Roland Martin Talks Racism at CNN

By: Taren Vaughan

Roland Martin holds back for no one as the outspoken journalist/political analyst has been known to be very vocal about his opinions and not being afraid to say what others won’t. And he is no stranger to speaking on controversial topics or striking up controversy himself as he got suspended by CNN for tweeting offensive comments about an H&M underwear ad featuring professional soccer star David Beckham that caused the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to come after him for what he said. And now Roland Martin has revealed that he is leaving CNN, his last day being April 6th, after being with the network for years. And when one of his Twitter followers asked him why he was leaving, Roland responded by saying “New boss wants his own peeps”, his tweet most likely referencing the new president of CNN Jeff Zucker who is a white man.

In an interview that he did with the HuffPostLive, Roland Martin elaborated on his thoughts and spoke on how he feels that white male executives don’t tend to take well to the idea of having confident minorities take on high paid positions as he speaks about the moment where he had to convince CNN to give him a shot with the network. And he says that all he wants to see is minorities given a fair shot at hosting on the network and the fear that the execs over at CNN have for taking the leap and giving minorities a chance:

“There’s this fear. There’s this fear of actually making the leap. And so I think apart of it is also the challenge that minorities have…You have largely white male executives okay, who are not necessarily enamored with the idea of having strong, confident minorities who say, ‘No, I can do this’. And I’m simply saying ‘Give folks a shot’…With CNN, I first talked to them when I signed in 2002. I said ‘Bring me on one time’. Not six times, one time. Trust me, you’re gonna have me back.’ Now you may call that cocky. But am I delivering? Am I bringing energy  past your excitement? Am I delivering? And that’s the struggle minorities come through. We deliver but we never get the big piece, the larger salary, to be able to get from here to there. I was, in many ways, sort of like a fish out of water at CNN because I didn’t come from that world view. I’m an Evangelical, from Texas, who believes in Jesus, who loves diversity. So all of a sudden, it’s like ‘Wait a minute, he’s not really a liberal. But he’s not a conservative. What is he?’ I’m a Black man in America. I bring a lot more to the table. And so you gotta talk about the stuff that people are out there discussing everyday. If you don’t, you’ll lose them.”

Roland Martin has hosted several specials on CNN during his career with the network and has brought in the high viewership that most networks are pressed to get, Roland also saying that he came to CNN with the intentions of one day getting his very own show. And Roland Martin says that if he has managed to pull in the numbers, also mentioning that he got a show on TV One that also raked in a sizable number of viewers, he doesn’t understand why he hasn’t been offered a show of his own. And when asked if he ever felt that CNN had a place for “A real Black man in America”, he says:

“I think if you ask the question now…Bernard Shaw left CNN as the top anchor how many years ago? Almost two decades? So tell me, who’s hosting a show? Who right now is in a position to get a prime time show? Who’s up there hosting specials?…The first four specials I hosted on CNN were religion ratings…Hosted four specials in 2008, did very well in the ratings. So please explain to me, if it’s a ratings game, and we won, how is it I never got a show?”

Peep the clip below and tell us what you think about Roland Martin’s comments: