on, I would expect that either Rev. Sharpton, who is no shy wall-flower, or Mr. Juan Williams would have called Mr. O’Reilly out on the matter. Both have the ability to make national press conferences and easily would be able to comment on this in no time at all. Considering the historical matters that Rev. Sharpton usually covers, this would have been the first thing he would have talked about upon leaving Sylvia’s.

The quote comes out of context from a discussion on racism on Mr. O’Reilly’s radio program. When the program aired, over a day ago, on reportedly 400 stations there were no complaints. Mr. Juan Williams was on air as the comment was made, in context of how the media often portrays African Americans as simply thugs and rappers, and this influences what some Americans think we are like. I’d say that the media influences how the world views us.

Yet, CNN, which was given the opportunity to review the actual conversation, went and continued to state that Mr. O’Reilly was a racist. The internet has picked up the ball and run with it.

Obviously, left-leaning bloggers and websites constantly find Mr. O’Reilly to be a huge target and oppose everything he says, so there is no surprise in their reaction. Others that have not seen anything other than the claims of his racism accept this news without question. I did not.

I have said before that I agree with Mr. O’Reilly on several issues. I feel that he is basically fair in his opinions. His desire to protect children is unquestionable, his belief in a balanced legal system is prominent, and his views against criminal illegal aliens match my own.

Continued in part 2...

Harlem's musical loss is ours as well

If I ask you to name a choir, what names come to mind? Vienna Boys Choir, Brooklyn Tabernacle and the Boys Choir of Harlem come to my mind. Of course, Im from the city and so I may be a bit jaded. Still here is no question of the fame of the Boys choir of Harlem. A Google search of the word choir has them come up in position 4. That says a lot, and that is before the Vienna Choir which is older [started in 1498]. Some may not be aware how often they hear the Choir’s work, but it has been in the soundtracks of Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, and Glory to name a few.

So why am I thinking of choir music today? It’s not because I’ve been listening to chamber music lately (which is quite nice in a live performance), but because of NYC officials. The City seems determined to kick the choir out of its current space, effectively causing harm to this institution that has existed since 1968. They are accused of possibly not paying music staff, do not have reliable tour dates and are in debt 5 million dollars. Oh, I should mention that they are on property that can generate $550,000 a year. So the city is willing to just shut the Boys Choir of Harlem out of it rehearsal space.

Let me give you some insight, that may or may not apply, as I recall it. As a native NYC I recall the decades that the city allowed Harlem to be a drug-infested and dangerous place. Everyone knew what streets you could go to, day or night, to get whichever drug you wanted. Police enforcement of laws were laughable. Rats the size of small dogs or large cats ran around from abandoned brownstone to brownstone. It was so bad, that in 1977, according to an article by Ms. Julia Vitullo-Martin on August 3, 2003, “an entire house could be bought for $5,000.” In 2003 a brownstone sold for $2.5 million and 1 million dollar+ sales are common today.

It took roughly 50 years for Harlem to go from the Cotton Club to a literal rathole. Then after a major and historic black-owned bank (I apologize but I forgot the name, this being a ~20 year old event) was forced to liquidate before Mr. Bill Cosby and others could provide funds to guarantee its survival [I have searched for 8 hours in the last couple of days and have not found one reference to this roughly 1983 news occurrence, yet it was national media at the time], numerous other banks in the city began to give loans out to buy houses. This was the 90's and the city started to develop the abandoned and worthless land. Businesses and Yuppies (many brokers as I recall) who could get approved, as opposed to the locals who never had the chance nor could ever qualify in the past, started buying like sharks in a frenzy. Had I the money I would have done so too. It was obvious that the prices would soon soar.

I say all that because again it seems to me that rather than working the situation the City is looking for the money. The fame of the choir, and its good work seems not to be as valuable as the money the buildings they use can generate. This is the conclusion I get.

Though no January 2006 or later appearance dates are available for the choir (no surprise since they may not have a place to operate from after the 31st) dates prior to that for last year are easily found on their website. So to claim that the tour dates have been unreliable could be a stretch. It is stated via the Harlem choir’s website that they have 100% college acceptance. Attendance is 94%, the number of kids passing is 95%. Statewide tests for math and reading show 84% and 79% of the students (respective) are at or above grade level. All of this and only 125 students are actually in the choir. How many other schools can boast such achievements? How many inner city schools that cater to mostly Black African American, Hispanic and other minority can say anything close to that? It wasn’t my high school, where I estimate roughly 15% were accepted into non-city colleges, 25% if you include them. [That was roughly 20 years ago in a better time for students and Black African American youth, I graduated 6th in my class... I had a decent school, but there can be no comparison to the Harlem Choir.]

As Thomas Carlyle says “Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite.” I agree with that, and as I previously stated on how AOL is restricting musical expression (in my opinion) the City is doing so and worse for the most petty of reasons, money. Expanding the minds of the youth, especially the Black African American, Hispanic and minority youth that need to be exposed to more than just the inner city, is essential. Any culture or governmental entity that restricts or damages that is a failure and dangerous in my mind. This is especially true when other alternatives can be found. Half a million dollars is not worth the price of a musical note, nor is it even close to the value of an educated and broadly influenced mind.

Let’s apply my rule used for commercials [from my post Burger King ad], if this was happening to the Vienna Boys Choir would the reaction be the same?

This is what I think, what do you think?