Bill O'Reilly is being called a racist again. Surprised? Probably not.

The left-leaning watchdog group Media Matters has slammed some of O'Reilly's recent comments on his show as racist, and bloggers and columnists nationwide have pointed to his recent commentary as yet another incident in a long line of O'Reilly bigotry. The furor over these comments, and others like them, is an overreaction we are seeing all too often in the uncomfortable discourse that is still taking place on race. Further, it's a distraction, because, black America, we've got bigger fish to fry.

While explaining his dining experience at Sylvia's, a famous black-owned restaurant in Harlem, O'Reilly opined that "there was no difference between Sylvia’s restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by blacks, [and has] primarily black patronship." Mr. O'Reilly waded further into familiarly controversial territory by stating that, "There wasn’t one person in Sylvia’s who was screaming, ‘M-Fer, I want more iced tea.'"

Patronizing comments are a terrible thing when done to a race, and some would argue it's worse than wearing racism on your sleeve. If Mr. O'Reilly was indeed patronizing an entire ethnicity, I'd say he's in a pretty tough spot. If Mr. O'Reilly truly meant to say that he expected Sylvia's blacks to act as if they were in a Nelly or Ludacris music video, then Media Matters can attest to yet another victory in its tireless campaign to ensure that no one anywhere, anytime, ever says anything inappropriate.

If Mr. O'Reilly, that champion of the conservative cause, was indeed having a "you-speak-surprisingly-well-for-an-African-American" moment, then crucify him. But what if he wasn't being patronizing?

What if we are crucifying Mr. O'Reilly — again — for having a frank and candid discussion about race and the kind of stereotypes harbored about blacks? What if his comments weren't admissions of deep-rooted ideas about blacks, but a tongue-in-cheek commentary on society's expectations of black behavior?

Could it be that Mr. O'Reilly was trying to invoke the sort of tendentious image of blackness that is harbored by many in an attempt to challenge it?

Or perhaps O'Reilly was admitting that he, like so many, has formed his opinion of what is and isn't black from the most visible of images.

Shamefully, the black image is too often presented as the sort of debauched filth propagated by your boy 50 Cent or the ostensibly harmless hilarity of a Dave Chappelle skit. To my breathless surprise, a young lady once called me a "nigger" with the biggest and most natural of smiles I'd ever seen someone have while calling someone an incredible racial slur. She didn't know any better; I was the first black person she had met. To her, the n-word was an acceptable way of referring to a black male, as evidenced from the image of black that BET, MTV, Mr. Chappelle and the rest had so meticulously crafted for her entertainment.

I try not to despise men like Mr. Chappelle: men who profit from a show that would never be aired for its racism, were it not for the fact that its existence was due to the efforts of a black American. His intentions were, ostensibly, sincere. Yet the results of his efforts and other black entertainers have been incredibly damaging to what others perceive us to be.

But that does not concern me. To judge a group of people by those of its members who attract the most camera time is folly. Were I to judge Anglo-Saxons by the misbehaviors of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, I would have a fairly inaccurate and salacious image of whites. I'm not too concerned if a few suburban kids can't bother to figure out that there is more to an ethnic group than the few images they see on MTV.

I'm more concerned that we, as blacks, seem to believe the spin that has been spun by Mr. Chappelle, Nelly, Snoop, and BET. "The Chappelle Show" does more damage than a misconstrued Bill O'Reilly comment to what black Americans think of themselves, and what others think of black Americans, because "The Chappelle Show" is the brainchild of a black American.

I don't buy that Mr. O'Reilly was genuinely surprised that a large group of blacks was well-behaved. I don't buy that he was, in this instance, evincing a racist and bigoted set of core values. If he were a comedian, rapper or entertainer, this mini-stir would never have occurred. But don't be too concerned about whether or not Mr. O'Reilly's comments were racist or not.

For we won't hear the last of the image he invoked until we stop believing in it and propagating it ourselves.

Gerald Cox ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in economics.