Prof. Charles Ogletree Defends Late Prof. Derrick Bell On Alan Colmes Show

Since the Breitbart.com family of Big sites have lately devoted themselves to smearing the late Professor Derrick Bell as a “radical” who committed the unspeakable outrage of hugging our future president, some of the focus has fallen on Prof. Charles Ogletree, who joked to a lecture crowd that he had hidden the “incriminating” footage of then-Harvard Law Review President Barack Obama introducing Prof. Bell at a pro-diversity protest. Although the “Hug Scandal” has gotten very little traction in the mainstream media, Prof. Ogletree appeared on Alan Colmes‘ radio show to defend his deceased colleague.

The undertold truth about the Bigs’ bombshell isn’t just that it was a Nothingburger with extra mustard, but that the supposedly “hidden” tape (which has been available online since 2008, and even accumulated over a million YouTube hits before Election Day, 2008), but that the average American would probably come away from a viewing of the tape with a more favorable opinion of President Obama.

The same cannot necessarily be said of the late Professor Bell,

who has been smeared repeatedly, by the purveyors of this “scandal,” as a “radical” dedicated to the “overthrow” of America’s “White Supremac(ist) order.”

This smear is particularly despicable given the fact that Prof. Bell passed away in October, and is unable to speak in his own defense. Fortunately, there are some who remain with us to do so.

The one part of this whole story that actually is an exclusive is a clip of Prof.Charles Ogletree presenting the “hidden (on the internet)” tape to students at a lecture, and joking that he had kept it hidden (on the internet) during the 2008 election. Thus embroiled, Prof. Ogletree appeared on Alan Colmes’ radio show to set the record straight. He recounted the affection and admiration that Prof. Bell’s students had for him, discussed the misinformation surrounding Critical Race Theory, and among other things, told Colmes how he disagreed with Professor Bell’s central theory.

“I disagreed with Derrick Bell on his big theory,” Prof. Ogletree told Colmes. “His big theory was interest convergence; blacks can’t get anything done unless whites believe it’s in their own self-interest. I fought against that, but I’ve had a hard time finding examples of where we could get things done without some appeasement and support of whites.”

He also shared some anecdotes about President Obama as a

law student, whom Prof. Ogletree called “the smartest kid in the room,” and who would take over a class from his professor if you let him.

The silver lining here is that the smears about Professor Bell have really only appeared, uncontested, on the Big sites and on one Fox News program. This is the rare occasion where the truth is beating the lie’s brains out, as CNN and MSNBC have each done segments on multiple shows that pushed back on the misinformation about Professor Bell. This, however, os a welcome contribution from a man who knew Professor Bell.

Here’s the clip, from Fox News Radio:

I don’t know Breitbart.com’s Joel Pollak, but I suspect that he’s like a lot of conservatives that I’ve know, worldly and intelligent enough to know that Professor Bell was not a “radical,” yet disturbingly eager to present him as such to an audience for whom any discussion about race is radical, unless it involves “Democrat plantations,” Kenyan Mau-Mau socialists, or black people who are satisfied with Food Stamps and the Presidents they love. It’s a cynical exercise designed, at best, to promote conservative notions of victimhood by drawing (legitimate) accusations of racial fearmongering.