FOX News: Won’t Someone Think of the White People?
Far-right network acts like white nationalist terrorism isn’t a problem
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Even as a mob of far-right groups attacked the Capitol, Republicans/FOX News refuse to acknowledge the threat of white nationalist terrorism. (FOX News is indivisible from the Republican Party.) I shouldn’t be surprised by this aggressive ignorance. FOX News promoted a white nationalist agenda, even before the rise of President Donald Trump. Its underlying message has always been about catering to the needs and fears of America’s fast-shrinking, white majority. FOX News audience is 87 percent white, predominately male and old. According to a 2019 Pew survey, 37 percent of FOX viewership is over 65. If you were to sum up the network’s message, it would be “The black and brown people are coming for your money, house and daughter.”
Conservatives don’t think racism exists
So, when President Joe Biden mentioned fighting white nationalist extremists in his inauguration speech, the people on the right naturally flipped. In their minds, white supremacy and racism don’t exist. Those are issues made up by the left to appeal to aggrieved minorities. Just before the storming of the Capitol, a Black police officer was captured arguing with a Trump supporter who claimed racism ended in the 1960s.
In right-wing world, everyone has a level playing field, and the best way to deal with the race problem is to avoid talking about it. This is akin to a cancer patient ignoring his diagnosis and hoping it disappears. Like cancer, racism needs to be addressed and rooted out. Not talking about it won’t make it go away. And we can’t ignore the fact that white nationalist terrorists attacked the Capitol and beat a police officer to death. Their allegiances were evident by the symbology. Confederate flags, German pagan tattoos and anti-Semitic T-shirts were clear signs of their loyalties.
