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O'Reilly's Rant Wasn't His Imus Moment

Comments were old-fashioned, sheltered—not racist, says Times blogger

By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 26, 2007 9:44 AM CDT

(Newser) – The firestorm over Bill O'Reilly's statement that a Harlem restaurant was "exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks" may be overblown, writes New York Times blogger Mike Nizza. While liberal groups are gleefuly taking aim, Nizza says the conservative pundit was recounting a conversion and guilty of no more than being a sheltered white guy.

Later on the same show, O'Reilly continued: "This is what white America doesn’t know. They think that the culture is dominated by Twista, Ludacris, and Snoop Dogg." But given full context, Nizza writes, this is no Imus moment. Stay tuned tonight when O'Reilly appears on Fox News with none other than Al Sharpton.

Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly appears on the Fox News show, The O'Reilly Factor, on Jan. 18, 2007 in New York. After eating dinner at a famed Harlem restaurant recently, O'Reilly  started a controversy after he told a radio audience he couldn't get over the fact that there was no...
Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly appears on the Fox News show, "The O'Reilly Factor," on Jan. 18, 2007 in New York. After eating dinner at a famed Harlem restaurant recently, O'Reilly started a controversy...   (Associated Press)
H. Kenneth Woods, chef and owner of Sylvia's restaurant, cooks southern fried chicken in New York's Harlem neighborhood.   (AP Photo/Dima Gavrysh, File)
H. Kenneth Woods, chef and owner of Sylvia's restaurant, cooks southern fried chicken in New York's Harlem neighborhood. (AP Photo/Dima Gavrysh, File)   (Associated Press)
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