I'm surprised that anyone is surprised that o'reilly was surprised

[tularetom]

that black people ate their meals in a dignified manner.

How many black people do you think he's ever personally known? Or even met in some other arena than his stupid show?

Everything he knows about blacks he learned from stereotypes portrayed in pop culture 40 years ago.

Or from his parents who probably never knew any black people either.

[rodeodance]

1. not surprized so much as just taken back again how stupid he is-stupid to say it aloud given

that he is a celebrity!

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. I saw a tiny clip of something about Falafel this morning. What is it all about?

I take it he made (yet again :eyes: ) some kind of racially insensitive remarks. Why is this suddenly news?

Added Never mind; found the answer to my question in KO's WPITW clip from last night.

[NOLALady]

3. I'm always surprised by that kind of stupidity.

I have not met any Africans, nor Swedes. Yet, I do not assume that they act like animals in a restaurant or anywhere else for that matter.
The only Africans that I saw in movies as a kid were portrayed as cannibals. But, I have never feared being eaten if I went to an African restaurant.

[Virginia Dare]

4. Was there ever a stereotype of black people being messy eaters?

I missed it if there was. I think he's just making shit up myself.

I'm surprised at the shocked reaction too though. There is no depth to his ignorance I'm convinced.

[NOLALady]

6. When I was young, I overheard a conversation from

some military families. They laughed about how whites (from other parts of the country) were surprised that they used utensils. They also joked about how some whites looked for their tails. I thought they were embellishing the tail part. I found out later that some really did believe black folk had tails.

I am from the deep South. The white people that I knew weren't that stupid. Racist probably, but not so stupid as to believe we had tails and we ate with our hands.

[Virginia Dare]

7. There are people out there who will believe some pretty shocking stuff..

but to me, this just isn't a "mainstream" view by any stretch of the imagination.

I mean, I can possibly understand somebody being raised out in the back woods and never having been exposed to people of other races, but seriously, O'Reilly actually took pause in the fact that black people knew how to act in a restaurant????

This is just so over the top for a public figure to admit this.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Hell, he never even watched 'Cosby'. That's TOO out of it.

I would think even someone who got all his news from TV **commercials** would know better.

But I appreciate your sentiment. He certainly has no excuse for being so clueless, unless he was raised in near-total isolation.