The Osterley Times: Glenn Beck Withdraws His Belief That Obama is a Racist.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Glenn Beck Withdraws His Belief That Obama is a Racist.

It's taken a long time, but Beck has finally admitted that he was wrong to call Obama a racist.

African-American host Joe Madison rounds on Beck and says, “I am so angry with you.” “Oh boy,” Beck responded, “Did I just walk into something I shouldn’t have walked into?” “Yes,” Madison said, pressing him on why he called Obama a racist:

MADISON: He’s not a racist?

BECK: What is he? [...] I’ve talked about this at length, and so I’m going to rehash it all. I’ve already said stupid comment, off the top of head. And I said just the other day, an ignorant comment. Now that I really understand how he grew up, where he grew up, what his influences were — it’s more of a liberation theology, a kind of attitude he has. That I immediately interpreted — because I didn’t understand him. His attitude is more of, like Bill Ayers — that America is an oppressor. And I just disagree with that.

[...]

MADISON: You do not believe President Obama is a racist?

BECK: I’ve said this before.

MADISON: A mistake? Was that a mistake?

BECK: Absolutely it was. And I’ve said that before. I misunderstood — this I just said the other day — I misunderstood his philosophy and his theology, which is liberation theology.

MADISON: Which was King’s philosophy. Big time.

BECK: Didn’t know that. I’ll talk to Alveda today about it.

MADISON: Oh, talk to his father. You know who you should talk to? Talk to Walter Fontroy. Rev. Walter Fontroy, who grew up with King. That was his philosophy — it was the theological philosophy of social justice.

BECK: Right. I am not a fan of social justice.

MADISON: That’s where we really part. I’m a big fan of social justice.

What's striking about this U-turn is that Beck is admitting that he was speaking from a position of ignorance. And that he is still speaking from such a position when he talks about Martin Luther King. How else can he claim to represent MLK's legacy and yet also admit that he didn't know that MLK stood for liberation theology? That's breathtaking.