Whites More Likely to Be Drug Addicts Than Blacks; So Why Do Racial Drug Stereotypes Persist?

Since Whitney Houston's death from circumstances still undetermined, the media attention on drug abuse, alcohol and addiction has exploded. Houston, whose career spanned three decades during which she garnered numerous awards and is still the only artist to score seven consecutive Billboard number one hits, reportedly had a history of drug and alcohol problems that news commentators have highlighted in their reporting about the continued impact of legal and illegal drugs. But the way some commentators have discussed Houston's death has exposed the extent to which racial stereotypes still color national discourse.

On Fox, criticizing Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters' comments that House Republicans are "demons," Eric Bolling said: "What is going on in California? How's this? Congresswoman, you saw what happened to Whitney Houston. Step away from the crack pipe. Step away from the Xanax. Step away from the Lorazepam. Because it's going to get you in trouble." Bolling later said he was "kidding about the crack pipe," adding, "but obviously the rhetoric, you know."

Bolling's colleague and co-host, Andrea Tantaros, dismissed the criticism over Bolling's racially charged comments, asking, "How is that a racist remark?" She went on to say: "I believe that white people are also addicted to crack, not just blacks. And if I'm not mistaken, Whitney Houston, who was a beautiful, talented singer, was addicted to crack....When you inject race into everything, you legitimize when people are actually, really, genuinely making racist remarks, which Eric Bolling was absolutely not doing." She further stated:

TANTAROS: On the other hand, Maxine Waters decides to call Speaker [John] Boehner and [Rep.] Eric Cantor "demons." OK. I don' t see how that's acceptable. I'm not going to inject race somehow and say she doesn't like white people. I wouldn't do that. … I'm just so sick and tired of people injecting race and people injecting gender and people injecting religion into this debate. I'm just sick of it -- really am. And Eric Bolling meant nothing by it.

The L.A. County Democratic Party has called on Fox to fire Bolling. As the Los Angeles Times reported, chairman Eric C. Bauman called Bolling's remarks "insensitive and inappropriate" and a "horribly offensive characterization of a longtime member of Congress." Bauman added: "At worst … Bolling's comment oozes racism, which serves to discredit a strong African American woman by perpetrating racial stereotypes. Regardless of whether this remark was deliberate or offhand -- it was irresponsible, despicable and reprehensible."

On their Los Angeles radio show, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou referred to Houston as a "crack ho" and wondered why her death "took this long":

KOBYLT: So, how much of a pain in the ass do you think she was? Can you imagine -- you're Clive Davis, and she has not been -- she hasn't had her head screwed on right for 20 years? And at some point you're just sick of it all. And so is everybody else in the industry -- all her friends and hangers-on, just everybody who knew her had to deal with this and were like, oh. Jesus -- 

[…]

KOBYLT: Here comes the crack ho again, what's she going to do? Oh, look at that, she's doing handstands next to the pool. Very good, crack ho, nice -- but -- after a while everybody's exhausted. And then you find out she's dead. It's like, really, took this long? I am just saying that's the natural reaction, people get worn out by this stuff.

Kobylt and Chiampou were subsequently suspended for what the station, KFI AM 640, deemed "insensitive and inappropriate" comments. The hosts apologized.