Megyn Kelly Goes To Bat For UC Berkeley’s Anti-Affirmative Action Stunt
Reported by Ellen - September 27, 2011 -
Once again, Megyn Kelly spread a little of her love on hostility toward black people. This time, Kelly showed obvious sympathy and favoritism for a stunt by UC Berkeley college Republicans in which they staged an anti-affirmative action bake sale designed to paint affirmative action as racist. UPDATED WITH CORRECT VIDEO.
The bake sale was meant to provoke hostility. It featured prices higher for white males than for Asians, blacks and white women and as AlterNet noted, the Facebook page “joked” that anyone who didn’t come is a racist.
On yesterday's America Live, Kelly opened her segment on the subject by saying, “New backlash over a bake sale?” with incredulity. Glossing over the obvious animosity, she added, “College Republicans at UC Berkeley trying to make a point about affirmative action.”
Two Berkeley students with opposing views were the guests.
Kelly started with a friendly question to Shawn Lewis, of the Berkeley College Republicans who were staging the event: "What is your message?"
Not surprisingly, Lewis announced he’s a “big fan” of the show and proceeded to explain that the group had deliberately tried to upset people with the sale.
So did Kelly think it worth challenging Lewis for deliberately race baiting? No. She put the sale in its best light as she asked her other guest, “What’s wrong with them exercising their First Amendment rights to go out there and call attention to a controversial issue in a controversial way?”
The other guest, Vishalli Loomba, said she supports Lewis' group's right to speak out but that the tactic was “not constructive and it’s a little bit offensive.”
“But they’re looking for attention,” Kelly advocated on Lewis’ behalf. She added that if the group “just went out to the street corner” with a sign, nobody would pay any attention whereas now they were on the national news. “Don’t you think it’s effective?” Kelly asked.
“But at what cost?” Loomba asked, reasonably. She noted that, “It’s a campus climate issue” that made some students feel “unwelcome and uncomfortable.” She added, “If your motive is to truly educate students on your opinion, there are many other ways to do that that are more constructive.”
Now, Kelly feigned a challenge to Lewis, by pointing out others felt as Loomba does - but without questioning why he hadn’t gone for a more constructive approach.
Lewis insisted that the message had never been pointed toward “any individuals or any individuals’ identity or the race that they belong to.” He said he thinks people understand the message and was willing to apologize to anyone offended. Kelly seemed to think that Lewis' willingness to apologize to anyone who had been offended was as good as not offending them in the first place or even apologizing in advance for any offense.
Kelly then played a clip of Fox News’ own John Stossel doing the same stunt. Kelly started to suggest her endorsement by saying, “That is affirmative action boiled down to,” before she caught herself and said, “You know, you can argue whether that’s an appropriate synopsis of what affirmative action does.” Then, Kelly asked Loomba, “Does it make a point?”
Loomba, who was an excellent guest, said “differential pricing is not comparable” to affirmative action admissions’ policies.
“But it’s dividing us by race,” Kelly chimed in again on Lewis' behalf.
Finally, Kelly noted that Lewis’ group was facing the loss of funding and some punitive action from the school. “Are you going to take those consequences?” Kelly asked him sympathetically. As Lewis acknowledged he’d fight it, Kelly said she might take the matter up in her daily legal segment called “Kelly’s court.”
Kelly has gotten a lot of attention recently for standing up for gay and transgendered individuals and for maternity leave but when it comes to race, nothing much seems to have changed.
