Dear Mr. Robert Knight,
This has been a time of 'foot in mouth"...one caused by another, this one rest
squarely on my shoulders.
I apologize for assuming you where ?white?, ?male?, and possibly ?Jewish?.
This is not much of an apology to you Mr. Knight, as it is a Public Apology to
those on this list (and others) who have come to relay on the veracity of my
positions and credibility.
I failed to insure that for over 40 years the high standards of accuracy that
has characterized my public life; print and radio journalism remained
untarnished.
My commitment is to embrace the full consequences of this moment and learn the
lesions well, so as to become more effective to win The Total Liberation of the
?people made in america?.
To those of concern, I offer a most humble, truthful and heartfelt apology,
and pray for your belief-in and acceptance of.
And I will not permit any number of learning opportunities to cower me in the
face of the dangers that you and the Barack Obama?s of this world pose to the
survival of the ?people made in america?.
I am taken aback; I confess by what for me is an extraordinary disclosure,
bringing with it a flood of merging realizations, a few involving a ?Robert
Knight? who was banned for untrustworthy activity from the Studios of
Pacifica?s WBAI Radio in New York City.
When I learned of this Robert Knight, I did not think to ask, nor did I
imagine that, that Robert Knight was not a white man.
Are you not one in the same, Robert Knight?
...made in america,
I'm Emmett Abati Doe
Robert Knight <theknightreport@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I give up!
In a previous comment I discreetly offered to drop this sordid saga of ethnic
misinformation promulgated by Mr. Emmett Abati Doe. It was sad enough that he
disparaged the heritage and work of Barack Obama with his post-satirical
intimation that, in his own words,
"For the record I think Obama is just another African/Caribbean/South american
Oreo Cooke, but I'm not sure which flavor... Truth is the kkk story is in line
with many of the concerns I've raised openly to all recently."
But then Mr. Abati dismissed my rational concerns for accuracy and cultural
fairness with the following absurd ad hominem against myself, in reference to
my factual criticisms of his poorly-researched and hate-filled "schtick":
"Is this a white, male, Jewish thing or what?"
It's no secret that I am in fact a conscious African-American journalist whose
work has been honored by, among others, the George R. Polk Award and the
National Association of Black Journalists, for my long-term coverage of the
anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and Namibia, as well as lesser-known
struggles of African-heritage people in Panama and throughout the Americas,
including the United States.
For Mr. Doe to attribute my principled objections to his race-baiting to his
ridiculous assumption that I must therefore be a white, male "Jew" -- is the
lowest form of antisemitism or, if one prefers to be more precise,
undifferentiated anti-Jewish bigotry!
Moreover, it stands at antipodes to the humanitarian mission of the Pacifica
Foundation, and I am disgusted by its venality, as I pray the rest of those
here of good will might be.
"Dyslexia" is absolutely no excuse for racism in any form. I shall henceforth
consider the source, and appropriately strive to disregard any further hateful
verbal extrusions from the hopelessly bigoted and grotesquely misinformed Mr.
Doe.
-Robert Knight
On 2/19/08, Emmett Abati Doe <abatidoe2@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: Mr. Knight, you
indeed not only misquoted me, but remain locked in a space that has prevented
you from acknowledging you made (what began as) A mistake. Is this a white,
male, Jewish thing or what?
You wrote:
Second, I omitted Mr. Obama's well-known "African" (actually, Kenyan) roots in
order to draw attention to your curious, unsubstantiated and possibly erroneous
claims of his "Caribbean" and "South American" heritage.
Even if you were not a practiced journalist the above would still be
inexcusable.
What is threatening to became additional pathology is white people's frantic
determination to distance the "African Oreo" from not just the "people made in
america" (pmia) but now your ridiculous effort to separate him from Africa
itself! Wow...Fuck-n wow! You wrote: ...Mr. Obama's well-known "African"
(actually, Kenyan) roots
I should like here to point out that Kenya is a made-up (1963) european state
and remains a subjugated British Colony. And that your effort Mr. Knight is in
the best tradition of eurocentric madness, as it was/is to remove all that is
Egypt from Africa, using phony history books and hellywood images.
You went on: ...in order to draw attention to your curious, unsubstantiated
and possibly erroneous claims of his "Caribbean" and "South American" heritage.
You made this up, and projected a total distortion of my printed word. Nothing
I wrote is remotely suggestive of your spin of: ..."possibly erroneous claims
of his "caribbean" and "South American" heritage.
I challenge any intelligent reader, to read in to my statement what you have
imagined. What I wrote was: The kkk story came to me from a trusted
source.... For the record I think Obama is just another African/Caribbean/
South american Oreo Cooke, but I'm not sure which flavor...
[I have restored at the end of your respond the string you cut, so people can
read your BS with out being inconvenienced.]
Again I ask...Should I expect a correction/retraction?
...made in america.
I'm Emmett Abati Doe
Robert Knight <theknightreport@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
First of all, I did not "misquote" you.
In the English language, ellipses are used to indicate the omission of a word
or phrase (three periods ...), or a sequence including a full sentence (four
periods ....). If you actually read my citation of your claims, you will find
the elisions accurately reflected your odd and antagonistic statement.
Second, I omitted Mr. Obama's well-known "African" (actually, Kenyan) roots in
order to draw attention to your curious, unsubstantiated and possibly erroneous
claims of his "Caribbean" and "South American" heritage.
Please, Mr. Doe, give us proof of your claims of Mr. Obama's
1. "Caribbean" roots; and
2. "South American" roots.
Please explain these unsubstantiated claims!
Furthermore, I am troubled by your invidious characterization of Mr. Obama as
an "Oreo cookie." What wisdom gives you the insight to so malign a black man
of considerable accomplishment with such a racist term as "Oreo" -- which
presumes that black success is necessarily white behavior?
What makes you wiser than the overwhelming (and sometimes nearly unanimous)
approval for his candidacy by black voters across the country? They clearly do
not consider Mr. Obama to be an "Oreo" or "Uncle Tom," or whatever else your
enlightened, antagonistic wisdom may consider him to be.
-RK
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