Geraldo Rivera Claims That ''Hip-Hop Has Done More Damage to Black and Brown People Than Racism''

Fox News contributor, celebrity Apprentice star, and Talk show host Geraldo Rivera apparently had a mouth full to say about Hip-Hop's "effects" on the black community earlier today when he stopped at HuffPost Live.

The conversation Geraldo had with Josh Zepps was definitely enough to make your skin crawl. He (Geraldo) seems to think that "Hip-Hop has done more damage to black and brown people than racism."

This coming from a man who hosted 'Geraldo', a controversial talk-show! Ha!

Geraldo favors immigration reform, gay marriages, abortion rights - he also deems himself a "militant moderate" when it comes to voicing his opinion.  Rivera did go on to explain why he thinks hip-hop has been more "damaging" than racism over the last ten years. 

Rivera stated: 

"Hip-hop has done more damage to black and brown people than racism in the last 10 years. When you find the youngster—a Puerto Rican from the South Bronx or a black kid from Harlem—who has succeeded in life other than being the one-tenth of one-tenth of one percent that makes it in the music business, that's been a success in life with his pants around his ass and with visible tattoos. It's this whole ethos." 

He continued to say, "And I love Russell Simmons. He's a dear friend of mine. I admire his business acumen. At some point, those guys have to cop to the fact that by encouraging this distinctive culture that is removed from the mainstream, they have encouraged people to be so different from the mainstream that they can't participate other than, you know, the racks in the garment center and those entry-level jobs, and I lament it. I really do. I think that it has been very destructive culturally."

Host of the Live segment Josh Zepps, who appeared to be completely thrown off by the rant, replies, "I don't want to go down an entire racial hole because there are a lot of potential explanations for why there is alienation in minority communities [outside of] hip-hop."

To which Rivera replied, "Oh, of course, but I think fashion plays a part."

Please, share your thoughts on this & leave a comment below? Has Geraldo gone too far? Perhaps this is the industry's way of giving us a replacement Joan Rivers? SMH!