Comments on: If A Black Man Screams Incomprehensibly At White People, Is It News?

By: Nota Bene #74: The Return of Junkie Einstein | Scholars and Rogues

Nota Bene #74: The Return of Junkie Einstein | Scholars and Rogues — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:58:41 +0000

[...] day soon there will be a cable news anchor that terrifies white people so much that they will tune in every night like they are going to see a Saw movie” … Prince Charles to “consumerist [...]

By: Scholars and Rogues » The return of Junkie Einstein: Nota Bene for 13 July 2009

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:46:52 +0000

By: Elie Mystal

Elie Mystal — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:24:21 +0000

Funny, we went through this same things with basketball players. For a while, everybody was trying to be Magic or Jordan, or Grant Hill in the media. When Charles Barkley came along he got put in his own special category (a lot like Andrea’s point about Petey Greene). Soon we’ll have a black anchor that is like Allen Iverson, and he’ll take an immense amount of crap:

“We’re talkiin’ about rehearsal. Rehearsal. Not the news. Not “the news!” but rehearsal. Rehearsal. Man. Rehearsal.”

But on his shoulders a town like Boston will learn to love an objectively terrifying man like Kevin Garnett.

By: rockyinlaw

rockyinlaw — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:36:55 +0000

Mr Mystal: You were GREAT in that Fox video! Yah, you seemed to be charged up, but it is obvious that you are funny, you know your stuff, and you have a point of view that is interesting and thought provoking. I get so annoyed with the somnambulistic monotones of the usual talking head. You are a welcome change! Don’t give up!!! I’d LOVE to see more … But please don’t be another B. O’R … yek.

By: libtree09

libtree09 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:46:59 +0000

Here’s a white nightmare: Spike. Lee. in front of Camera.

By: davecullen

davecullen — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:00:08 +0000

Damn. I had not noticed, but can’t deny. The gap is freaking obvious once you point it out.

Sad. Don Lemon, for example, is so ingratiating and appears even dumber than the average newsmodel. How painful if that’s the model of what the nets are looking for in an acceptable black man.

(I wonder what the acceptable gayguy is. Oh, wait, I know that one: a closeted anchor. Thanks, Anderson.)

The only upside is the nets saving both black and white America from the embarrassment of other Bill O’. Thank God for small favors. But I agree with the thesis: suffering through one more cable”news” whacko is less bad than the quiet message the barrier transmits. Sad, but true.

By: P.J. Tobia

P.J. Tobia — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:27:22 +0000

You. Are. A. Funny! Man. And spot on about Stephen A.

When I was a reporter in Nashville, we actually did have a black Bill O. His name was Rev. T.J. Graham and he had the morning slot at WVOL, the nation’s oldest historically black radio station (Oprah got her start there.) You shoulda’ heard him get all worked up about immigrants. He actually was very friendly in person, but doesn’t, um, have the face for TV.

By: Elie Mystal

Elie Mystal — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:39:10 +0000

Oh yeah! I saw the Don Cheadle movie about this guy.

Still, I’d hope that his natural successor would be a dude without a criminal record. It’ll just make things easier.

By: andreaitis

andreaitis — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:02:18 +0000

In search of a new Petey Greene, perhaps? Petey Greene broke barriers again and again. Watch as he interviews Howard Stern in the early 80s (one of Stern’s first television appearances):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCFN3RrfaUk

By: Coates Bateman

Coates Bateman — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:26:18 +0000

Perhaps no more Bill Os — white or black — would be a good thing. (But your point is taken.)