Tavis Smiley Bounces out of the Tom Joyner Morning Show.....Wow

by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com

Tavis Smiley just left the Tom Joyner Morning Show. If I said I was surprised, I’d be lying. The truth is that I wondered why Tavis’ days were not numbered from the jump, because his strong commentary wasn’t quite a fit for the style of The Tom Joyner Morning Show. Black people don’t mind black people being controversial, as long as the controversy only makes white people mad.

The Tom Joyner Morning Show is about being popular. That is what keeps the sponsorship money coming in, and that’s what keeps people bopping their heads to Kool & the Gang and going on the Fantastic Voyage cruise every year. Tom Joyner and Tavis worked together to make black people laugh, cry and think; the show was always fun.

But then Barack Obama showed up and Tavis Smiley suddenly appeared to be a hater.

I don’t know if Tavis Smiley is an official Barack Obama hater, I am not so quick to issue Advanced Playerhaterology Certification until I am sure it's been warranted. But Tavis certainly sounded like a guy with a grudge. Seeing one strong and popular brother turn his vocal gun onto another powerful brother just made black people sick. Tom Joyner doesn’t make money when black people get sick.

What is most disturbing is that reading between the lines led many African-Americans to feel that Tavis Smiley’s love for Hillary Clinton, in conjunction with his disdain for Senator Obama, was a function of Ms. Daisy having paid off the help to get some good black support. This is not to imply that Hillary paid Tavis, but there was certainly quite a bit of confusing asymmetry in the way Tavis dealt with Hillary vs. Barack.  Obama shot to the front of black leadership in a very dramatic way, and he never kissed the pinky ring of those in the Civil Rights generation.  To that extent, there are a lot of Clinton-tight African-American leaders who stand to lose a great deal if Obama is elected and Hillary is given the boot.

Having the backing of Black America is one thing. But being too boastful about it and assuming that you control the minds of millions of people is a dangerous game. Tavis sounded no different from a man grabbing his girlfriend by the arm and telling another male suitor, “This is my woman….I own all of thisssssssss…..”
No woman would want to hear those words coming out of her man’s mouth, and Black America is no fan of its leaders engaging in what appears to be a public shakedown. It reminds me of when The Tom Joyner Morning Show convinced its listeners to boycott Circuit City for not spending their advertising dollars in the black community. I suspect that the first place Circuit City sent a check for advertising was The Tom Joyner Morning Show, since that's how you call off the dogs.  Leadership can be tricky, since payments to the leader can be labeled as payments to the community.  They are not always one in the same.

The grammatical ass whooping that our readers put on Tavis after the Obama situation would have put the Michael Vick trial to shame. I honestly felt sorry for the brother, because he didn't deserve such embarrassment. I believe Tavis Smiley truly cares about black people.  The problem is that he also cares a great deal about his career and his power.  The State of the Black Union has never been the only venue for anyone who is anyone in Black America, but Tavis wanted it to be.  He tried to attack and embarrass every leader who did not show up at his debates, arguing that anyone who doesn't come to Tavis Smiley forums can't possibly care about black people.  I'm sorry brother, but that's just wrong and incredibly unfair.

I don’t hate Tavis, I actually respect him. But all indicators say that he hates me.  I also suspect that he is not so friendly with my homegirl Melissa Harris-Lacewell at Princeton, who was quite strong in her critique of Tavis' actions. That’s why I am no good at this social commentary game: you give one small critique and people think you hate their guts. Either way, I am going to keep telling the truth, since that’s one thing I do well.