A Second Look | From The Mail Bag: Help Get Beck Off The Air

James Rucker, ColorOfChange.org wrote:

From: James Rucker, ColorOfChange.org [no-reply@colorofchange.org]
Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 7:27 PM
To: Tom
Subject: “Obama is a racist” — help keep Glenn Beck on the ropes

Dear Tom,

Last week, after we told you about Glenn Beck calling the President a racist (and worse), more than 40,000 ColorOfChange members called on advertisers to drop their support for the show, and the advertisers are listening.

Lawyers.com was the first to drop their support for the show. Procter & Gamble and Progressive Insurance said their ads ran during Beck’s show without their authorization and that they’ll ensure that the same mistake does not happen again. And we’re in conversations with others.

But we still need your voice. Some advertisers are refusing to budge. If we can show that more than 50,000 are standing strong, we believe more advertisers will see the writing on the wall. Can you lend your voice now?

http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/?id=1601-154346

We can stop Beck. If we can take away Beck’s ad income, we can take away his platform to promote racial fear and division. The leadership that Lawyers.com, Procter and Gamble and Progressive Insurance displayed makes it easier to pressure other advertisers to follow suit.

Not everyone has been so willing to do the right thing, but we believe that 10,000 more of you speaking out would send corporations an even stronger message that Black Americans and our allies mean business. Please take a moment to sign on, and then ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/?=1601-154346

Folks like Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, and Rush Limbaugh are increasingly exploiting racism and race-based fear to achieve their cynical political goals, but the dangers of these tactics are real. The Department of Homeland Security recently reported that right-wing extremists are becoming more likely to resort to violence to achieve their aims. At the same time, President Obama receives an unprecedented 30 death threats a day, there’s been a drastic rise in the number of hate groups, and Black folks and immigrants are increasingly the victims of violent crimes and threats.

FOX has had a long history of race-baiting and racism on its shows, and we’ve run campaigns calling them out. But Glenn Beck appears to be taking the network to an even lower standard. He’s trying to divide and distract America when we should be coming together and talking about issues that really matter–like health care and the economy.

The good news is that we have the power to stop this. All major media is funded by advertising. And advertisers, more than anything, care what consumers think. If we want to put an end to folks like Glenn Beck having a platform, we can.

It’s up to us, and it can start now. Please join us:

http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/?=1601-154346

Thanks and Peace,

– James, Gabriel, William, Dani and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
August 6th, 2009

I need to pass this letter along. I signed their petition and I urge all who read this to do the same. It is time that we speak out against the race-baiting, the fear mongering, and the incitement to commit race-based hate crimes.

I can’t believe that openly racist comments about the President of the United States are made on a nationally televised program without fear of recourse.

The comments are without any factual basis and the network should, at the very least, offer a disclaimer saying that Beck’s comments are his own and in no way reflect the views of the network.

But they don’t, proving that the FOX network agrees with his racist remarks.

We have the power to stop the hate merchants on FOX from spreading their vitriol. FOX’s audience is mostly hard working, tax paying conservative Americans who watch FOX because they want to be a part of a network that pushes conservative ideology. I have no problem with that. But when the network leads these same hard working Americans down a path to racial hatred and violence just because they lost an election, then it is time for Americans with cooler heads to step up turn them around. FOX can and should do better.

Please follow the link and sign the petition either above or right here. Help get Beck off the air.