MSNBC Shake-Up Called for After Host's Racial Remarks Against Black Conservatives
Washington, D.C. - Despite MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell's alleged regrets about making race-tinged remark about Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, the nature of the offense and the double-standard regarding liberal hosts has a member of the Project 21 black leadership network is calling for a shake-up at a network known for it's antipathy for anything right-of-center.
"MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell has joined a long line of liberal talking heads who make racist statements on the air when it comes to black conservatives, only to hear a deafening silence from the rest of the national media and the civil rights establishment," said Project 21's Jerome Hudson. "It's time for that to change."
On the October 5 edition of his new "The Last Word" program, McDonnell read a scripted commentary about Steele, who is black, and his party's relations with the tea party movement. O'Donnell said, "Steele is dancing as fast as he can trying to charm independent voters while never losing sight of his real master and paycheck provider." In one statement, O'Donnell stirred up analogies of both slavery and minstrel shows.
"Imagine what would happen if Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity derided a black person's support for the liberal agenda as 'dancing for his master'? Nothing could save them from the onslaught of criticism," added Project 21's Hudson. "Their show would quickly disappear from the Fox News Channel, just like when John Gibson was booted from his show after he made improper remarks about the late Heath Ledger. Conservatives as a whole would not hear the end of it."
Hudson added: "This is a clear double-standard, and it's gone too far. Something must be done. Let this be a catalyst. It's time for the executives at MSNBC and the other news channels to step up and tell the chattering class to be both objective and civil."
Project 21, a leading voice of black conservatives since 1992, is sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research (http://www.nationalcenter.org).
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