Rush Limbaugh's "Or-Bam-eo" Slur

by Todd Gregory/Media Matters

Today on his radio show, Rush Limbaugh described a new Oreo that will have both chocolate and vanilla cream as a "biracial" cookie and said that "it isn't going to be long before it's going to be called the Or-Bam-eo or something like this." Limbaugh later called it the "Or-Bam-eo" himself.

Listen:

LIMBAUGH: Kraft foods is going to launch a new Oreo. You ought to see -- that got Snerdly's attention. It's a Triple Double Oreo. Do you like Oreos, is that?

Well, it -- what it's going to be here, it's actually a biracial cookie. You've got three of the chocolate wafers, and then you've got the white vanilla cream -- the cream -- and then there's a chocolate cream. So you've got, you've got three -- the stuff, the thing that says Oreo on it, the wafer. And then you've got the white cream, then you've got another chocolate wafer, then you've got the chocolate cream, and then you've got the bottom wafer.

The Triple Double Oreo. You wait, it isn't going to be long before it's called the Or-Bam-eo, or something like this. Well, it's a biracial cookie, here. And this story is from the Chicago Tribune, and it's all about Kraft's juicing up its investment in the Oreo in recent years. Legitimate businesses.

Do I know you get Oreos and ice cream? Yeah, I know that. I don't -- I'm not a big ice cream fan, but I know that you can do that. I know that you can -- you know what? What I heard the other day, McDonald's? You know these -- what are they called? Rolos, these caramel things that come in a roll that you get? McDonald's is putting those in their soft ice cream or shakes or whatever. I saw that the other day. Yeah.

In the midst of all this talk of obesity. And, I mean, every time Michelle Obama goes out there and talks about healthful eating, the food industry responds with, "Oh, yeah? Take this." And Kraft comes up with the Or-Bam-eo, the triple double-dipper.

OK, to the phones.

The Chicago Tribune article that Limbaugh was referencing mentions nothing about race, of course, and it certainly doesn't describe it as a "biracial" cookie.

Limbaugh is clearly aware of the use of the word "Oreo" as a racial slur.

In 2005, Limbaugh repeated the dubious allegation that former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele had Oreos thrown at him in 2002 while he was running to be lieutenant governor of Maryland.

Limbaugh was discussing NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb's statement that some criticism of his play was related to race. Limbaugh listed Steele among the "names of people that the NAACP has tried to destroy." From a transcript on Limbaugh's website of his December 15, 2005, show (subscription required):

LIMBAUGH: But Donny, let me tell you something. You know, you think you're a crusader here, pal, and on the football field you may be. But when it comes to forging progress for blacks, let me give you some names of people that the NAACP has tried to destroy.

Does the name Clarence Thomas ring a bell? Have you heard of Clarence Thomas, Mr. McNabb? Have you heard of Condoleezza Rice? Have you seen some of the cartoons that the mainstream press has written about Condoleezza Rice, talking about how she got where she got because she's performed sex acts on George W. Bush, portraying her as nothing more than an Aunt Jemima and accentuated her African-American features to make her look like a step-and-fetch-it idiot? Have you seen any of this, Mr. McNabb? Does the name Michael Steele ring a bell? Michael Steele is a lieutenant governor of Maryland, not far from Pennsylvania. In fact, it borders Pennsylvania. It's not far from Philadelphia. I don't know if you know about this, but he wants to run for the Senate, and the NAACP and the white liberal plantation owners of this country are out trying to destroy Michael Steele. They're throwing Oreo cookies at the guy when he goes out and makes a speech, and they're claiming he's "black on the outside, white on the inside." Does the name Thomas Sowell ring a bell? He's one of the most brilliant economists and writers in this country who is regularly impugned along with any other successful black conservative in this country by no less than the Reverend Jackson and others from the NAACP.