Roland Martin Goes One-On-One With Dr. Umar Johnson

[Music] all right Umar Johnson recently was on 105.1 FM of New York The Breakfast Club with DJ envy Angela Yee and Charlamagne tha God during the interview Johnson talked about a whole range of issues it led him being the talk of black Twitter last week a lot of people were questioning his education educational credentials now people ask me what can we expect from a Donald Trump White House for black America and an answer is real simple you can expect exactly what you got from a Obama White House absolutely nothing black people know they're not American but they will fight like hell to protect that identity because they don't want to be identified with who they really are and that's being African as long as you have a skill you can always feed your family but if all you got is college degrees you might end up in the unemployment line I'm a psychologist ain't too many black people running around looking for psychologists to reveal all the skeletons in their closet all right folks joining us right now dr. Umar Johnson welcome back to the show first and foremost um it was amazing look at this whole reaction I mean I'm sitting here you know again people asking all kind of question things are blowing up and so many people jumped on saying he's not a real doctor okay where did you graduate from and you got your PhD mm-hmm my undergraduate education was from Millersville University three degrees political science psychology master's in school psychology subsequent to that Pennsylvania certification as a school psychologist which I've been for most twenty years after that I got my educational leadership master's degree and principal certificate from Lehigh University in Bethlehem Pennsylvania and I earned my doctorate degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine American Psychological Association approved program one of the top psychology training programs on the East Coast six degrees and all and anyone can lift up a telephone and call and verify those degrees so when you see folks who who question your degree is your response it's because my narrative is a whole lot different from the average mainstream black scholar I don't parrot the narrative that the Americans shorter ones black scholars to parrot I tell the truth I don't scratch unless I Chand I don't dance unless I like the music and because they're not used to having someone with the traditional education posit non traditional views people will automatically start to question his credentials how did he get this far believing what he believes in well you have to play this book who sat by the door when I got accepted into those three universities they didn't know what I believed in they didn't know what I said stood for but as time went on it revealed itself but I'm unapologetically African so I'm really concerned what people think about me personally I have a job to do and that is to awaken the sleeping consciousness of African people not just in America but all across the world one of the things that of you said to during the interview you said that Mandarin was one of the official languages in South Africa yes sir and others said you were dead wrong yes because I didn't clarify that I was speaking of it being an official language in the public school system of South Africa so I should have clarified that Mandarin is an official language in a republic of South Africa's school system it's not an official language in the country it's an official language in the school system and I was speaking of schools but I didn't clarify that so that's my responsibility also during that particular interview you talked about a variety of issue that also got people talking one of them dealt with your views on interracial marriage yes sir and so I explained that the folks who did not hear certainly simply put any black man who is with a woman who's not an African herself is going to have a difficult time getting respect from me I believe black men need to be but black women the black family is under attack only one out of every four black women gets married the black woman is last likely to get married she's the last married the first divorced we have what two-thirds of our children being raised by working-class and impoverished single black female led households the destruction of a nation begins in a home of its families and if you want to save black people we have to save the black family so and in order to do that black men have to commit themselves to black women so I so when you talk about not getting your respect so which so if that's the case you're saying the Barack Obama excuse me president rock along to get you respect because his dad merda white well not at all what would Harry Belafonte not at all I want to be very clear about something as pan-africanist the product of an interracial union is an African I have heroes who are biracial some of the grandfather's of pan-africanism were of mixed racial ancestry you don't blame a child for how they got here but I'm asking you this here Harry Belafonte has a white wife no respect for him shitty whatever it doesn't matter it doesn't matter your social status oh no no no no I'm talking about the one who put the work right but you put him out no no I'm asking you so here Belafonte yes sir Sidney Poitier Julian Bond Vernon Jordan and you're naming all them to say what no these are all african-americans who have you ever done some good things not only marry white women any but you say it you know any any black man who marries a white woman will not get your respect and I respond yeah go ahead and what I'm telling you is this I don't care who you name I don't care how much work you did for black people your greatest commitment to black people is being committed to a black woman it is still a contradiction no matter how much you think you did for the struggle if you really were concerned with black people you would commit yourself to a black woman so it doesn't matter how successful they are it doesn't matter how great you may claim them to be at the end of the day you didn't think enough about your own people to marry a woman who looks like you Frederick Douglass yes sir an ancestor of mine so when you say ancestor what does that mean let me break it down because again some have said you tried to claim and that you are a descendant of Frederick Douglass okay so let's deal with that so hold on one second here's a statement from the family they go ahead and read this please a family Frederick Douglass has received numerous and enquiries about Omar Johnson questioning his relationship to Frederick Douglass there have also been questions about his legitimacy of his PhD and the handling of the donations he's received for his school that he is promoting we can tell you with 100% certainty that he is not a descendant of Frederick Douglass with that being said mr. Johnson is very careful not to build himself if they defended but he doesn't correct people when they refer to him in this way he calls himself a blood relative which is a nebulous reference designed to make people think he is we have researched his explanation of being a blood relative to the great abolitionist some of the information he provides is accurate but an extremely important piece of his explanation with regards to a documented relative of Frederick Douglass is false the information he recites correctly is from the public record so his knowledge of our family ancestry is far from definitive proof two things there one he's not a descendant of Frederick Douglass okay I would concur with that all right but then to you also heard that some of the things he says is correct so the question becomes he's either related or he's not okay so oil so are you related I'm about to answer your questions that allow me to do that I am a blood relative of Frederick Douglass my name is on the family true we have a family reunion every two years what they're talking about I want to make sure you're clear they're talking about whether or not I come through the loin of Frederick Douglass which I do not know I have I ever claimed okay I have more videos on YouTube than any other scholar I speak around the world more than any other scholar show me where I've ever said I was a descendant I've only claimed one thing kinsman Hollow my kinsmen if you ever read any of the autobiographies of Frederick Douglass he talks about growing up on Tuckahoe Creek with cousin Stephen cousin Stephen is Stephen Bailey dr. umar Johnston's four-times-great-grandfather whose grave I just visited last week I go every year okay that's my four-times great-grandfather he married my four-times great-grandmother Caroline Wilson belly from that Union came out three times great for grandfather George Washington Bailey the first black public school teacher on Eastern Shore Maryland he married grandma Annie they had grandma Caroline okay she had grandma Vivien grandma Vivien Meredith Spanish speaking Cuban immigrant Grandpop Cicero they had grandma Ida who's still alive who married James Johnson who had my father Jamal who married my mama Barbara and from that Union I was born I am a blood of beli I am not married in what they're talking about is strictly descendancy something I've never claimed am i akin do i directly come from the loin of the first cousin and potentially half-brother of frederick douglass and the reason i say potentially the slave master owned our family a white man named aaron Anthony raped four mother in raped Stephens mother my ancestor in his significant evidence to suggest that some people could still argue though that they were not brothers because it's not conclusive fine throw that out I'm still a kinsman because I come through the blood of his first cousin you talk about again respect you expect I don't talk about respect I can't administer expect nothing about that the respect Frederick Douglas obvious yes but he in a white wife he did so this one should have just I'm a clarify why is that an issue why why is that it if you put in the work and you have the history who cares what you man already answered that question I told you how much work you put in if you don't commit yourself to a black woman ultimately he wasn't totally committed to the struggle in Frederick does even Frederick Douglass has to be criticized as I did on The Breakfast Club now it has to be put in context he didn't married a white woman till he was an old man after his wife Anna Marie Douglass of 50 years of blue-black chocolate woman through whom all my cousins were born he was an old man when he did it but nonetheless he did it and yes he has to be criticized on that because a black man needs to be with a black woman and it is a contradiction I don't care how much work you think you done for black folks that not commit yourself to a black woman Oh tight was second I got more question become that I would argue the reason black men marry white women is because they wish they were white themselves and having the white man's prize his queen is a psychological symbol to myself that I am equal to him we're back with dr. Umar Johnson oh and one of the in that particular statement the family also dressed is here you talked about taking over the buildings or the land of a black of a black school that was shut down the expensive house covered and you were raising money for first of all how much money has been raised and what's the status of that project well st. Paul's has been sold approximately three to five months ago I was told by the auction company in charge of the sale that it was been sold to a developer so how much money was raised with the people people gave all having the baby good people gave how much was raised and what's the status of the eleven hundred thousand dollars and the statuses were still looking for a school and the statuses my start date for FDM G will be eight twenty one eighteen or if at all it may be delayed to 821 nineteen which is the anniversary than that turn of war we say looking for a school why not our charter school you can start a school because charter schools are owned by the state and I'm a pan-african it's I believe what is to be done for black people must be done by black people why do I want a charter school so you want so you want a private school exactly in all pendent school lon um so the question of racial marriage I mean come on man you're too smart for this we are 43 X powerful without 43 million black people in this country man over 190 million white people you gonna sit here and say that Blackbird last white person get married a black person white person get married one can't understand the other person struggle you've seen snotty my right you see Reverend Wallace it's very white people who understand racism just very well that doesn't be able to do anything about it it's a ball it's rules they understand racism when you see things like the murder of Medgar Evers like the mantlet the Canadian racism and what do they do about us gaining just fun and that's why murder has a story what so the idea that somehow a white person can't understand our struggle I don't care less what they understand I'm not like you what have they done systematically already holding that opportunity to ISIL he did not tell me yes you did tell you they not tell me that people tell me that guys like Tim Wise and Reverend Wallace don't on whatever alcántara why they don't understand raising mark particularly their racism so on has he done there are many people that only raise America there's not a way are you person you know that race in America there's not a white person going to you Jay is not a white person in America who has ever worked to systematically eliminate the white privilege that they benefit from visa video you are lying people in America gene oh we're not gonna we're not I thought to be a liar and you're cool it's a fact it's a fact it's a fact that I just think you better say my face like to say like to say that one or one filler everybody one second several things that don't allow I don't allow the inward eye on Laocoon we can talk to one of them disagree but I do not use racial epithets against and that's fine but you called me no no no no I learned how these great whites the racial epithets will not be used on this show and that's fine by anybody but how we taught up you can say whatever you want but no racial epithet will be used on this show about black people to black people Eugene your question so from your paradigm from your perspective so right act isn't an active white folk stepping up on behalf of black folk current criminal justice reform legislation moving isn't a current act of white folks stepping on behalf of black folks folks that funded the civil rights movement in the fifteen sixty isn't an act of white folks step I'm gonna have a black folks I'm sorry as an American because I define myself as an American at an african-american you do I live in a country that moves forward together I say that as a Republican we move more we're together yes we have individual struggle yes we have so with not talk yes no no yes we have talking about this don't we hire somatic course analysis you finish your 15 seconds and we have systemic struggles and together as a country moving forward to defeat those struggles really so based on what you said I want you to give me examples of white folk not individuals but systematically individuals me like a waiter am well that one second answer can I finish Jolley no okay I'm going okay you cannot name anything systematically done ever in this country by white people to equal to playing fill for black folks this civil right Congress literally sits behind us Civil Rights Act the ball in my where large Hall welcome are you aware I cannot whether that came out of you something else got ball deal quick I I think the the terminology and the narrative being used is a little misleading not from you but from this dialogue right here okay you know it's one thing to sympathize with the struggle it's another one to be to empathize with the struggle very different when you talk about marriage being a political choice and that one of the things arguments that you made that I can agree with is that that a if you don't marry a black woman then she can never support and comfort and value your day-to-day struggle as a black man that being said I do think that the the level of the rhetoric that you use in regard to your pan-africanism is is is difficult for many of us quoting the mainstream to get our arms around but this issue about black men and white women in the civil rights struggle is not a new discussion my mother was a civil rights activist in Chicago and she would often complain privately that one you can't sleep black you can't sleep white and talk black thank you well that's always been in the American struggle American African Americans struggle with ourselves the other thing is that we struggle with our own psychology about self-love and otherwise and if we get our arms around that that does make sense but you would have to say that you know 190 million people contributed to what was that did you add more tobacco that you'd have to claim voice on go ahead and I agree with what's my brother Simon brother Scott he brought up the civil rights bill but what he did not talk about in relation to the civil rights bill is there were two words included in that bill that ultimately served to take away from black people what that bill was intended to deliver they added gender and they added sexual orientation and as a result of that white women and homosexuals have been able to strip black America from the intended gains of the Civil Rights Act so there was still racism in that bill if you will study that fish so my question was did anyone has any one black it was systematically I mean any one white ever system that I've done anything systemic systemic white America you know every LBJ would be the answer to that I was not you the government no I don't think you have to somatic move no you didn't hear the question I love the hair no you did not may I didn't yeah it's so quick to defend white you're not little oh my child away 45 seconds so retake the question and give the answer oh god what about an answer the question was mm-hmm what has white America done right not individuals systemically cannot wonder let me finish yeah because your that in love with white folks you don't even let me point on evidence finish none 327 there's no big oh there's so many 20 seconds I'll finish no I mean 20 seconds I would say that the panel that you have here who are extremely intelligent not represent the everyday black man and woman struggles and because of that they cannot attend you represent 43 million sorry days on TV one I will never lie to you oh my god Rowlands mark he doesn't want to talk to us he wants to ignore oh hey that ain't no credit vote unapologetic no no that is fundamentally false you are wrong good bill he wants an America where we all look alike me talking about black people unrelenting better go work out because you got to fight on your hand one now with Roland Martin weekdays at 7:00 a.m. on TV one

Channel: Roland S. Martin

Views: 6,582,895

Keywords: NewsOne Now, Roland Martin, Breakfast Club, Dr. Umar Johnson

Id: a2vHwDvgUWI

Length: 18min 13sec (1093 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 10 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/Octapa]

To be fair Umar Johnson's a bit of a nutter.

[u/ruehafu20]

You think Asians give a damn about you if you're a hapa? Why would a hapa fight for pan Asian ethnic interests? Asians aren't a single people. So odd, you're American right? Weird thought process.

[u/[deleted]]

Not necessarily a hapa topic, but I just thought you guys would appreciate this story anyway, because it's similar to this:

So I have a LF friend who is not white-passing. She is married to a rich, white Anglo dude who is kind of a wigger. Anyway, long story-short, she's become an activist for Latino/Black rights (like BLM, that whole thing), and is a militant vegan. She talks ad-naseum about white-privilege (which yes, I admit exists because I see it every day in America), but the part that really makes me roll my eyes and doesn't make me take her seriously is that she directly benefits from white privilege every single day through her husband:

*Constantly posts on Facebook every day about how all whites are evil, yet goes home and fucks one every night and has two white-passing children.

*Husband is a highly-paid producer for a popular tv series on cable. Most-likely got the job because he happens to be white.

*Is able to not have to work, sit at home on the internet all day bitching people out on Facebook, and raise her two very Aryan-looking (blond-haired/blue eyed) white sons while her husband is out there taking advantage of his white-privilege to make sure that she is able to.

*Talks about how "woke" she is all of the time, and uses this to bash people for wearing dreadlocks or eating meat.

Because of all of this, how can anyone take her messages seriously? Honestly, as crazy as Umar is, he does have a point. It's also the same with the Tupac and Madonna thing. Or Asian "feminists" who are married to white guys and whine and complain against white-privilege themselves? All of these women in white marriages are directly benefiting from white privilege.

[u/[deleted]]

Umar Johnson is a nut. He actually claims blacks are responsible for the advancement of ancient China and Japan. But hes not really that wrong on this issue. I dont think AF from WMAF nor AM from AMWF should speak on the behalf of the Asian community.

[u/ruehafu20]

It's like an American thought process of if you're not White that makes you a "person of color" who are all united and its so weird and shallow and politically motivated.

[u/The-beat-man]

Umar Johnson like many pro-black activists is single and unmarried.

[u/Igotlikesixaccounts]

Except most legit activists do more good than 95% of the population and who they fuck is the least important aspect of their character.

Fucking Americans man. "Hey I respect what you do, but then I found out you're dating a white person, so you're kinda trash now."