Color Of Change Starts Petition To Get Fox News To Dump Fox "Business" Host Bolling For Racial Comments

Dear ColorOfChange.org member,

"It's not first time he's had a hoodlum in the hizzouse."

That's what Fox Business host Eric Bolling said on Friday about President Obama's meeting at the White House with the President of Gabon, Ali Bongo, while photoshopping a gold tooth onto the man's image. Then a photo of popular hip-hop artist Common, who participated in a White House poetry event last month (and was later smeared by Fox), appeared on-screen .¹

It's just the latest from Bolling, who last month accused President Obama of "chugging a few forties" in Ireland.²Bolling's attacks are part of a long history of racially-coded language and stereotypes that Fox uses to create a negative perception of the president.

Please join us in demanding that Roger Alies Chariman of Fox News and Fox Business fire Bolling. If enough of us speak out, it will ensure that Fox's leaders face some public accountability for its consistent race-baiting. It only takes a moment:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/bolling

Fox Business and Fox News continue to be safe havens for commentators who try to whip up race-based fears and peddle racial stereotypes as hard news.

President Ali Bongo currently holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council and was visiting the White House on official business. While Bongo has a troubling human rights record, past U.S. presidents have met with problematic figures for diplomatic reasons or to get them to change their behavior. Hip hop artist Common is a well-educated cultural and charitable ambassador and a talented musician. We doubt that Fox would ever have referred to the White House as a “hizzouse” while George W. Bush, Bill Clinton or any other president resided there.

But on Friday, Bolling seized an opportunity to race-bait. He opened the segment by asking, "So what's with all the hoods in the hizzy?" Later, when a guest challenged him, asking why Bolling was treating the meeting as a social event rather than an official meeting between two heads of state, Bolling said, "How do you know what they did? Maybe they did have s'mores and watch movies. Maybe they watched a basketball game." ³

Such obvious promotion of racial stereotypes is nothing new at Fox.^4,5 In fact, it's what made Glenn Beck's career at Fox News before he took things too far⁶ — a move that eventually cost him more than 300 advertisers and his 5pm show on the network. Beck will leave this coveted time slot vacant at the end of this month, and some observers believe Bolling's over-the-top race-baiting last week was an audition for Beck's spot — his attempt to show Ailes and other executives at Fox that he's up to the challenge of stoking Fox viewers' anger at President Obama in a way fitting of Beck's legacy.⁷

Please join us in demanding that Fox Business Chairman Roger Ailes fire Eric Bolling. Ailes might not care what we think — but he has to care about Fox's public image. If Ailes fires Bolling, it's a step towards accountability. If he refuses, it will make it abundantly clear to the public and the media that stoking racial division is part of Fox's agenda.

Please join us by clicking the link below. And when you do, please ask your family and friends to do the same:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/bolling

Thanks and Peace,

-- Rashad, James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Matt, Natasha, and the rest of the ColorOfchange.org team
June 18th, 2011

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References:

1. "Fox's Eric Bolling: Obama Is Hosting "Hoodlum[s]" In "The Hizzouse"," Media Matters, 6-11-2011
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201106110002

2. "Bolling: Obama Was "Chugging A Few 40's" Instead Of Responding To Joplin Disaster," Media Matters, 5-24-2011
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201105240034

3. See reference 1

4. "Tell CNN: Stop echoing Fox's race-baiting," ColorOfChange.org, 7-10-2010
http://orig.colorofchange.org/cnnfox/message.html

5. "An overview: Fox News and its problem with African-Americans," ColorOfChange.org
http://orig.colorofchange.org/fox/summary.html

6. "Call on advertisers to drop sponsorship of Glenn Beck," ColorOfChange.org, 7-30-09
http://orig.colorofchange.org/beck/message.html

7. "Is Race Baiting Part of Eric Bolling’s Fox News Audition?," Media Matters, 6-13-2011
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201106130006

Perfect Example Of An Insincere Apology: Featuring Eric Bolling Of Fox News

I chose this photo of Eric Bolling because of the caption that attacks MSNBC talk show host Ed Schultz. When Schultz made offensive comments about right-wing radio talk personality Laura Ingraham, he offered a sincere apology. He was truly sorry. Eric Bolling is sorry as a human being, but he is not sorry for the racially offensive comments he made in reference to President Barack Obama.

Fox News has a long and well-documented history of hosts and guests making hostile and offensive comments about people of color.

So, when the Eric Bolling (who seems to be auditioning to replace Glenn Beck) started making racially offensive comments about black people it was hardly a big surprise. If he is indeed sort of auditioning for the Glenn Beck role then this kind of racially offensive mentality would be totally expected, if not encouraged.

I am going to start with his apology expressed by this guy Bolling, first:

One editorial note. On Friday, we did a story about the president meeting with the president of Gabon. We got a little fast and loose with the language, and we know it's been interpreted as being disrespectful, and for that, I'm sorry. We did go a bit too far.

"Interpreted as disrespectful" sounds a lot more benign than calling it what it was, in my opinion: "racist." That alone should be indicative of a lack of sincerity.

It almost sounds like he is sorry it is being (not been) interpreted as disrespectful. Does this guy have a heart or a conscience in his body? This man seems as an arctic icecap.

First off, why is this man discussing this topic and using such offensive language on the so-called Fox Business channel?

Now the comments expressed by Bolling. This is an excerpt from News Hounds:

In other words, Bolling is not apologizing for using such offensive language as "It's not the first time (Obama has) had a hoodlum in the hizzouse" or posting a photo of Gabon’s leader with a shining tooth or the repeated use of a banner saying, "Hoods in the House." No, he's apologizing for how that language has been interpreted.

You think he would have said this about George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush or even Bill Clinton? There is no way he would have said this about a white president.

He is flat out not sorry for what he said. It was not his first time making offensive comments and it will not be his last time. He is almost certainly making his case to replace Beck as the host of one of the Fox News hours of hate.

Look, this is a weak, WEAK "apology" from Bolling. It is completely insincere and sounds every bit the part of a man forced to apologize for something he is not the least bit sorry about.