Geraldo Rivera once, long ago in about 1972, was a decent investigative reporter.
Now Faux seems to be zapping his brain so that he can no longer speak intelligently. He was recently a guest on HuffPost Live, a 24-hour streaming channel which, frankly, must be hard up for interviewees. I have transcribed this interview verbatim here, and it's available
on YouTube if you would like to watch it (you probably wouldn't).
Host: You talk about liberals and conservatives as if they were sort of equally ideologically in self-contained camps. Do you fit into either one of those?
GR: No. I am a militant moderate.
Bwah-hah-hah-hah! Geraldo is so conservative it hurts.
Literally. Such as when he claimed Trayvon was responsible for his own death because of "thugwear" or Michael Brown looked "menacing". Both of these claims potentially polluted the jury pools, since he made them before the beginning of the trial or grand jury presentation, respectively.
But back to the HuffPost interview:
I borrow from both. For instance, I am, as I've mentioned, uh, immigration reform, gay marriage, and abortion are all things that, that's why I voted for Barack Obama three times.
Geraldo is a
Republican who lives in New Jersey. How did he vote for Barack Obama three times?
OMG, Barack Obama has secretly been President for three terms! Way to let the cat out of the bag, Geraldo. It was supposed to be our secret; no one was supposed to know. We won't be whispering in your ear about Democratic coups any more, Geraldo. You're dead to us.
On the other hand, I, and uh, and I hate Benghazi, that Benghazi has become pornographic, I think, the way they flog the Benghazi nonscandal, I think it's really very unfortunate on the right-hand side.
True for once, but I'm sure it's only so he can achieve a standard of "fair and balanced" as taught to him by Faux.
Please follow me below the orange cloud of tangled brain cells for the worst of the Rivera rant.
Uh, but I think that; for instance, hip hop. Hip hop has done more damage to black and brown people than racism in the last 10 years.
O-oh-ka-a-y.... Really? So does that mean that hip hop is responsible for violence and death in the black and brown communities? Well, a Google search on hip hop violence statistics found this:
As Hip-Hop Became More Popular, Crime Dropped. Thanks, Hip-Hop!
What about individual rappers? Any of them kill people? Well yes, according to The Complete List of Rappers Who've Been in Prison, there are a few. On the other hand, let's see if there are any murderous rappers caught in the act on video:
No rappers here.
Not
here.
Not
here either.
Huh. People are dying at the hands of cops, not rappers. According to
Mother Jones, numbers are hard to come by, but they estimate about 100 black people are killed by white cops every year. Rappers are going to have to become a lot more brutal to beat those statistics.
So whatever is Geraldo talking about?
When you, when you find the youngster, a Puerto Rican from the South Bronx or a black kid from Harlem who has succeeded in life other than being the 1/10th of 1/10th of 1% that make it in the music business, that has been a success in life walking around with his pants around his ass, and with the, you know, visible tattoos or, you know, it is, this whole ethos.
It is rather odd that Geraldo is stereotyping a Puerto Rican, since his father was Puerto Rican. The pot calling the kettle brown, you might say.
Where exactly does Geraldo wear his pants? That brings up a picture that I don't want to envision too much. But I do wear my pants around my a$$, and most people I know do likewise. Just sayin'.
And I love Russell Simmons, he's a dear friend of mine and I admire his business acumen. At some point, those guys have to cop to the fact that, by encouraging this distinctive culture that is removed from the mainstream, they have encouraged people to be so different from the mainstream that they can't participate other than, you know, the racks and the garment center and those entry level jobs; and I lament it, I really do, I think that it has been very destructive culturally.
Black and brown people have jobs with
the racks? Really? Can I get one of those jobs? Can I put Geraldo on one?
Just kidding. Maybe.
There was a famous experiment conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research that sent out resumes with white versus black, male versus female names, and found that people with "white" names received 50% more callbacks for interviews than people with "black" names (Emily and Greg versus Lakisha and Jamal). Geraldo should know about this experiment. The resumes sent out included no photos, no fashion statements, just different names. Otherwise exactly the same resumes. A 50% difference. Suddenly it doesn't seem like appearance is the thing that makes it difficult for blacks to get hired for good jobs.
Of course hip hop has sold hundreds of millions of records in the United States; and its fans include President Barack Obama, who has attained a bit better than an entry-level job. But don't let facts get in the way. Sure, continue to let loose with those wildly fact-free theories.
Naturally, the interview concludes in typical interviewer-lets-him-off-the-hook style:
Host (seems taken aback for a moment): Okay, there are a lot of directions I can go there, but I don't want to go down an entire racial hole, because there are a lot of potential explanations for why there is alienation of minority communities in the absence of hip hop.
GR: Oh yeah, of course there is, but I think that fashion plays a part.
Unfortunately the video ended there and I could not find what the host said next, even on HuffPost's own Web site. But presumably they moved onto a different topic or further questions would have been included.
Next time, HuffPost hosts, go ahead, please, go down that "entire racial hole". There are plenty of good tough questions that would either further illuminate how racist this all is or cause Geraldo to walk it back further. America wants answers. What can we do to push interviewers into asking the tough questions?? Please feel free to suggest solutions in the Comments.
Now let's put this all together. According to Geraldo, people cluelessly dress in imitation of their favorite singers when going for job interviews. So I assume he would say the same about other genres. Country music, for example. I assume he would agree with the below. Because he wouldn't confine such remarks only to people who are fans of one kind of music that "encourages a culture outside the mainstream," would he? He wouldn't think that black or brown people can't differentiate between music and real life, but white people can so differentiate, would he?
Of course, both types of music are in fact quite mainstream, but why let facts get in the way of a convenient stereotype?
Keith Urban
Miranda Lambert
Country music has done the most damage to rural white people in the last 10 years. When you find the youngster, a German from Kansas or a Scot from Appalachia who has succeeded in life other than being the 1/10th of 1/10th of 1% that make it in the music business, that has been a success in life walking around with his faded torn jeans and his cowboy hat, and, with the, you know, visible tattoos, you know, it is, this whole ethos. And I love Blake Shelton, he's a dear friend of mine and I admire his business acumen. At some point, those guys have to cop to the fact that, by encouraging this distinctive culture that is removed from the mainstream, they have encouraged people to be so different from the mainstream that they can't participate other than, you know, the tobacco fields and the fast food joints and those entry level jobs; and I lament it, I really do, I think that it has been very destructive culturally.
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