In an extended “Daily Show” interview Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly finally settled the white privilege debate. Or not. Stewart argues it exists. O’Reilly says it doesn’t.
“Let me repeat this and I’ll do it slowly so that even you can understand,” O’Reilly said to Stewart, “If you work hard, if you get educated, if you’re an honest person, YOU CAN MAKE IT IN AMERICA!”
Stewart shot back: “If you live in a neighborhood where poverty is endemic, where it’s harder to work hard, where it’s harder to get an education…”
“YES. It’s harder if you’re a ghetto kid. But can you do it? YES!” O’Reilly shot back.
At one point an audience member heckled the Fox News host. “You think I’m sitting here because I’m white? O’Reilly said. “I’m sitting here because I’m obnoxious, not because I’m white,”
Stewart eventually got O’Reilly to admit that, without “condemning modern society,” that white privilege is “a factor” of American history.
“You, Bill O’Reilly, can lead the flock of the Fox faithful to a better place,” Stewart said in closing.