Tavis Smiley Obama Backlash
By now you've heard the rumor that Tavis Smiley quit the Tom Joyner Morning Show because of getting a tremendous amount of negative feedback regarding his comments on Barack Obama. Smiley has since refuted the rumors:
"Contrary to what has been suggested, I have decided to clear some things off my plate so that I can devote my time and attention to some exciting and empowering projects"
Madison Times
Tom Joyner had previously written this:
"The real reason is that he can’t take the hate he’s been getting regarding the Barack issue — hate from the Black people that he loves so much"
Tom Joyner's Blog
This has triggered a lot for interesting questions for me, the primary one being why are so many black Barack Obama supporters angry at Smiley's criticism of Obama? Surely it is ok to question and criticize anyone running for president. I am an Obama supporter however there are things in particular to cultural questions I'd appreciate clarification on. If anyone is to ask these questions, surely it is more appropriate coming from another black person, right? And at any rate can we really expect non-black folks in the media to be aware of or interested in asking Obama these very relevant questions? I wonder if the people angry at Smiley feel that in some way his probing questions are a form of personal attack on Obama, or in some way will cause people not to vote for him. Neither belief has any validity I feel. What do you think?
This blog entry written by Trula Breckenridge. Thanks for visiting Personal Growth for Black People!
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"Contrary to what has been suggested, I have decided to clear some things off my plate so that I can devote my time and attention to some exciting and empowering projects"
Madison Times
Tom Joyner had previously written this:
"The real reason is that he can’t take the hate he’s been getting regarding the Barack issue — hate from the Black people that he loves so much"
Tom Joyner's Blog
This has triggered a lot for interesting questions for me, the primary one being why are so many black Barack Obama supporters angry at Smiley's criticism of Obama? Surely it is ok to question and criticize anyone running for president. I am an Obama supporter however there are things in particular to cultural questions I'd appreciate clarification on. If anyone is to ask these questions, surely it is more appropriate coming from another black person, right? And at any rate can we really expect non-black folks in the media to be aware of or interested in asking Obama these very relevant questions? I wonder if the people angry at Smiley feel that in some way his probing questions are a form of personal attack on Obama, or in some way will cause people not to vote for him. Neither belief has any validity I feel. What do you think?
This blog entry written by Trula Breckenridge. Thanks for visiting Personal Growth for Black People!
Subscribe to Personal Growth for Black People by Email
Labels: Black Issues on Other Blogs, politics
posted by Trula at
12:44 PM
3 Comments:
This post has been removed by the author.
I think the problem people have with Smilely is that we didn't start to really hear from him loudly until Obama said he was not going to the "State of Black America" conference which was his conference. So his criticism seemed personal not professional or even political. Smilely came off as being angry because he didn't get what he wanted.
www.Happen2bBlack.com
My problem with Smiley is that, while criticizing Obama, Smiley is supporting Clinton.
Clinton's campaign pitted women against black men (courtesy of Gloria Steinem) and Clinton's campaign weakly denounced the belief that Obama is only successful because he's lucky to be a black person (a reference to affirmative action and an offensive disregard for Obama's many accomplishments by Geraldine Ferraro). I think in the last debate, Clinton even mentioned Farrakahn in an effort to scare white people. The list goes on.
Yes, questions should be asked about Obama and his flaws must be pointed out, but it has to be done by someone who will clearly point out Clinton's flaws too. And Tavis isn't doing that.
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