Dr. Cornel West Lectures Matt Bai On Tavis Smiley

Dr. Cornel West - acclaimed scholar and dynamic intellectual - appeared on PBS's Tavis Smiley yesterday, alongside Marc Morial (President and CEO of National Urban League) and New York Times Columnist Matt Bai. Matt Bai's New York Times, Aug 6, 2008 Magazine Cover story - "Is Obama the End of Black Politics?" - was a topic of debate on the program. At time of publication, Bai's piece was received by heavy and furious criticism from numerous African-American commentators. It was in this vein, that Prof. West took time out to lecture and educate Bai on the history, state and future of Black Politics. West also expressed discontentment with the racially-coded rhetoric numerous journalists use in justifying their silly quest for insight into the strange universe of Black politics. For full video or transcript, visit: http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/video/637.html and http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200808/20080829.html


Your Black World is the top black news and commentary site in America. You can find news and commentary from all the major networks: CNN, ESPN, BET, CBS, CNN, and on all African American leaders and public figures in black america: Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, BET, Hip Hop vs. America, rappers, Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, state of the black union, state of black america, naacp, rainbow push coaltion, the urban league, wendy williams, wbls, the tom joyner morning show, black america web, juanita bynum, akon, rick ross, kanye west, lil wayne, doug banks, michael baisden, hot 97, r. kelly trial, marc lamont hill, roland martin, black men, black women, african american men african american women, black issues, black commentary, black people, tv one, bet hip hop awards, henry louis gates, howard university, morehouse university, spelman college, black colleges, hbcus, alpha kappa alpha sorority inc, phi beta sigma, omega psi phi, black greeks, kirk franklin, denzel washington, will smith, essence magazine, ebony magazine, black enterprise magazine, vibe magazine, jay z, beyonce, king magazine, kobe bryant, lebron james, shaquille o'neal. Our enemies: Bill O'reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, The O'Reilly Factor.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• PBS
• Tavis
• Smiley
• Matt
• Bai
• Cornel
• West
• Barack
• Obama
• Marc
• Morial
• Black
• Politics
• New
• York
• Times
• Your
• World

[mrknowledgeispower1]

@mamacornettesmoney I can tell you're an American, Americans are not use to seeing smart people on television.

[jipoku]

@page371069 Every sociological study that takes up the issue of race [proves over and over again that it is a persistent problem. For black and white job applicants with te same resume, whites are hired at a much higher rate. Blacks with similar criminal histories get longer sentences than thier white counterparts. Even among black people, the darker the skin the longer the sentences. I think jobs and the criminal justice system are two things that affect the state of teh black community,

[torr5962]

Your comments may be true, but one can't say that things have not improved incredibly every decade since 1963. I think it does no one any good to think that the system is impossibly stacked due to race. West and Smiley are two that have made it via persistence, hard work, and good contacts. Both West and Smiley claim to be anti-establishment, yet they both deny that the apathy that exists in any community can hold you back more than the establishment.

[Sitwest123]

if cornell west knows so much....why dont he run for president and shut the hell up

[smitblow]

This man is a GENIUS ! ! BRAVO DOC.

[bigollameo]

@mrknowledgeispower1

I'm an American, and I can tell you this: you're ABSOLUTELY right.

[jslug3]

@jslug3

To continue, I am fed up with all this denial and we suppose to be a diverse country, when this country was built on a hateful nature.

You and others like minded individuals are so quick to say, "Go back to Africa " as a sad joke and show y'all poor judgment for words.

If it was that simple don't you think we will go back?

I for one would catch the first thing smoking back to my ancestral land, but powers that be would think that ass backwards and can't allow that.

[jslug3]

page 371069, you are entitled to your opinion, but how can you deny that there is still inequality economically,financially,and education wise in this supposedly "free" society?

You keep and many like you think that blacks just woke up with this problem.

Hell, If it wasn't for y'all greed, you would be justified for your comments, but it is not.

We did not denied anyone their history or freedom has we?

Don't come with that lame excuse I did not enslave your people and that BS.

[arronnov]

@blucinemafilms Its not that black people has gotten inferior education. Its the fact that we haven't gotten the proper education which means its suppose help us not get jobs but to secure our interest and survival before any other group. The education in the western white world that's control by whites is for the survival and interest of whites. That's why the cry for black only and controlled schools puts the fear of god into whites.

[page371069]

OH God.....Stop blaming white people. That state of the black community is the fault of blacks.

[Ryooken]

@blucinemafilms Actually I must disagree with you in this aspect, white culture has been inclusive in a way very much like the borg. I use this reference to not just because I like Star Trek but because it's totally applicable. White culture like the borg tends to take from the collective use it as if it were their own and disgards the rest as waste material. No where in white culture is there room outside the collective for competing cultures, you either submit or be neutralized.