Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon highlight in their joint column “Spotlight Finally Falls on White Hate Radio” the bigotry of talk show host Bob Grant. Grant is the mouthpiece for one of the most widely listened to talk shows in the country nuzzled at New York WABC headquarters. The show had many big name sponsors, including Sears, Amtrak and Lincoln-Mercury. Coupling the widespread viewership of the show is a host of racial slurs and cheap caricatures peddled by Grant. It is therefore surprising that Grant has not come under more heat by the mainstream press for his views. In an effort to combat the media’s blind sightedness, the authors wrote a joint column that ended up exposing Grant for his bigotry at a national level.
While vindicating the claim that Grant is a bigot, the authors note specific examples of racism on the show. A pinnacle example was that Grant only recalled black haters and ignored white racists in the Nation of Islam. In addition, the host is known for peddling pseudoscience in order to vindicate his racism. For example, the authors make reference to when Grant adulated Professor Michael Levin, who claimed that blacks were hereditarily less intelligent than whites. Grant regularly refers to the black population as “savages” and “subhuman” on the show. Furthermore, the authors record conversations Grant had with callers about the mentality of blacks. In one particularly astonishing conversation, the caller expresses his worries to Grant that the integration of American society will lower the nation’s I.Q, thus causing the United States to collapse into a third-world country.
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"White Hate Radio Exposed".
Given the accumulation of facts acquired by the authors, it is increasingly difficult to deny that Grant wears the badge of a racist loudly and proudly. As a corollary, the media sparked a proverbial backlash against the radio talk show host. Politicians that once had ties with the talk show host, such as Republican Christine Whitman and George Bush, now distance themselves from Grant. A group of black ministers called for the show to be boycotted, thus causing a host of former sponsors to cut ties with Grant. Even media outlets in Britain casted Grant with a degree of moral turpitude.
The authors conclude that boycotting Grant in not necessarily the answer to combating his bigotry. The right to free speech is a basic right granted to all Americans. It is an all or nothing principle. We cannot deny people the right to speak their minds who are not in accordance with our own worldview—despite how distorted and vitriolic an opposing point of view might be. The same principle held true with respect to Chick-fil-a’s vitriol towards the homosexual community and remains true with respect to Grant’s bigotry.
What the authors of the column do advocate is to have more diversity on the radio that purport alternative and competing ideas. Major television stations such as Fox News claim to be “fair and balanced”; however, what they really are is fair and balancing. Fox News is intended to serve as a news network with a conservative bent in order to give balance to a media that is largely liberal. The same reasoning must be extended to radio talk shows.
Unfortunately, the authors note that the Fairness Doctrine—which required networks to provide balancing perspectives—was abolished many years ago. This being the case, many station managers are under less pressure to provide an outlet for alternative points of view. When major stations with a particular ideology like Grant’s have a monopoly on the radio, those views are more likely to be pervasive in the culture. Thus, although Grant has finally received a well-deserved backlash by the mainstream press, the authors conclude his bigotry and hatred will continue to prevail.
