So it finally happened. After several stories in the media commiserating the death of rapper Nipsey Hussle, a former gang member who was trying to turn around his old hood through investment and education, FOX News, the neo-fascist network decided to step in.
This was never going to end well. FOX News Channel (FNC) appeals to angry old white men, who long for the 1950s. To them, rap music, an art form which consists of young black men talking, not singing, represents everything they hate. This is not new. When Bill O’Reilly was on FNC, he seemed to have a personal vendetta against hip hop. He often attacked rap stars like P. Diddy and once caused Ludacris to lose an endorsement deal with Pepsi.
O’Reilly is long gone, but there are several junior fascists vying for his title. One of them is Laura Ingraham, a second-generation neo-Nazi. Last week she attempted to tackle Nipsey Hussle death by laughing at his song “F**k Donald Trump.” She mocked Hussle’s song and pointed out how inaccurate it was. Yes, she laughed at a dead man.
This is shocking but not surprising. As I have written before, Ingraham has a long history of racially insensitive comments. Nowadays, she spouts openly white nationalist rhetoric such as claiming mass immigration was changing the culture for the worse.
Several hip hop stars were so offended by Ingraham’s comments that they launched a campaign to get her fired.
Of course, if Ingraham worked for a real network, she would have been out of a job a long time ago. No other network would tolerate an anchor making racist comments or mocking a dead man. But FOX News is not a real network. It exists in bizarro world, where all kinds of abominable behavior are tolerated.
O’Reilly sexually harassed women for more than 10 years, before FNC finally decided to ax him during the 2016 sex scandal. Today, Tucker Carlson rivals Ingraham in promoting white nationalism. At this stage, the only thing he hasn’t done is perform a Nazi salute or burn a cross on set.
In the wake of the 2016 sex scandal, Lachlan and James Murdoch, who took over the network from their father Rupert, have promised to change things but I don’t see any difference. FOX News still promotes white nationalism and is openly hostile to people of color.
This point was recently backed up by former FNC employee Eboni K. Williams. During an interview on “The Breakfast Show,” she said white nationalism was baked into FOX News’ DNA.
“To understand Fox News you have to understand… Roger Ailes. He is the founder and visionary behind Fox News,” said Williams. “[In Ailes’] book, this man plainly — in plain sight, says he is forming a network to speak to one thing and one thing only: the demonizing of the other.”
So don’t expect FOX News to fire Ingraham. They’ve tolerated her despicable behavior this long. Insulting a dead black man is what Ingraham calls Tuesday.
This story was first published on Medium.