Roland, TJMS, 01.11.10: Roland S. Martin’s Commentary on Sen. Harry Reid’s Comments

Roland you are making no sense here and are being very disingenuous. What Reid said was in no way racially “insensitive.” And Roland you have to know that. Reid said NOTHING that he needs to apologize for.

This does not compare in anyway to what Trent Lott said.

In my opinion, I think you Roland are being a hypocrite. I’m sure you have said the exact same thing. Anybody who knows American politics has observed the same thing.

Stop being used man by the Republicans to divide and conquer the Dems.

Honesty. Ok Reid said what you know is the truth. Trent believed in segregation. Also Steele himself said to attract blacks he would give them fried chicken & potato salad. Did you ask Steele to resign. Roland you know yourself alot of whites were saying they would never elect a dark skin black. Your own network on CNN proved that. Where was the resignation for the stuff Michelle Buchman has said, or the republicans standing on stage with racist remarks being said at tea parties & them acting like they didn’t hear them or see them. Republicans have been using race to their benefit and you just fell into their trap.

I’m surprised that Roland does not discern the essential differences between what Reid said (re: Obama) and what Sen. Lott said (re: Strom Thurmond). Lott’s antediluvian voting record probably played some part in black people’s harsh reaction to his statements. But that wasn’t the major gripe. Lott offered a retroactive endorsement of segregation. Reid merely stated an uncomfortable political truth about race. Partisan biases may indeed color our reaction to racial insults, but this was no example of that. Lott’s nostalgia for Jim Crow was insulting, Reid’s assessment of racial tolerance was not.

I think that Reid just voiced what many people, if they are honest were thinking. I am a Black American and love Barack Obama, I thought the same thing he said. He didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. Obama is light skinned and speaks well. Now the “Negro dialect” thing could have been worded better, but it is truth. We all know there is really a dialect associated with some Black Americans that would not have been accepted. I am a 52 years light skinned, well spoken woman who has actually been told to my face that I was hired to a supervisory job because of my skin color (all employees were black of course). It happens all the time. Maybe not as blatantly as with me but it does. People should move on. I am more offended by what the book had to say about Bill Clinton.

You know anything said to keep our health care plan unfinished! I am a dark skinned woman,
and I am well spoken and I do not feed in to some of this mess! I also teach some of our young
people of dark and light skinned people not take thier eyes off their prize! I am so disappointed at
how this counrty keeps nonsense on going when we need to keep people from blowing up our country!

I came to Roland’s website, after going to the naacp website to check the african americans view on this topic to see if offense was taken by Reids quote. And the best I can get is that it is just republicans kindling a fire that doesn’t exist. I’m so fed up with it,The statement was true. Partially, i fully supported Obama (after Hillary lost) But the color of his skin didn’t matter, BUT, if he did speak with an urban dialect I wouldn’t have voted for him. A position of elected magnitude has no biz speaking slang. There is no problem.

While Sen. Reid’s observations are probably politically incorrect, he was only thinking what we know mainstream America thinks of us. And that is that the light skinned black is somehow more acceptable and less threatening in their eyes than the darker black person.

When President Obama was running for his office, an article appeared in Advertising Age, a marketing industry newspaper. This article examined the marketing strategies of the Obama campaign and expressed a perspective as to why even hardened racists would vote for him. The prognosis of the piece was that President Obama’s complexion makes him “acceptably black” and therefore white folk would be comfortable enough to hear his message and place a vote in his favor….. They called it the Halle Berry test.

It tickles me to hear light skinned blacks express outrage at the remarks of Senator Reid. They are the same ones who teased and ostracized dark skinned blacks in the ‘hood, in church, at college…. There are still black organizations that only admit and support light skinned blacks. In the not too distant past, and in some cases this may still stand, but you could always tell the girls who pledged Delta from the ones who pledged AKA because the AKA’s were always lighter. This collegiate fact was spoofed in Spike Lee’s School Daze(‘Your just a jigaboo, tryin to find somethin’ to do… you’re just a wannabe, tying to be better than me….) We still find light skinned black families who caution their daughters to stop dating a dark man based on their own sensitivities about skin color within our race.

Roland,
Regarding why people with African-American sounding names may be getting fewer interview requests compared to their non-African American counterparts…..

I believe it’s related to the probability that the African-American was the beneficiary of some ‘special’ program, such as Affirmative Action or government training/funding, and that this drives a negative perception from the employer’s point of view.

Employers may perceive that the African American didn’t get their training or qualifications on their own, of their own initiative and financing, based on their own merit, talent, intelligence and hard work. Right or wrong, the employer has concerns such as:

- the African American candidate may be less qualified than the candidate who didn’t have the advantage of Affirmative Action
- he/she may expect ‘special treatment’ (e.g., tutoring received in school, etc) to continue in the work-place
- he/she may not be as committed to the job/career as someone who had to make it and pay for it on their own
- he/she may have a ‘victim’ mentality that just doesn’t cut it in the workplace

Just some food for thought.

lets not forget that you made anti semetic comments in the past. As you said, “Bloomberg Lacks Appeal to GOP Because He’s Jewish New Yorker”..

#2 you said on Cnn there are no black news anchors. How about Alan Keys who was thrownoff because he was a black republican. Has there been any Jewish American Presidents. Nope. If you are a commentator on all issues don’t forget Louis Farrakhan’s comments on Jewish or the pastor you defended who is anti-gay marriage. Gays are people just like Blacks Whites and Jews. You remind me of Jim Crow.

Frat, I love you to death. Not just because you ARE frat, but because you typically represent us well. But I must admit, you got this one wrong. The whole “Negro dialect” phrase was more a product of Reid’s age that anything else. Would it have been better if he had said that he speaks with an “absence of Ebonics, unless he wants to?” Don’t most educated Black folk from the “hood” speak one way among their college coeds and another when they return home to the projects. Heck, I’m a Black man and a law school graduate who was born and raised in the projects. I recall having to “dumb down” my conversations amongst many of my “boyz” from my block. I may not have changed my speech entirely around them, but there was always an obligatory Ebonic phrase injected here and there to show that I was still “down” despite my academic pursuits. Just about every intelligent Black person who had the misfortune of being born into a lower “socio-economic class” has had to endure the same. But, maybe your folks were middle class and you, thus, have no frame of reference for that. That’s not a knock. It merely underscores that we are ALL products of our environment. I personally wasn’t the least bit offended by the Negro word. And just how do you compare the words of Trent Lott with those of Reid. As James Carvelle said earlier today, that’s about like comparing murder to bicycle theft. I love ya ta death [see how easily I can traverse opposing nomenclatures], but the best I can ascertain is that you are a loyal if not open Republican espousing the approved Party talking points. I certainly hope that Black folk don’t “pull a Tavis” on you for this one. There’s one thing that I have found out since moving from West Virginia to the Atlanta area 17 years ago. A lot of people down here SPEAK in peculiar language patterns (and they call US “hillbillies”), but the way they speak is no clear indication of their intellectual capacities nor their political astuteness. By the way, I felt compelled to write an article about this subject on my blog today. The link I gave is to the article. Since I mentioned you, I felt it was only fair to advise you of it. I was critical, but respectful. Godspeed. http://is.gd/69I8E

Why are we still talking about names we call our race. Whether we a called NEGRO, BLACK , AFRICAN AMERICAN,we will still be treated the same. This is a talk we need to have with our family and friends. They are the ones this would help. Our children don’t need to have something else to be ashamed of. They should imbrace these names and to understand there orgins. What ever racial name we chose to embrace we should be proud. The NEGRO had to endure much pain and shame, but we endured. The BLACK empowered our souls, we persevered. The (AFRO) AFRICAN-AMERICAN became more engaged with the world and things around us. We fired up. WE are all these things. We should not try to deny any of it. But embrace it. We should not allow others to divide us. This reeks of Willie Lynch. Let’s not continue to fall into the same hole year after year.Whichever title I’m call it dosen’t matter, I love it all. Because GOD Himself love us, He made us and He said everything HE made is GOOD.