por Raúl Reyes
The first time I met Rick Sánchez, I was a guest commentator on his CNN program. During a commercial break, I walked onto the set, fiddling with my clip-on microphone as I tried to remember a few talking points. At the anchor desk, Sánchez looked up from his notes and burst into a wide smile. “Raulito!” he exclaimed. He jumped up and threw his arms around me. He was handsome, friendly and a little over the top. He was, I thought, perfect for cable news. After that, whenever I went on Sánchez’s show, I enjoyed talking with him. Once he mentioned he felt underappreciated by his bosses. “They don’t get me,” he said, in Spanish. I just nodded, wondering how he could have problems with what seemed like a dream job.
That dream job is no more. Last week, Sánchez was axed by CNN, a day after making anti-Semitic remarks in a satellite radio interview. He called Daily Show host Jon Stewart a “bigot,” then termed him “prejudicial.” After mentioning Mr. Stewart’s Judaism, he said, “Everybody that runs CNN is a lot like Stewart… And a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart.” Sánchez’s comments are indefensible. Still, he didn’t deserve to be booted off the network. Consider CNN’s history of tolerating nutty views by its on-air talent.
For years, Lou Dobbs was allowed to rail against undocumented immigrants as “invaders.” He spread blatant falsehoods about immigrants carrying leprosy, supported the “Birthers,” and warned of the coming “reconquista” of the U.S. by Mexico. After a “Dump Dobbs” campaign was launched by a national coalition of Hispanic advocacy groups, CNN bought him out of his contract for a reported $8 million.
Then there’s Glenn Beck, formerly of CNN’s Headline News. In November 2006, he said to Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the House of Representatives: “I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, “Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.” Was Beck fired for insulting a congressman to his face? No. Did he apologize for disrespecting a role model for U.S. Muslims? No. Two years later, he left CNN of his own accord.
In March, CNN announced that RedState.com’s Erick Erickson would be joining the “most trusted name in news.” According to the watchdog site Media Matters for America, Erickson is known for “violent incendiary, sexist, and racially charged commentary.” He has called Michelle Obama a “Marxist harpy” and referred to Supreme Court Justice David Souter a goatf— ing child molester.” In April, on his radio show, he threatened to “pull out my wife’s shotgun” if a Census worker came to his door.
So all of these extreme viewpoints are overlooked, and only Sánchez is summarily fired? I see a double standard here. If CNN wants a zero-tolerance policy on bigotry and hate speech, terrific. Yet it seems as though it was selectively enforced at the expense of one of the most visible Hispanics in broadcasting. As the host of “Rick’s List,” Sánchez frequently spotlighted Latino issues, and was willing to take on immigration hardliners like Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Russell Pearce, author of SB 1070.
Nothing excuses Sánchez’s remarks. But racism and anti-Semitism are like a virus. They need to be continually subjected to scrutiny, so we can see how ugly and powerful they are. Banishing Sánchez does nothing. CNN should have suspended him or made him apologize on-air. Sánchez, a man who has been tasered and locked in a submerged car on camera, would’ve risen to the challenge.
I feel bad for Sánchez. He had so much and lost it all in a thoughtless rant. Maybe someday he will understand that Stewart, like himself, has indeed faced his own struggles with discrimination and acceptance. For proof of this, he need look no further than their birth names, which they both changed in order to succeed. Ricardo León de Reinaldo, meet Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz. Hispanic Link.
(Raúl A. Reyes is a member of the Board of Contributors of USA Today. He also writes commentaries for Hispanic Link News Service. His Web site is RaulAReyes.com)
