Limbaugh Uses Steinbrenner's Death to Race-Bait

George Steinbrenner waves to fans after watching an Alex Rodriguez news conference on television in 2004. (photo: Chris O'Meara/AP)

 

Reader Supported News | Perspective

ust when I thought Rush Limbaugh could not stoop any lower, he goes deeper into the cesspool. I am an Oriole fan, I hate the Yankees with a passion, but when someone dies or has a tragic injury I still can show compassion for them personally. I wish that baseball wasn't dominated by greed. When I learned yesterday that the owner of the team I love to hate had died I was sad, and I will take this opportunity to offer my condolences to his friends and family.

What did Rush do within hours of his death? Call him a "cracker who made many blacks millionaires." He can say it was tongue in cheek all he wants, but we know it was race-baiting. He might have gotten a pass if this was his first tasteless, racist statement. But we have a pattern established over decades of racist statements.

For example, the statement that ended his brief stint with ESPN: "The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well."

"They're interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well," he said during a discussion of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. "I think there's a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn't deserve."

Or how about: "Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it," he said in 2007.

These are just a few from the sports world; lets go further back. A Google search of racist statements by Rush Limbaugh brings up more than I have time for here, but here are a few:

"Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?"

"The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies."

As a young broadcaster in the 1970s, Limbaugh once told a black caller: "Take that bone out of your nose and call me back."

In 1992, on his now-defunct TV show, Limbaugh expressed his ire when Spike Lee urged that black schoolchildren get time off from school to see his film Malcolm X: "Spike, if you're going to do that, let's complete the education experience. You should tell them that they should loot the theater, and then blow it up on their way out."

Once, in response to a caller arguing that black people need to be heard, Limbaugh responded: "They are 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?"

Source: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2549

The list could go on and on, but we can stop there.

Ok, so we know Rush is a racist. Now how about a classless jerk, who hours after someone's death takes the opportunity to race-bait.

This is not the first time Limbaugh has made insensitive statements about someone's death. I had the honor of working with and learning from the late homeless advocate Mitch Snyder. When Limbaugh learned of Mitch Snyder's death he glibly told his listeners that, "Mitch had finally reached room temperature and no longer needed a home." I would have set my non-violence guidelines aside and punched Limbaugh in the mouth if I was in the same room with him then.

C'mon A-Rod, Jeter, or better yet CC Sabathia, don't let Limbaugh get away with disrespecting your boss. Limbaugh listeners, is this not enough for you? This time it wasn't one of us lefties. George Steinbrenner was a conservative-market Republican. When you support Limbaugh's show, you are supporting a man with no class who is a bigot.

Scott Galindez was formerly the co-founder of Truthout, and is now the Political Director of Reader Supported News.

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