clyburn - Blogs - TheBlackList Pub2024-03-28T09:38:19Zhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/clyburnRoland Martin Is Not GLAADhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/roland-martin-is-not-glaad2012-02-09T05:29:48.000Z2012-02-09T05:29:48.000ZRaynard Jacksonhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/RaynardJackson<div><p><b>February 9, 2012</b></p><p></p><p><b>Raynard Jackson</b></p><p>I originally had absolutely no intention of writing about the recent flap surrounding TV personality Roland Martin, but because of the unfair treatment he has received; and his seeming inability to defend himself, I feel compelled to speak out.</p><p>Martin is a syndicated newspaper columnist, a political analyst for CNN, and host of his own TV show on TV One. During last Sunday’s Super Bowl, he tweeted: “Ain’t no real bruhs going to H&M to buy some damn David Beckham underwear! ..If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the sh@t out of him! ” and “I bet soccer fan Piers Morgan will be in line at H&M in the morning to get his hands on David Beckham’s underwear line! LOL.”</p><p> This was in reference to a TV ad with soccer star David Beckham shown wearing nothing but his underwear.</p><p>But, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (better known as GLAAD) had to rear its ugly head and do what they do best—defame others! According to GLAAD’s website, their mission, in part is:…”promotes understanding, increases acceptance and advance equality.”</p><p>Allow me to interpret what they mean. They want to promote understanding as long as they agree with your viewpoint; increase acceptance of their lifestyle; and advance equality that provides them a “special” legal status before the law!</p><p>GLAAD’s knee-jerk response to anyone who is a public figure that says anything that they disagree with is to call on that person to be fired; and then request that person meet with them. Why would anyone that you made lose their job be interested in meeting with you?</p><p>But doesn’t that go against their very mission—“to promote understanding?” Isn’t it more logical to call for a meeting with a person before you demand that their employer fire them? Shouldn’t you dialogue with a person before you start questioning their motives and intensions, if your true goal is to “advance understanding?</p><p>In the immortal words of semanticist, S.I. Hayakawa, “meanings are in people, not in words.” In short, words have no intrinsic meaning other than meanings that are internalized by each individual. For example, if I walked up to a female and told her that her dress was “stupid,” she would be either flattered or insulted. If she understood the language of Hip-Hop, she would be flattered; if she didn’t, then she would be insulted. “Meanings are in people, not in words.”</p><p>Just as disturbing as GLAAD’s demand for Martin’s firing was CNN’s suspension of Martin indefinitely. According to CNN, “Roland Martin’s tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being.”</p><p>But most disturbing is the loud silence from within the Black community, I know first hand that many of the so-called Black “leadership” were quick to call Roland to get on his TV show or to get him to write a supportive newspaper column about one of their causes. But, now that he is in trouble not one voice is to be heard supporting him. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Ben Jealous, Marc Morial, the Congressional Black Caucus—your silence is so loud!</p><p>They have allowed a few vociferous people to tar and feather one of their own. This is the real tragedy of this whole incident. I am totally embarrassed by the lack of courage from these Black “leaders.”</p><p>Roland, you are now learning who your real friends are and they are not as many as you thought. I am totally disappointed that you even issued an apology (but we all know that CNN forced your hand on that). Do you really need the money from CNN that bad that you are willing to back away from your own innocent words? If you do, I understand. I don’t like it, but I understand.</p><p>Just a side note here; why is it that GLAAD called on CNN to fire Martin, but did not make the same request from TV One, the network he has his own show on. Could it be that since TV One is a Black owned network, that somehow it is not viewed as having any value? Just a question!</p><p>Roland, remember these are the same Blacks who said absolutely nothing when Jim Clyburn was forced out of the House leadership to make room for Steny Hoyer. Again, the people he and you helped the most, said the least when you needed support</p><p>Gays don’t deserve special protection because of their sexual preference, but they do deserve equal protection because of their humanity. </p><p>GLAAD talks about promoting understanding and equality and at the same time set out to destroy any public figure who disagrees with them. Roland has never done this!</p><p>I have sometimes criticized Roland for some of his liberal positions on issues, but he is a very decent person and has worked for years to bring equality to those whose voices many times go unnoticed. There are two things for sure; I am not happy and Roland Martin is not GLAAD.</p><p><i>Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm. He is also a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine (</i><a href="http://www.excellstyle.com/"><i>www.excellstyle.com</i></a><i>), Freedom’s Journal Magazine (</i><a href="http://www.freedomsjournal.net/"><i>www.freedomsjournal.net</i></a><i>), and U.S. Africa Magazine (</i><a href="http://www.usafricaonline.com/"><i>www.usafricaonline.com</i></a><i>).</i></p></div>Jim Clyburn-edhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/jim-clyburned2010-11-18T05:15:57.000Z2010-11-18T05:15:57.000ZRaynard Jacksonhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/RaynardJackson<div><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">November 18, 2010</font></span></b></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000"></font><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><br clear="all" /></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Raynard Jackson</font></span></b></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">In the immortal words of civil rights legend, Fannie Lou Hamer, when will Blacks become “sick and tired of being sick and tired?” </font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Once again the Democratic Party has shown its disdain for the Black community and Black Democrats, as usual, just sit back and continue to allow it to happen.</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Blacks vote Democratic upwards of 92% during presidential elections and about 90 % during congressional elections. Can Blacks actually say they have received a sufficient return on their investment for that level of support? Of course not. So, why do Blacks continue to allow Democrats to marginalize and disrespect them?</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Jim Clyburn, Congressman from South Carolina and current Majority Whip in the House of Representatives (making him the 3<sup>rd</sup> highest ranking person in the Democratic Party) was seeking reelection to his leadership post until he was forced to withdraw last Saturday night. </font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">In the House, the leadership positions are: Speaker of the House (Nancy Pelosi), Majority Leader (Steny Hoyer), and Majority Whip (Jim Clyburn).</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Since the Democrats lost the elections, they have become the minority party, thus will lose the Majority Leader position. As opposed to finding a new leadership position in the minority, Hoyer decided to challenge Clyburn for this position.</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Not one word of protest from the first Black president of the U.S. Not one word from the first female Speaker of the House. Not one word from Hispanic members of Congress who constantly want Blacks to support their bids for amnesty for their people. </font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">On Saturday night Clyburn was forced to withdraw from his bid to become Minority Whip so that Hoyer could assume the same position. In exchange, Pelosi created a “new” leadership position so that Clyburn could have a position at the leadership table.</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Are you kidding me?</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Why is it that the Democrats always ask the Black candidate to back out of a race and not the white candidate? This is the same party that makes a regular point about how “racist” the Republican Party is supposed to be.</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Why didn’t Pelosi force Hoyer to drop out of the race? She could have created a “new” leadership position for him. This is the same party that, in September, tried to force current Congressman from Florida, Kendrick Meek, to drop out of his race to become the first Black elected U.S. senator from Florida. The White House asked Bill Clinton to pressure Meek to withdraw from the race and support the governor of Florida, Charlie Crist. Mind you that Crist is a white Republican turned Independent. Meek resisted the pressure and said no.</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">So, the Democrats care so much for the Black community that they wanted Meek to drop out of the race and endorse a de facto Republican. Again, where were the voices of the most loyal voting block within the Democratic Party?</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">What makes me most angry is the total silence of those in the Black community. Clyburn has spent 4 years as Majority Whip. During this time, Clyburn has done favors for many Democratic groups that have come to him for help. Where were the voices of outrage from these groups? Why didn’t they promise holy hell if the Democrats didn’t keep Clyburn in his leadership position?</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Where was Marc Morial (head of the National Urban League)? Where was Al Sharpton (head of the National Action Network)? Where was Ben Jealous (head of the N.A.A.C.P.)? Where were groups like the National Medical Association (Black doctors), National Council of Negro Women, Leadership Council on Civil Rights, National Newspapers Publishers of America (Black newspapers), The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, The National Association of Black Accountants, The National Black M.B.A.s, NAFEO, or all the Black Universities? </font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">I will let you in on a little secret. The reason why the Democrats continue to insult the Black community is because we allow them to. Democrats fear no retribution from Blacks. Obama has met with the Hispanic Caucus on several occasions to discuss amnesty for illegals. How many times has he met with the Black Caucus? Maybe 1 time! Obama fears the Hispanic community (and their votes); but has absolutely no fear of losing the Black vote; therefore, he felt no need to intervene in Clyburn’s race or any other issue of particular concern to the Black community.</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">To my Republican friends, this is a classic case for the value of diversity. Clyburn and Hoyer are both equally qualified for the position of Minority Whip. So, if all other things are equal, you have to give the nod to diversity, lest you have an all white leadership team!</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Everyone knows that I am a Republican. But, why is it that I seem more upset and insulted by the actions of the Democratic Party, than Black Democrats? </font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Clyburn is a very decent man and a great political strategist. I know he has been helpful to all of the above groups and individuals. He has extended himself tirelessly to help with their causes. But, yet none of these groups came to his defense. </font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">Blacks should have made it clear to Obama, Pelosi and Hoyer, that there would be hell to pay if Clyburn was challenged. Blacks are the most loyal voting block in the Democratic Party and they have nothing to show for it.</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><font color="#000000">When all is said and done, there’s more said than done.</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;color:#0000FF;font-size:12pt;">Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm. He is also a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine (</span></i><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:12pt;"><a href="http://www.excellstyle.com/"><i>www.excellstyle.com</i></a><i><span style="color:#0000FF;">) & U.S. Africa Magazine (<a href="http://www.usafricaonline.com">www.usafricaonline.com</a>). </span></i></span></p></div>