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While getting in touch with his roots, Bill O\u2019Reilly claimed that his Irish ancestors came to the US legally and that their persecution exempts him from having white privilege. Twitter tackled him over the spurious claim. <\/p>\n
Former Fox News presenter was visiting the old country last week, and tweeted a picture of himself in the border county of Cavan, where the O\u2019Reilly clan historically ruled in the ancient Irish kingdom of East Breifne.<\/p>\n
Rather than keeping the trip light and breezy, however, O\u2019Reilly brought up his own family\u2019s ancient history in an apparent attempt to score some political points. In the text that accompanied the photo, O\u2019Reilly said: \u201cEnjoying my time in Ireland. Visited County Cavan where my ancestors were evicted from their land in 1845. That forced them to come to America legally so they wouldn\u2019t starve.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cPardon me if I reject the \u2018white privilege\u2019 scenario if applied to my family,\u201d<\/em> he added.<\/p>\n Enjoying my time in Ireland. Visited County Cavan where my ancestors were evicted from their land in 1845. That forced them to come to America legally so they wouldn\u2019t starve. <\/p>\n Pardon me if I reject the \u201cwhite privilege\u201d scenario if applied to my family. pic.twitter.com\/gecXRy60YJ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bill O’Reilly (@BillOReilly) July 19, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n The Twitterati on both sides of the Atlantic took issue with just about everything in O\u2019Reilly\u2019s tweet, mockingly tearing apart his claim that he didn\u2019t have white privilege. O\u2019Reilly appeared to suggest that his ancestral family had come to America legally in a process similar to what is required of immigrants and refugees at present. However, social media users highlighted his ignorance to the fact that US immigration policy was radically different in 1845.<\/p>\n Matthew Parent, a PhD candidate at the University of Connecticut \u2013 whose thread of tweets tackled the claim that the suffering of O\u2019Reilly\u2019s ancestors exempted him from white privilege \u2013 argued that O\u2019Reilly and other Irish Americans today have never experienced a time where being Irish limits their experience in America.<\/p>\n That\u2019s more than 150 years ago. Please don\u2019t try to argue you\u2019ve experienced oppression. We have a sitting congressman whose skull was fractured for the audacity to want to sit at a lunch counter, vote, and be recognized as fully human.<\/p>\n \u2014 Matthew Parent (@MatthewParent1) July 20, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n OReilly is literally trying to say he hasn\u2019t\/doesn\u2019t experience privilege in his own country because the British Empire pushed his ancestors out. Mine were, too, but there\u2019ve been a couple world wars, global economic restructuring, and thousands of other changes since then.<\/p>\n \u2014 Matthew Parent (@MatthewParent1) July 21, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n And why my ancestors left Ireland, however unfair and tragic, is part of my family\u2019s history\u2014not a part of my life\u2019s present. I (and OReilly) have never lived in a time when being Irish limits his life in America.<\/p>\n \u2014 Matthew Parent (@MatthewParent1) July 21, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Others argued that O\u2019Reilly\u2019s definition of white privilege was way off.<\/p>\n White privilege doesn\u2019t mean your life is easy, it means your life isn\u2019t more difficult because of the color of your skin.<\/p>\n That being said, the Irish weren\u2019t accepted as white in the past, but they are now. Whiteness is weird like that.<\/p>\n \u2014 funly (@funwithleigh) July 20, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Hi Bill, long time loather, first time writer. Do you realize that privilege is a thing that you can gain over time. It requires context. Here’s what context means: when you touch or kiss a woman when she asks you to, that is okay. If not, it is sexual assault. See? Context!<\/p>\n \u2014 Charlie Oh (@charliejamesoh) July 20, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n O\u2019Reilly\u2019s claim that his ancestors came to the US legally was also tackled in tweets pointing out the fact that US immigration policy back then was radically different to that of the Trump administration, which is supported by O\u2019Reilly today.<\/p>\n Lucky for you, immigration to the U.S. was encouraged in 1845. There was very little regulation of immigration then–there were virtually no laws to break. Your ancestors wouldn’t have qualified under today’s restrictive immigration laws. https:\/\/t.co\/mi55cESIDL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Don Lyster (@DonLyster) July 20, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n This is a stunningly shallow lack of historical perspective. Just mind boggling. “Legal” immigration from Ireland to the US was basically “find a way to get here.” But your countrymen DID have privilege via the Naturalization Act. They were good to go because they were WHITE.<\/p>\n \u2014 Bill Abner (@TheAbner) July 20, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n There were no immigration laws at that point because no one saw the need to keep white people out, so yes, your story is literally a perfect example of white privilege. There was no such thing as “illegal” immigration before the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.<\/p>\n \u2014 bigvoyage (@BigVoyage) July 20, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n However, the \u201csaddest\u201d<\/em> part of O\u2019Reilly\u2019s misinformed tweet was highlighted by popular Irish rappers-cum-postmodernist philosophers, the Rubberbandits, who saw it as a wasted opportunity for him to learn about himself on an \u201cexistential level.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The shittiest thing about this.What a lovely opportunity, for an older man, to connect with his roots, learn about his people and himself on an existential level. To be thankful,humble himself,grow as a person. Instead,he smugly uses it as a stick to beat blacks and immigrants.<\/p>\n \u2014 Rubber Bandits (@Rubberbandits) July 20, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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