During Sunday’s women’s U.S. Open final match, Serena Williams had words for chair umpire Eva Asderaki after she had called a code violation on the tennis star. This caused Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson to weigh in with her "wisdom".
Since when has the term "hater" had any racial connotations? It never has, but I suspect Gretchen knew this all along. Whether they're calling President Obama's 50th birthday celebration a "hip-hop BBQ", accusing him of "chugging 40s" in Ireland, or Gretchen's take on the Serena Williams rant, many at Fox (including their website Fox Nation) have demonstrated a pattern of playing divisive tactics when it comes to race. Although it's shoddy journalism, it pays off for Fox because their typical follower buys into it without question.
Besides Gretchen's race-baiting, here are some other things that caught my attention during the clip:
1. When Gretchen claimed that a couple of years ago Serena "almost took the ball and put it down the throat of a line ref", she is flat out lying. This is what really happened. Threatening to do something isn't the same as almost doing something. Besides, who really believes Serena was going to take a tennis ball and actually shove it down that woman's throat?!
2. Brian Kilmeade was absolutely right when he shot down Gretchen's claim that Serena's outburst was an example of the "entitlement generation" in today's society. When you're getting schooled by Brian, you're in bad shape.
3. Considering that Gretchen lies and distorts regularly on national TV, she's in no position to call out Serena Williams for setting a bad example for kids.
There is a worthwhile debate that can come from Serena's recent tirade and that's whether or not a race/gender double standard exists when it comes to how we view athletes who go off during the heat of battle. For example, how often have the folks at Fox "News" talked about the on-court behavior of Andy Roddick? But hey, why should Fox launch a thoughtful discussion when they can toss racial red meat at the sheeple?
11 comments:
We expect such stupidity from a fake "news" that reported with indignation on the clip used to hold President Obama's jobs bill together. That's right. The pin-brained whiners at FAUX NOOZ actually wasted air time in reporting this.
As if Gretchen Carlson has achieved all her success on her merit alone!! She's a joke. And if she wasn't genetically physically beautiful as defined by the social majority she'd be scrubbing underwear somewhere.
J Regina wrote (via Facebook): "I read some comments about Serena following this incident and the real racists are clearly showing their hands. I read people were calling her a thug and a savage! Unbelievable! I don't recall anyone ever calling John McEnroe a savage..."
Given the downright racist way most tennis "experts" approach the Williams sisters, Carlson's statement is way over the line. Almost as that one chick at Fox who tossed out the "terrorist fist bump" line during the '08 election.
Why do people look to sports figures and celebrities to role model for their children. Turn off the damn television and model appropriate behavior for your own children. Serena might have displayed bad behavior, but SO WHAT!!! People get heated when they are competing and they speak without thinking about the ramifications. Her ranting was a lot milder than McEroe's.
Just in case you didn’t know it or maybe you forgot it, this isn’t Afrika it’s the USA.. So why is it that everything that you write about and everyone that you defend be them right or wrong is Afrikan-American? Case in point, that big mouthed bitch Serena Williams and her Sista. But either way, you’re a racist.
And as for O'Dumbo, the day he leaves office should be celebrated as a national holiday.
Shaw: I saw that nonsense about the paper clip on Media Matters. As each day goes by, the anti-Obama crowd shows just how childish and petty they are.
Tony: I remember when Gretchen used to co-host the "Early Show" Saturday mornings on CBS. Her persona on that show was the exact opposite of what she's become. Once her tenure at Fox is up, I doubt if any legitimate news organization would hire her.
I'm With Stupid: When reaShaw: As each day goes by, some of the people at Fox "News" show just how irrational, childish and petty they are.
Tony: I remember when Gretchen used to co-host the "Early Show" Saturday mornings on CBS. Her persona on that show was the exact opposite of what she's become. Once her tenure at Fox is up, I doubt if any legitimate news organization would hire her.
I'm With Stupid: I sent an email to Fox & Friends letting them know just how off base I think Gretchen's comments are. Assuming she read it, I would have loved to see the expression on her face when she did.
If you haven't yet, you should check out the 2001 book "Venus Envy" by L. Jon Wertheim. It's a behind the scenes look at the women's tennis tour.
Pjazzy: I totally agreed with Charles Barkley when he made that commercial saying he was not a role model. Since Gretchen is on her high horse about athletes setting good examples for kids, let's see her talk about Andy Roddick and the time he hit a ball into the stands in frustration.
William: Your comments made my morning... thank you. The nonsense you spewed is what I've become accustomed to when dealing with right-wingers in the blogosphere. Name calling, insults I'd expect from a 5 yr old (O'Dumbo?!), and baseless accusations of racism. I would show why you have no idea what you're talking about in regards to what I write about on this blog, but I won't bother. Assuming you know how to navigate a blog, you can do your own research.
I look forward to you coming back to comment here. Maybe next time you can use intelligence, facts and logic when you contribute to the discussions on this blog. I realize there's a better chance of Charlie Sheen rejoining the cast of "Two and a Half Men" than you doing what I suggested, but hey... I try to be optimistic. Have a great day!
I don't know what Gretchen knows.
She's weird.
But I see this differently than a lot of people I think.
I don't think she means these things to be racial. She just doesn't know it's not 1953 anymore.
I'm familiar with her uber-traditionalist views from O'Reilly's Culture Warriors segment.
Carlson is one of those panic-mongers who insists that anything non-Leave-it-to-Beaver is going to cause the downfall of America. Or already has, more accurately.
I just happen to think she's clueless on today's culture.
She doesn't know what "hater" means. I'll certainly grant her that.
Prude. Old-fashioned. Hypersensitive. And I've seen her have disproportionate reactions for women compared to men (for whatever that's worth).
She's part of Fox's Sisterhood of the Traveling Angst. Guilfoyle and Hoover are in there, but they're hot. So I won't be a hater.
As with the last time I gave Fox what'fer for being too falsely squeaky clean and abhorrently self-righteous with the Common issue: I don't see race as much as I see a really traditionalist, prudish view of society, where anything a step above calm is calamity.
Josh: If Gretchen doesn’t know the definition of “hater”, she could have wondered what Serena meant w/o bringing race into it. Adding the “racial undertone” line just seems like Gretchen was pandering to the LCD segment of her audience.
The race baiting game isn't new to her because she also did it in regards to President Obama’s support of NPR. In case you’re not familiar with the incident, here’s the link:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201103100003
Gretchen seems to feel the need to downplay her intelligence for her audience. As you may recall, she also claimed not to know the meanings of the words "ignoramus" and "czar". I find that very hard to believe. Gretchen’s collegiate success and her training as a classical violinist have been exposed so it’s time she drop the act. I’m not saying she should wear her IQ on her sleeve, but it’s silly for her to insult her audience’s intelligence by downplaying hers.
By the way, “Sisterhood of the Traveling Angst” is a great line… seriously.
These things seem more awkward than malicious to me. But of course that's just me. I cringe.
Honestly, my initial thought is also always "Why bring race into it?" But maybe for different reasons, namely because I get flashbacks of what's-his-face from Sports Center tiptoeing around the LeBron-cries-racism topic. Anyway...
I think it's stupid to even bring race up. So I agree there. But I know "hater" is a safe term for all, although you may be considered corny using it if you're X, Y or Z...
I do try to put myself in the shoes of someone who probably has no idea what "hater" means or how it's used or by whom it's used.
If you don't know it's a universal term you can drop, you might think it's one of those PC-protected terms that only a certain group(s) can use.
Know what I mean?
Not saying that's what she was inquiring about. But Pete knows it's not like we can get away with saying the same things in America.
She probably just wondered if it was one of those "black thangs." And that in itself is a bit stupid. But as I said, I find her to be weird anyway. So I'm not defending her. Just seems more logical that she was clueless rather than malicious.
I don't know about her intelligence. I'm always cursing the TV when she's preaching about commercials with bikini-wearing girls destroying our society and the like. Yikes.
Josh: Although it's possible Gretchen didn't know the definition of "hater" at the time of the Serena segment, it's a safe bet she does now. I say that because in my comments to F&F, I explained that the term has no racial connotation. Given the amount of coverage the segment received, I doubt I was the only one who explained this to F&F/Gretchen. Although I'm not saying she didn't, I couldn't find any footage of Gretchen explaining to her viewers after the fact that "hater" has no racial undertones. However, considering that Fox "News" has a sorry track record of correcting their mistakes, I doubt if she did offer an on-air explanation.
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