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Is it “Open Season on White People?”
The Evolution of a Loaded Phrase
“In Obama’s America, it’s open season on white people. The white kids now get beat up with the Black kids cheering.” — Rush Limbaugh
I can’t take credit for the title. I stumbled across it while listening to recordings of The Charlie Kirk Show. On the day of Kirk’s assassination, guest host Andrew Kolvet — joined by Libby Emmons — aired a segment under that headline, arguing that white people are under attack by people of other races. I won’t address Kirk himself here; that will come once more is known about his killer and his motives.
The theme was hardly new in right‑wing circles. In 2009, Rush Limbaugh used the phrase on The Rush Limbaugh Show after a video surfaced of a white student being beaten by a Black student in Belleville, Illinois:
“In Obama’s America, it’s open season on white people. The white kids now get beat up with the Black kids cheering.” — Rush Limbaugh
The local police chief initially framed the fight as racial, but later walked that back after reviewing the footage. In reality, both white and Black students were seen cheering, and others of both races tried to stop the fight. Still, Limbaugh’s framing was amplified…
