S. Samuel
Controversial Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is back to his usual politics but instead of bashing hip-hop's biggest stars, he has asked them to unite and help spark change in troubled cities like Chicago.
Along with targeting hip-hop, O’Reilly used an open Thursday (July 25) column to question President Barack Obama‘s politics.
“President Obama and our leaders in Washington surely understand the root of the black crime problem. So do self-appointed civil rights leaders like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. But they rarely discuss the matter in public. That might anger their constituency and be bad for business. When was the last time you saw a demonstration discouraging young black girls from getting pregnant outside of marriage? When was the last time the President held a press conference on the issue? When was the last time we saw the federal government put out a public service ad encouraging children to reject drugs and violence? Maybe Jay Z could do such an ad. How about Lil Wayne? Kanye West? These guys make millions rapping about dubious behavior. Sometimes they glamorize it. So why don’t they lead the charge to improve things on the south side of Chicago and other places under siege?” (Bill’s Column)
The outspoken 63-year-old also referenced the recent acquittal of former Florida neighborhood watch worker George Zimmerman.
“There was plenty of outrage in the black precincts over the Zimmerman verdict. Understandable. But there is little national anger over thousands of African-Americans being gunned down in the streets by out-of-control young men, the vast majority of them black. Until the American leadership begins to encourage the return of the traditional black family, the enormous problems of black poverty and crime will continue. And the fear of young black men will continue. And the death of innocents will continue. Maybe Jay Z can rap about that.” (Bill’s Column)
Last year, Bill sent tensions across the Internet after saying rap mogul Diddy’s son should not accept a sports scholarship due to his family’s wealth.
O’Reilly: “I applaud Justin Combs, number one. I mean, the kid is smart, the kid is a good athlete, the kid’s stayed out of trouble — he could be a crazy guy like so many celebrity daughters and sons are. He’s not. So we gotta give him all the credit in the world. However, his father, Diddy — all right, once the scholarship is granted, once it was granted, and it goes in the records that the kid earned it — should’ve said, you know what, we’re not gonna take it. We’re gonna give it to another kid, because there only are a certain amount of scholarships, even though they’re corporate paid, they are limited, so they should’ve stepped back, paid their own way and let another kid have the scholarship.” (Orlando Sentinel)
Atlanta rap star Ludacris previously revealed a face-to-face run-in with O’Reilly years after getting Pepsi to drop him as a sponsor.
“Long story short, there’s nothing he could do. I think he talks about certain people but he never thinks he’s going to meet these people in person, let alone the type of events and the circles that he’s in, that these rappers are sometimes going to be in those same circles,” Luda said in an interview, revealing he saw O’Reilly at a White House event. “He started talking to me about he heard about a lot of the charity work I’ve done with the Ludacris Foundation. This is how he eased into it. He was like, ‘Yeah man, I hear you’ve done good work and I think that maybe I should make a donation to your foundation.’ This is how he got me to calm down. I’m like, ‘You want to make a donation?’ I was like, ‘Well what do I need to do to make that happen immediately, like ASAP?’ … I can’t let everybody know how much the donation was, but at the end of the day, after all of this craziness, Bill O’Reilly ended up writing a check to me to my foundation after approaching him in person.” (“Sway In The Morning”)
