In the latest in a long history of "interesting" statements, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly has compared The South Side of Chicago to Haiti. Here's the quote:

"And I'm going, I don't know how that's possible. If you've ever been to the South Side of Chicago, I mean, it's a disaster. Alright? It's like Haiti. it's like - I've been to Haiti a couple times, and I support some charities there, but Haiti just never gets better no matter how much money you put in there because they don't have a system."

I've never been a fan of Bill O'Reilly, especially after he spent an entire week campaigning heavily for me to be fired from Syracuse University. But I've come to understand O'Reilly's game, and to some extent, I can appreciate it for it's effectiveness. The man makes a lot of money because he earns it. He has gotten good at manipulating the fears and irrational thinking behind those who wish to turn the clock back on our nation to a time when only wealthy white men had a voice. Unfortunately for O'Reilly, those days are gone.

Even Bill O'Reilly isn't dumb enough to believe half the stuff he says. In many cases, he saves a pile of racially-offensive comments to spark fire under his visibility to promote the work he's doing. In this particular case, he is working to promote the silly tour that he and Glenn Beck are doing across the nation. But the truth is that none of us should pay attention to what these men have to say, since neither of them are sufficiently informed on any of the meaningful issues of our nation. Beck and O'Reilly, like the recovering drug addict Rush Limbaugh, are entertainers, and entertainers should not be guiding public policy.

Now, to quickly explain the reasoning (or lack thereof) behind O'Reilly's remarks, his comments about the South Side of Chicago and Haiti reflect a fundamental disrespect for the people in both areas. No, the South Side of Chicago is not like Haiti, we know that. O'Reilly, like most conservatives, seems to feel that government funding cannot improve American lives. But what O'Reilly forgets (as most conservatives do) is that the government has played a long and historic role in destroying black communities across the world, including Haiti and the South Side of Chicago. The South Side of Chicago is relatively poor because, for over 400 years, the government supported systemic policies to keep wealth out of the hands of black people, so there was no wealth to be passed from parent to child. These wealth differentials led to disparate tax bases between the inner city and suburbs of America, creating inferior public schools and economic infrastructure in areas like South Side Chicago. That's how the mess was created, but O'Reilly probably doesn't understand this because he is not very well-educated.

The point here is this: The government helped to create the problems of the South Side of Chicago, so it can play a role in solving those problems. People like O'Reilly simply represent ignorant manifestations of the same racist past that led to the creation of those problems in the first place. Fortunately for Bill, many of the power brokers in America think the way that he does, which is the foundation of white supremacy. Perhaps one day this might change.

The best thing you could ever do for Bill O'Reilly is pay attention to him and legitimate his viewpoints by listening. I haven't watched his show in years, not because he is a conservative, but because he is intellectually irrelevant.

To read about a woman in our community who has actually done something positive for the Haitian cause--rather than making needless comparisons--check out this Essence story of triumph and goodwill.



Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.