Friday, October 5, 2007

Let’s Stop the Conversations Taking Us Nowhere

By Linda S. Wallace

This week, I visited Boston University’s Web site to see what classes are offered by its Department of Journalism and learn about the expectations the faculty have for their graduates.

The faculty members seem to be an enlightened and demanding group.

“Journalism has become increasingly complex in the 21st century, and journalists must describe a rapidly changing world,” the department states on the Web site. “Journalists must analyze and explain the events swiftly and thoroughly. Preparation for such a responsibility is a formidable task, because a good journalist not only has (to have) technical and professional skills, but also intellectual breadth and curiosity about the world.”

This lets me know that many professors wouldn’t exactly be proud to hear that Bill O’Reilly, one of BU’s successful graduates, only recently stumbled upon a bit of information that is widely known to many elementary school students: Restaurants catering to well-to-do African Americans and well-to-do European Americans aren’t really that different.

People tend to look at you funny whenever you tell them all the stuff you never bothered to learn. That’s why a lot of people are scratching their heads regarding the comments O’Reilly so eagerly made about Sylvia’s restaurant in Harlem.

“I couldn’t get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia’s restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City,” says O’Reilly who, according to Fox News, has a Bachelor’s Degree in History, a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Boston University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University. “I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by blacks, primarily black patronship.”

Oh my.

In my humble opinion, these remarks indicate that O’Reilly, anchor host of The O’Reilly Factor, appears to know very little about people who have a different skin color. This should be of concern to everyone who works in the news media and every professor who teaches at a reputable college.

The question I have is a simple one: What do college graduates need to know and when do they need to know it?

Can a competent anchor/reporter work in diverse cities for decades and yet learn so little about the larger community? Can a fair and balanced journalist toil at TV stations in Scranton, PA; Dallas; Denver; Portland, OR; or Boston without ever visiting black neighborhoods or encountering minority restaurants?

If they can, that’s scandalous! It raises grave questions about the current performance standards and academic requirements in place at newsrooms and prestigious universities. Perhaps universities should set minimum cultural literacy standards for all students receiving an academic degree.

When journalists rising to the top of their profession are those who fail to venture outside the comfortable confines of culture, we all ought to worry because, as Boston University so wisely says, “a good journalist has … intellectual breadth and curiosity about the world.”

I fear that we learned the wrong lesson from the latest incident involving Bill O’Reilly. We rushed to ask if he is racist, when we should have asked how an educated person with a bachelor’s degree in history and two master’s degrees could know so little about his own country and fellow citizens.

America needs to reexamine the type of knowledge that educated workers need to perform in diverse workplaces and offer college graduates ample opportunities for continuing education.

If that is O’Reilly’s legacy, then he will have finally begun a conversation that leads us to meaningful change.

I'm an African-American woman and I came to Bill O'Reilly's defense. We have to be understanding of people's misconceptions and allow them to express them so that we can create a dialogue and help others to understand just how much we have in common. I'm disappointed that some people la bled his statements, "racist." I'm afraid that people who gain similar incites about previously held misconceptions will be afraid to express them for fear of being la bled a racist. I think his statements were directed at other people who are afraid to venture into culturally different communities. The message that I took away is that there is nothing to be afraid of. If he got his perception of African-Americans from the evening line up of programs on BET's cable television station, he may have gained a narrow and negative perspective. Let's welcome the dialogue.

Linda,
Thank you so much for you insightful newsletters. I look forward to receiving them and sharing the information with friends.
Wilma Gerald

Thank you very much; I wondered if I were the only one who was more amazed at his IGNORANCE than anything. I wish we could lose the word "racist"; we are all racially conditioned to some degree. As Barbara Trepagnier said: "We should not say, 'I am not a racist'; rather, 'How am I a racist.'"