Millionaire Supremacist — Bill O'Reilly: An Open Letter to Bill O'Reilly Regarding His Very Own White Privilege

A close look at the career of this 'self-made millionaire' shows
he benefited from white privilege at every turn. (Screen capture
from YouTube video).

The Man In The Mirror: An Open Letter to Bill O'Reilly Regarding His Very Own White Privilege

By Trevor LaFauci
Dear William,

As a fellow White male who has also studied history, I felt compelled to write to you today to respectfully disagree with your stance on White privilege in America. You see, William, on your show The O'Reilly Factor on May 15, you stated that, "I do not believe you are granted favorable treatment in this country because you are White. You have to work for success." This point was conceded as a followup to your May 14th program during which you had a segment discussing how the Kennedy School at Harvard was considering including a portion of its orientation to discuss issues associated with White privilege as a way for students to be made aware of the issue going forward as they began to think about it impact in relation to public policy. As always William, your guests had some interesting things to say on the topic but unfortunately I don't think either they or you truly understand what White privilege is. Allow me to share some of my thoughts as it relates to you and your own life, if I may.

Bill O'Reilly Exempts Himself From White Privilege

First off William, I don't think you quite have a proper understanding of just what is meant by the term "White privilege." It is not, as you suggested closely related to the idea of White supremacy. Nor is it used to pit the races against each other in a divisive manner as your esteemed guest, Stuart Varney, seemed to imply. Rather, the term White privilege is used to express the idea that all things being equal, White people are given inherent advantages and opportunities available to them that are not given to those of other races. In other words, it is the notion that a person who just happens to have been born to light-skinned, European-looking parents will inevitably be given access to resources and materials throughout his or her life that will put him or her at a distinct advantage over others on the path to success. For the vast majority of those who are part of the White privilege class, it will be something so engrained in their lives that they will either never recognize it, or outwardly deny it.

You see, William, you are are part of that second group: You are someone who outwardly denies his White privilege. As you said on your show, you "grew up poor" and then worked hard to achieve his success. My hat is off to you in that regard. I have no doubt you put in many long hours to achieve your success. However, what you don't realize is that hard work is not an automatic precursor to success. There are people who work just as hard, if not harder who will never have an opportunity to achieve what you have. Don't believe me? Let's take a brief look at your biography, breaking it down to see if we can find any examples of White privilege.

First off, William you come from a long line of Irish immigrants who came over to this country in the mid-18th century. Therefore, your family had been pretty well entrenched in the northeast even before you were born in 1949. Once upon a time, your descendants might have faced discrimination for being new immigrants, but you were born at a time and place when being Irish in America was perfectly acceptable. Your family, including yourself, your sister, and your parents eventually settled in Levittown, New York. Now, William, somebody as well educated as yourself should clearly know all about Levittown and its place in American history. However, there is a little bit of history that most people don't know about Levittown which is actually important in understanding your roots...

Unfortunately, William, those with access to this community were only of the White race. Thanks to legalized housing discrimination in the 1950s, Levittown sales agents refused to sell homes to African Americans, even if they had served in combat. It was actually written into the buying agreement that the property could not be used or rented by anyone outside the Caucasian race. Racial discrimination was so bad in Levittown that they refused to even sell to those families who were Jewish. William Levitt, founder of the original Levittown, once infamous said, "As a Jew, I have no room in my heart for racial prejudice. But the plain fact is that most whites prefer not to live in mixed communities. This attitude may be wrong morally, and someday it may change. I hope it will." Levittown was finally integrated in the early 1960s as a result of Brown v. Board but the stigma associated with racial discrimination stuck with the community through integration. Current demographics of the town show that the town remains 94% White.

Luckily for you and your family, William, you were both White and non-Jewish.

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