When Breitbart.com's Joel Pollak went on CNN and connected then-law
student Barack Obama to radical Harvard professor Derrick Bell, CNN
guest Jay Thomas of Sirius radio began creepily asking Pollak if he was
afraid of violence from black people, on Thursday morning's Starting
Point.
During the chippy segment, host Soledad O'Brien fiercely defended Bell
and insisted that Obama's previous support of him was a non-story. She
accused Pollak of "misreading" Bell's critical race theory, even though
the professor has clearly espoused radical [1] views in his past, including writing a fictional account [2] of how blacks would be sold to aliens as slaves.
"At every point in his life when he [Obama] could have followed the
path of Martin Luther King, he threw in his lot with the Jeremiah
Wrights and the Derrick Bells of the world," asserted Pollak. "And it's
important not just because of what Obama believes but it's important to
vet the media."
Jay Thomas stepped in to bully the conservative editor. "Can I say
something as a white person? What are you frightened of?" he pointedly
asked. "Are you frightened that some black people are going to do
something to you?"
[Video below. Click here [3] for audio.]
Then when Pollak explained his case against Obama and the media's
cover-up of his support for Bell's critical race theory, Thomas again
offered a non sequitur retort. "So, you want him to take it easy on the
white supremist [sic] groups?" he posed.
And O'Brien herself was not happy that Pollak attacked the President. After all, she's is a fan [4] of Bell's work.
A transcript of the segment, which aired on March 8 on Newsroom at 8:09 a.m. EST, is as follows:
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Okay. So then let's go back to the clips that I just
showed. What part of that was the bombshell? Because I missed it. I
don't get it. What was a bombshell?
POLLAK: Well, the bombshell is the revelation of the relationship
between Obama and Derrick Bell. Obama didn't just lead a protest –
O'BRIEN: Okay. So he's a Harvard law student and Harvard law professor, yeah?
POLLAK: That's correct. And Derrick Bell is the Jeremiah Wright of
academia. He passed away last year, but during his lifetime he developed
a theory called critical race theory which holds that the civil rights
movement was a sham and that white supremacy is the order and it must be
overthrown.
O'BRIEN: So, that is a complete misreading. I'll stop you there for a
second. And then I'm going to let you continue. But that is a complete
misreading of critical race theory, as you know. That's an actual
theory. And you could Google it and someone would give you a good
definition of it. So, that's not correct, but keep going.
POLLAK: Well, in what way is it – in what way is it a critical
misreading? Can you explain to me? Do you what critical – explain to
your readers what critical theory race is. Explain to your viewers.
O'BRIEN: I'm going to ask you to continue on. I'm just going to point
out that that is inaccurate. Keep going. Tell me what the bombshell is. I
haven't seen it –
POLLAK: Well, wait a minute. You've made a claim – you've made a claim
that my characterization of critical race theory is the opposite of
Martin Luther King, is inaccurate. You're telling your viewers that. But
you're not telling why it is.
O'BRIEN: Critical race theory looks into the intersection of race and
politics and the law – and as a legal academic who would study this and
write about it, he would advance the theory about what exactly happened
when the law was examined in terms of racial politics. There is no white
supremacy in that. It is a theory. It's an academic theory. And as one
of the leading academics at Harvard Law School, he was one of the people
as part of that conversation. So that is a short definition of it.
POLLAK: I'm glad we've got you saying that on tape because that's a
complete misrepresentation. Critical race theory is all about white
supremacy. Critical race theory holds that civil rights laws are
ineffective, that racial equality is impossible because the legal and
constitutional system in America is white supremacist –
O'BRIEN: What I just said the intersection of race and politics when it comes to under the law –
POLLAK: You said white supremacy is not part of it.
O'BRIEN: I'm trying to figure out what's the bombshell. Get back on track. What's the bombshell?
(Crosstalk)
POLLAK: No, this is critical. This is critical.
O'BRIEN: It's not critical. What's the bombshell?
POLLAK: This is critical. You can't derail this, Soledad. White
supremacy is the heart of critical race theory and Obama knew it.
And by the time Obama embraced him at Harvard Law School, Derrick Bell
had already given a speech in Chicago just two months before that caused
a sensation which was about how white supremacy was still the order of
the day and that black people were fooling themselves if they thought
civil rights and equality were achievable goals. He said this. And one
of the people who came to his defense, by the way, was Jeremiah Wright
with whom Bell had correspondence over the years. This is a connection
that is very important.
O'BRIEN: So your point, you're trying to make the point that Derrick
Bell was somehow a serious radical. Is that what you're trying to say,
and by connecting President Obama to Derrick Bell, a Harvard law student
to a Harvard law professor, the first black tenured professor at
Harvard Law School, you're trying to make that connection? Is that the
bombshell?
POLLAK: Don't believe me, believe Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who said that
Derrick Bell had a blind spot for anti-Semitism. Don't believe me,
believe one of Derrick Bell's fellow African-American colleagues at
Harvard –
O'BRIEN: There are plenty of people who debated – there are plenty of
people who debated that theory. There's no question about it. But if
your point – if your bombshell is that Derrick Bell is a radical, is
that what you're trying to say? I'm just trying to understand what the
bombshell is, because I haven't seen a bombshell yet.
POLLAK: The bombshell – the bombshell is happening right here on this
program where we've got a story and you're not interested in telling
your viewers who Derrick Bell actually is. You want to come in and
obfuscate and tell me that I don't know what critical race theory is,
that white supremacy has nothing to do with it, that Barack Obama was
just embracing a guy.
This is about Barack Obama's connection to a radical legal theory that
he didn't just embrace when he was a student at Harvard. When he was a
teacher at the University of Chicago, he forced his students to read
Derrick Bell, including some of the most inflammatory readings –
O'BRIEN: A lot of law students read Derrick Bell. It's part of the –
you really do not understand critical race theory, number one –
THOMAS: Can I say something as a white person? What are you frightened of?
O'BRIEN: I don't know. I don't get it.
THOMAS: Are you frightened that some black people are going to do
something to you? You have a group of individuals – if you and I were
black we would be madder than hell, but we're not. And so, we are white
people. There are more white people than black people. And so there's a
struggle that's been going on and so in a struggle you talk about a lot
of things. There's anger. There's resentment.
And so, what are you frightened of? What do you think Barack Obama's
going to do? Is there a secret black movement that's going to start
killing white people? What are you talking about? As a white guy.
POLLAK: I'm glad that you – I'm glad you played the racism card. You've accused me of being a racist.
THOMAS: White. I've accused you of being white. It's all I've accused you of.
POLLAK: No, you've accused me of being afraid of black people. And it
doesn't even deserve a response. But let me respond anyway.
THOMAS: Sure.
POLLAK: No, I'm not afraid that black people are going to be violent
and take over the country. What I'm pointing out is that there's a
pattern in Barack Obama's associations with Derrick Bell, with Reverend
Wright, and it carries over into his governance because his Justice
Department won't treat black civil rights violators the same way that it
treats white civil rights violators. That there's a racial pattern in
which justice is enforced in this country. And it also gives us a sense
into how Barack Obama thinks about these issues.
At every point in his life when he could have followed the path of
Martin Luther King, he threw in his lot with the Jeremiah Wrights and
the Derrick Bells of the world. And it's important not just because of
what Obama believes but it's important to vet the media. The mainstream
media covered this up –
THOMAS: So, you want him to take it easy on the white supremist [sic] groups?
POLLAK: That's exactly the opposite.
THOMAS: Is that it? I'm just asking. You know, I mean it. I'm just asking.
POLLAK: Yes. Why don't you just ask the question – why don't you ask
the question without knowing a thing about me or what I believe. This is
typical mainstream media behavior. I'm challenging you –
THOMAS: I'm just looking at your skin. That's all I'm looking at. I'm just talking white guy to white guy.
POLLAK: So you're – oh, you're judging me by the color of my skin.
THOMAS: Yes, I am. I sure am.