Bill O'Reilly, right from the jump, was all in with his ignorance of not only American pop culture but of what it means to be an icon amongst black Americans.
O'Reilly's mention of the statement that one "cant' choose one's family" is rather odd within the context of this entire discussion. By default, he seems to think that the entire Jackson bloodline is either not deserving of him or that they are somehow lesser creatures than what Jackson deserved. Either way, it's a very perculiar point to make.
Not only that, but just after claiming that he doesn't want to intrude on their grief and their loss, he jumps right in and intrudes.
Not only that, but his attempts to marginalize Jackson as someone of irrelevance to the black community will go down in his personal history on Fox"News" as yet another signifier that O'Reilly hold more contempt and abject hatred for the black community in America than most realize.
In discussing Jackson and his legacy with Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, O'Reilly essentially told the black community who they can and can't look up to:
O’REILLY: Okay, then why is he being held up by the African-American community as a pillar of black America when he blanches his skin? [...]
But answer me this, if he is such a black American icon, why did he have his kids with white men?
HILL: That’s a personal matter. That doesn’t make him less black. There’s no blackness meter here. You don’t become less black when you have a white kid.
O’REILLY: You don’t become an African-American icon when you do something like that.
HILL: No, you become an African-American icon for producing the greatest music and being the greatest entertainer ever for being extraordinary humanitarian and for.
O’REILLY: No. You just become an American icon for that, not a black American icon. [...]
This sould come as no suprise, as Bill O'Reilly has multiple issues with blacks in America. Where it is a restaurant that is owned and operated by blacks on down to the history of blacks in America, O'Reilly's ignorance and racist standpoints are no longer shocking.
Naturally, being the megalomaniac that he is, he would automatically point to his massive ratings as a signifier that those people agree with him. To this, I would have to disagree with. High ratings do not equal accurate reporting. Also, people love to watch things that are on par with a train wreck. Who says that everyone that watches O'Reilly does so because they adore him? O'Reilly does, and he's wrong.
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