An Open Letter To Bill O'Reilly

An Open Letter To Bill O’Reilly

April 9, 2008
Dear Bill:

This letter is in reference to your April 7, 2008 show, when you implied that everyone who is black, who complains about racists, (who still exist in this country), and the racism that they practice are “race baiters”. Which I believe in your opinion, is someone who makes unfounded racist claims against white people.

You also implied that all of the people that these “race baiters” attack are completely innocent, and are not actively practicing racism and that “we”, (the race baiters), by doing so, are discouraging these white people, (who you have become the national spokesman for, and protector of), from having a healthy dialogue with black America, and that we are also insulting, humiliating, and in general, hurting these people’s itty bitty feelings.

Well Bill, I hate to tell you this, but I will, because apparently you do not know.

Those who sincerely want to maintain an open line of communication with people of other races are going to do so, no matter what anyone says about the negative reality that we as black people have experienced and continue to experience at the hands of white racist, that you claim no longer exist. And people who are not sincerely interested in establishing these quality relationships wont.

If they are upset by the fact that we black people have a genetic predisposition to detecting, identifying, and publicly defending ourselves against racists in this country, then I just got to say that the reason that they are so upset is because they have yet to deal with what America did, has done, and is still doing to the black race.

And as far as your black cohorts who agree with you are concerned, they have already made it to where they want to be, and have forgotten the racism that they experienced along the way. So because they have “made it”, they would rather deny that racism is a reality in this country.

I am all for establishing effective lines of communication and understanding between all members of the human race. However, this is very hard to do, when the people who you are trying to establish this with, have not yet dealt with the fact that they are the ones who created the problem in the first place.

You see, the fact that these very good white people that you spoke about on your show, who you say are so broken up by the fact that we “race baiters”, are constantly attacking them, proves to me that they have yet to compare being called a racist to the things that we experienced then, now, and in all probability, what we will experience in the future for a long time to come; especially if we do not remain vigilant, and sensitive to racist and the racism that they practice.

If being called a racist upsets these folks, then try being called nigger, darkie, spook, spade, boy, ape, coon gorilla, crocodile, and everything else except your name.

Try being snatched from your home and family, and taken to a foreign land, and made to work for nothing.

Try deciding to drown to be free, instead of living to be a slave.

Try watching your female companion being raped by slave masters, and being so powerless that you cannot do anything about it, and how about watching the same thing happen to your children.

Try having your manhood and your humanity taken away from you with every conversation that you have with a white American.

Try watching your family members and members of your community, (on the plantation), lynched, burned, spit on, urinated on, defecated on, and shot dead, as an example to the other slaves who might get the idea that they want to be free.

And it’s bad enough that this all occurred during slavery. But after slavery was “abolished”, America still refused to treat black people with the courtesy, respect, and consideration that all humans are entitled to by the creator.

This is not a fantasy; it is a matter of record. And what makes this so painful is that after all of this, institutions, business establishments, and the government, is still discriminating against black people. It is also important to note, how the government is currently making all of these major concessions, and trying to devise a plan to make sure that people who do not even belong in America, can be given all of the rights and benefits of people who do. This is a major slap in the face to the black race, since on paper the playing field is supposed to be leveled, but in reality, it really is not.

According to you, I could be classified as a “race baiter”. But when CNN did that job on you with the comments about Sylvia’s Restaurant, I spoke up for you, because I investigated the facts for myself, and found out that CNN had presented your statement completely out of context, to deliberately deceive people into thinking that you were something that you are not; a racist.

I did not disagree with what people were saying about you because you were white; I disagreed because you were judged unfairly. CNN took a positive complementary statement about black people, and completely turned it around to appear as if you were making a derogatory statement about black people instead.





Of the entire group of “Conservative”, commentators on TV, I do indeed enjoy your “No Spin Zone”, and I think you are pretty fair as far as conservatives go. Now correct me if I am wrong; but, doesn’t conservative mean that you want things to remain the same, and that where they are not the same, you would like to return to “the way things were”?

So does this mean that conservatives would like to return to the 1700 and 1800’s when the enslavement of human beings was legal, totally acceptable, (and as a matter of fact was encouraged) by America?

Is this what being a conservative means?

I am not trying to be funny. I just don’t understand people who want to leave things the same, no matter how wrong these things are.

Anyway! What I am trying to say is: that black people, (after all the inhumanities that we were subjected to), and continue to be subjected to; we really could care less about white America’s feeling being hurt by what we say about what they have done, and are doing to us.

And if you claim that it was not, or is not that bad, then my next questions to you are:

How long have you been a black man in America?

How long have you been a black woman in America?

Have you ever been a black man or woman in America?

I don’t understand how white people are always telling black people how they should, or should not feel, or what they should or should not say, when they have not been through what we have been through.

You see, you have not been with me when I meet with the racist at DORS, (Division Of Rehabilitative Services), or the RISE (Reach Independence Through Self Employment), program. These are state programs that receive federal money for the purpose of assisting disabled citizens to become self-sufficient. And to not be dependent on Social Security, which is what I have been fighting for, for over 4 years now.

I qualified for the business training programs, I was accepted into the programs, I passed the same business training classes that everyone else did, I followed the same rules as everyone else did, however at the end of the program, there was not 1 African American who received a grant to assist them with the set up of their businesses. However, there were 2 Caucasian males, who had received their grants several weeks before the class had even ended.



When I inquired about the reason for this, all I was told by the supervisor at DORS was that: “ They must have had something in place that you did not”.

What might this mysterious element be?

I would have to say that this is another one of those racist situations that you do not want us to talk about.

Well Bill! This is just not going to happen.

Not talking about racial problems or denying that they exist will not solve these problems for white people, and definitely not for black people.

It might serve white Americans who do not want to deal with the reality of what was and is being done to us, and the negative long-term generational effects that it has had on the black race. Because when a race of people see, hear, and experience things that human beings were not meant to see, hear or experience, the consequences cut so deep into the psyche, that the damage done is transmitted from generation to generation to generation.

So we refuse to ignore all of these things to please people who are uncomfortable with acknowledging the reality of what has, and is going on for black people in America.

Of course there are those who benefit from creating strife between the races, but I do not believe that even those people could continue to benefit from this, if there was no concrete foundation for it all.

As a matter of fact, I think that most black Americans would prefer that none of this ever took place, thereby eliminating the need for talking about it. But it did, and we do talk about it, and will continue to talk about it. We have too much to lose by letting our guards down.

Racism is real, and it is here. It is also just as detrimental now, as it was back then, to black Americans, and to society as a whole. And this is something that we just cannot afford to not talk about.

Sincerely,
Greg Coleman
President/CEO, G.R.C. Records, LLC.