# Anthony Cumia of "Opie and Anthony" fired for "racist tweets" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 5, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381 "2014-07-05T00:02:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Lemmytheseal2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Lemmytheseal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemmytheseal2)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/81 "2014-07-06T01:59:42Z")
Are people actually invoking free speech in this incident? He wasn’t arrested, or otherwise prevented from speaking by state power! Also, perhaps we should decide if the assailant here was a woman or a girl. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/82 "2014-07-06T02:20:21Z")
I don’t give two flips about Cumia or his cromulent show. It’s not part of my orbit, and I’ve been blissfully unaware of it since they pulled the Menino stunt way back when. What I find bothersome is the handwaving of his troglodytic behavior. People are seriously trying to parse if these comments were racist or not? I mean, that’s a debate? And of course, a whole lot of people have to cop to subscribing and listening to a knuckle-dragging 19th century relic… so there’s a rationalizing of his racism. I know Donald Sterling was a convenient racist punching bag, but you know something? He didn’t make his (ridiculous) comments publicly. There was a lot of opprobrium directed towards him, and frankly, I find Cumia far more noxious. I have no illusions about what kind of corporate entity SiriusXM is. The only color they care about is green, and having an outspoken, prideful bigot on the payroll is bad for business. However, I’m sure he’ll ooze his way back in, or find some other way to monetize his hateful thoughts. It’s apparent to me that he’s got an audience. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/83 "2014-07-06T02:27:04Z")
When I initially read a story on this it didn’t include all his tweets, just said that Anthony referred to a black woman who hit him as a savage. I though ‘considering all the other shit that asshole has said that doesn’t sound any worse than his daily show. Calling someone a ‘savage’ who resorts to physical violence regardless of their race is fair in my opinion.’ However reading that list of tweets, you’d have to be completely disconnected from reality to find he wasn’t being racist. I can’t grasp why the OP thinks that is even subject to debate. Yes it is legal to take pictures of people in public. It is not legal to assault people for taking your picture. While I believe if everything was known about the incident Anthony might have been in a legal defensible position. However Anthony makes his living being an obnoxious ass and intentionally provoking people, I don’t believe for a second he was innocently taking pictures and minding his own business. I think anyone who interacts with him would probably want to slap him. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/84 "2014-07-06T02:29:54Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > We’ve been down this road before. It is perfectly legal. > [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > He/she never said it was illegal. It was said it was rude and potentially threatening, which is true. > [@Frank](#): > > No, it’s not either. We’ve been down that road too. Utter rubbish, Frank. In many situations it is very rude and invasive to take pictures of strangers without asking permission, even when it’s perfectly legal to do so. It’s especially creepy to surreptitiously take full-figure pictures of people just because you think they’re attractive. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/85 "2014-07-06T03:38:27Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > If you think one person is inferior by virtue of that person’s race, that is racism. You don’t need to think that every single member of that race must be inferior. In fact, making exceptions is a very common practice of racists and other bigots. “Blacks/Protestants/foreigners/homosexuals/whatever are all scum. Except for Bob, he’s alright.” > [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Cumia actually thought that Twitter was an extension of his show. Nope, dumbass, it’s a public forum, and your tweets can be read by anybody. That seems to be an surprisingly common pattern. People even confess to outright crimes on Twitter and are caught by surprise when it turns out that innocent bystanders & the police read it too. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/86 "2014-07-06T03:49:15Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > People are seriously trying to parse if these comments were racist or not? I mean, that’s a debate? Well…there’s the OP. I don’t see many agreeing with him. I think the vast majority of folks would call this one as a pretty clear strike - right down the middle, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/87 "2014-07-06T04:33:13Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > We’ve been down this road before. It is perfectly legal. Shoulda used a drone. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/88 "2014-07-06T04:59:30Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > If you think one person is inferior by virtue of that person’s race, that is racism. You don’t need to think that every single member of that race must be inferior… I don’t believe that he thinks that. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Calling black people (or even a single black person) a variation on monkey, ape, savage, primitive, inhuman, not human, etc., has history behind it. These terms, used against any black people, are racist terms just as the more obvious racial slurs are. > > That’s not all Cumia said, of course – among other things, he blamed the black community for his attack. Just like blaming the Jewish community for Bernie Madoff’s crimes would be bigoted, blaming the black community for the actions of individuals is also bigoted. > > None of this should be in any doubt. The OP is very, very wrong. If most Republicans feel the same way, than those Republicans hold racist views. I believe that when he said “black community” he was referring to a small subset of African Americans that don’t act the way that he thinks that civilized people should behave. I’m pretty sure he believes that these people whose behavior he disagrees with do so because of their culture, not their DNA. This is why I don’t think that he is a racist. Apparently I define “racism” and “racist” much more rigidly than most. > [@monstro](#): > > He was taking picture of a hawt chick. Didn’t matter at that moment that she was black. He just wanted an image to fap to later… The Young Turks made this argument earlier, and it’s just dumb. If he wanted “an image to fap to later” he has the internet. This is just a variation of the “call the homophobe a closeted homosexual… that’ll hit him where it hurts” tactic. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/89 "2014-07-06T05:17:58Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > I believe that when he said “black community” he was referring to a small subset of African Americans that don’t act the way that he thinks that civilized people should behave. I’m pretty sure he believes that these people whose behavior he disagrees with do so because of their culture, not their DNA… So you think that he was just being kinda racist, but he phrased his tweets so wrong-headedly that they just happened to sound extremely racist instead? ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/90 "2014-07-06T05:18:09Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > **Rucksinator** , I sure hope you’re only arguing this because you’re a fan of that radio show and you’d like to make an excuse to keep them on the air. Because those tweets were extremely offensive, and very racist. It’s not even a debate. That is part if it. I really feel bad for Opie and Jim Norton, especially Jimmy. The last time they got fired O&A got paid to do nothing for 2 years while Jimmy was left out in the cold. There was one time recently where they talked about how Jimmy reigned one or both of them in, basically saying “WTF are you doing? I don’t want to lose this gig again.” I’ll put further speculation in the other thread. I only said this to address **Ravenman’s** comment. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/91 "2014-07-06T05:21:33Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > So you think that he was just being kinda racist, but he phrased his tweets so wrong-headedly that they just happened to sound extremely racist instead? I think that “racist” means that you believe that another ethnicity is genetically inferior to yours. I also think that people incorrectly think that any anger towards someone of a different race where race is mentioned is “racist”. ---
**Author:** ![chicagowhitesox1173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/92 "2014-07-06T05:23:09Z")
I’m with Rucksinator. I also think people make stuff like this out of a bigger deal than what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/93 "2014-07-06T05:28:18Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > I think that “racist” means that you believe that another ethnicity is genetically inferior to yours. Which is fine. Not, I’d say, the general usage of the word, which is basically any sort of xenophobia that includes the concept of race at some point, but you have a right to define the word as you feel. > [@Rucksinator](#): > > I also think that people incorrectly think that any anger towards someone of a different race where race is mentioned is “racist”. Very true. Yet, I don’t know how that’s relevant to this series of tweets, where clearly the issue is the author going on a rant against race after the first couple of tweets, not his tweets that deal specifically with the woman. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/94 "2014-07-06T05:56:10Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Which is fine. Not, I’d say, the general usage of the word, which is basically any sort of xenophobia that includes the concept of race at some point, but you have a right to define the word as you feel… My issue is that the general usage of the word has been watered down to the point that it barely resembles the actual definition: [from google] “a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another.” ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/95 "2014-07-06T06:01:39Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > My issue is that the general usage of the word has been watered down to the point that it barely resembles the actual definition: [from google] “a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another.” That’s a fairly watered down definition too, and it can fit perfectly with many of the “they are not people” type of tweets you linked in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/96 "2014-07-06T06:12:27Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > But I think you _can_ call anyone a “savage” or an “animal” as an insult (or even just an accurate descriptor based on their negative behavior) and it does not intrinsically have to be racist just because of your skin color versus the other person’s skin color. No. Sorry, but no. Because of history, _White_ people just don’t get the _privilege_ of using those words about people of colour anymore, whether they be Black, Aborigine, Native American - they just don’t. Sorry, but blame the racists for limiting your lexicon. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/97 "2014-07-06T06:20:24Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > I believe that when he said “black community” he was referring to a small subset of African Americans that don’t act the way that he thinks that civilized people should behave. You seriously think “#NotAllBlacks” makes him not a racist? > [@](#): > > The Young Turks made this argument earlier, and it’s just dumb. If he wanted “an image to fap to later” he has the internet. Are you seriously unaware that some people get off on the illicit nature of these things, not the actual content. We have the internet - why do we still have upskirt shooters and peeping toms? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/98 "2014-07-06T06:35:40Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > I’m with Rucksinator. I also think people make stuff like this out of a bigger deal than what it is. Well, there’s a shocker right there. I don’t think there is a single sentence in the English language that someone on this board wouldn’t defend as “Not really racism.” Because even if the sentence expressed hatred and disdain for black folks and called them niggers and coons and any other explicitly black-targeted slur, there would be people who said that it isn’t really racist until someone gets lynched. The OP seems to be one of those people. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/99 "2014-07-06T07:40:14Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No. Sorry, but no. Because of history, _White_ people just don’t get the _privilege_ of using those words about people of colour anymore, whether they be Black, Aborigine, Native American - they just don’t. Sorry, but blame the racists for limiting your lexicon. So what you’re saying is that, through no fault of my own, but simply based on my skin color, I don’t have the same constitutional rights that others have? That sounds kind of , well, I don’t know, but it doesn’t seem right. So, you’re saying that if I, hypothetically, witnessed a black person attack somebody, bite their face off, and then fling their feces around, I can’t call that person an “animal”? Because that would be racist? ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/100 "2014-07-06T07:49:14Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Well, there’s a shocker right there. > > I don’t think there is a single sentence in the English language that someone on this board wouldn’t defend as “Not really racism.” Because even if the sentence expressed hatred and disdain for black folks and called them niggers and coons and any other explicitly black-targeted slur, there would be people who said that it isn’t really racist until someone gets lynched. > > The OP seems to be one of those people. Well, I can’t speak for anyone else on this board, but if someone said something along the lines of “Black people are genetically inferior to lighter-skinned people” then I would say that that was racist, and I wouldn’t defend it at all. As far as I know, Anthony Cumia never said anything like that at all. In fact, he never used any of those slurs that you mentioned. (Not that I think that using any of those slurs necessarily makes someone a racist; I’m just pointing out facts.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381.md?page=6)