CNN Fires Rick Sanchez for Speaking Out Against Racism
Evidently Sanchez dared to speak out loud about racism at his place of work. I think an important point was “White folks usually don’t see it.” Only a minority can explain what he means and for those that don’t see, they usually don’t ever get it. And for those who don’t see that Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority communities may not see themselves like those in the Jewish community, they don’t get it. Dr. Boyce Watkins gives an excellent account of Sanchez’s firing below.
CNN Fires Rick Sanchez for Speaking Out Against Racism – By Boyce Watkins, PhD
Rick Sanchez was the coolest brother on CNN. No, he wasn’t a brother in the technical sense of the word, but he’s the closest we might get on CNN for quite some time. Rick was the host of ‘Rick’s List,’ a daily CNN show that featured the latest and most relevant news and commentary. As a Cuban American, Rick related to the world in a way that was unique and authentic. He cared about issues that affected the poor and minorities, and he used his platform for a productive purpose.
Why am I talking about Sanchez in past tense? Because he was fired by CNN this week.
I doubt that you’ll see the story about Sanchez’s firing on CNN, but the anchor was released like an injured running back after calling Jon Stewart, host of ‘The Daily Show,’ a bigot. During an interview on ‘Stand Up’ with Pete Dominick, Sanchez spoke for nearly 20 minutes about how much of media is run by “elite Northeast liberals,” who consider Hispanic journalists to be second-rate. When Dominick claimed that Stewart, who is Jewish, is a minority like Sanchez, he didn’t agree. He argued that the wealth and power of the Jewish community does not put them in the same boat as black and Hispanic people.
During the interview, Sanchez said Stewart is a person with “a white liberal establishment point-of-view” who “can’t relate to a guy like me.” Sanchez also felt that Stewart is “upset that someone of my ilk is at, almost, his level.”
Sanchez went on to say the following:
“White folks usually don’t see it. But we do — those of us who are minorities and women see it sometimes, too, from men in authority.”
He went on to describe a conversation he’d had with an executive from CNN:
“I really don’t see you as an anchor, I see you more as a reporter. I see you more as a John Quiñones — you know, the guy on ABC. . . . Now, did he not realize that he was telling me. . . . An anchor is what you give the high-profile white guys, you know. . . . To a certain extent Jon Stewart and [Stephen] Colbert are the same way. I think Jon Stewart’s a bigot.”
CNN is an interesting network, and Sanchez’s comments were interesting as well. By stating that the Jewish community is disproportionately powerful in our country, Sanchez certainly has evidence in his favor. Three of the justices on the Supreme Court are Jewish, although they represent roughly 2 percent of the population. Also, by working together on a consistent basis, Jewish Americans have created a significant amount of wealth and power, which hardly makes them an oppressed minority group. Read the full story at AOL Black Voices