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Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.net

www.yourblackworld.com

In its worst scandal yet, Fox News has been found to have doctored pictures of its guests to make them look worse. I wasn't surprised by the scandal, since I recall having a bunch of my friends call to ask where they found that crazy-looking picture of me when Bill O'Reilly blasted me on his show for several days, calling for me to be fired from Syracuse University.

In many cases, the teeth of the guests were yellowed, foreheads made longer, eyes darkened or ears widened. In my case, my forehead was stretched upward and to the right, and other clips were shown (with no audio) to make me look like an "angry black man". This made it easier for Syracuse alumni to think that I was an evil black man, even though most of my critics have never seen me speak or read my writing. It's made worse by the fact that black men do not have the same right to be angry that others have, so the stigma of the "angry black man" keeps many African American males from advancing in predominantly white institutions. I accept that, which is why I've never cared about promotions, organizational politics or professional advancement very much. Such carrots may appear librerating and uplifting, but they can also be oppressive and enslaving. It is important to feel good about who you are without needing someone from the outside to tell you that.

I am not sure how any group of credible journalists would resort to the tactics of Fox News. Fox is not even a meaningful representation of alternative viewpoints. They are more like The Jerry Springer Show than anything else. Fortunately, their viewership is declining during this election year, as a reflection of the fact that the American public is becoming well-aware of their racism.

Let's make a quick list of just a few of Fox's screwups over the past year:

1) "Mistakenly" referring to Obama as "Osama", and also working to detect a possible Muslim background, as if being Muslim were criminal and unAmerican.

2) Calling Michelle Obama Barack's "baby mama", when they would never do any such thing to John McCain's wife (or his mistress).

3) Joking about how it would be a good thing for Barack Obama to be assassinated.

4) Bill O'Reilly's statement that he might want to have a "lynching party" on Michelle Obama for her words (Click here to see what a real lynching party actually looks like).

There's more, but I'll stop for now. I think you get the point. If you don't get the point and somehow still consider Fox News to be a serious journalistic entity, then I encourage you to take a few classes in Black History to learn that this sort of terrorism on people of color is nothing new to the world. Fox is simply continuing the mindset that led to lynchings, cultural dominance and the mob mentality that has terrorized black people for centuries. That's why so many black people are afraid to be honest about racism (including Senator Obama to be quite frank about it).

A list of Fox News corporate sponsors and producers is here if you want to send them emails, faxes, letters or phone messages. Please sign our petition and encourage your friends to do the same.

By the way - thank you for your excellent perspectives on the Obama campaign. I read them all and will add some of these thoughts to my notes as I head to NYC for the BET shoot this weekend. If you have anything else to say, please share it on the blog (not in an email reply, since it is getting tough to make sure all the messages are read). I respect all of your opinions, as long as they are laced with a genuine love for black people.

Sincerely,

Boyce Watkins