Stephen A. Smith GOES OFF On SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ruling | Roland Martin

all right folks so um in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision uh preventing race from being used in college admissions oh my goodness uh these uh White conservatives are just loving this they're beside themselves and and and I love it when they talk about married married it shouldn't be about race it's about marriage see whenever it involves black people or Latinos or Native Americans in some case Asians they always go look we should not this cannot be about race yet whenever it involves folks who are white they are stunningly silent silent when it involves them it's sort of like and I say it all the time I say it all the time um you'll see a story and they'll say uh the president meets with a group of black pastors but when it's a group of white pastors they don't say nothing they just call them pastors and so it's always curious uh when that happens um and I sort of crack crack up uh when they do that um and so I've been watching all these takes in the past weeks as the Supreme Court rendered their decision and one that caught my eye was last night on Fox News will Kane formerly of ESPN had on his uh former colleague Stephen A Smith they were on the show together and because Stephen A had discussed this uh on um His Radio Show so so kick out of this almost eight and a half minute interview not because of cuz I've said press play First Take on ESPN joins us now Stephen a great to see you man what's going on buddy how you doing man you want me to just go right at that clip is that how we should do this we just start right there feel free okay let's go up here I know you are the problem is Stephen A in in truth when it comes to Justice there is no such thing as black America and White America there are only individuals okay and so when you assign copare see it's already already that boy starting offline uh he already starting offline will you lying see I love the Utopia when they say no there are no see that shows up like the Obama speech there are no blood there are no black Americans there are no there are no red Americans no blue Americans there's just the United States of America that sound cute it sounds cute and wonderful it's so like the people when they respond to Kings I Have a Dream speech they always like oh it's the content of character and oh why can't all all little boys little girls hold hands but they are silent when it comes to redlining they're silent when it comes to discrimination they're silent when it comes to uh uh home values in black and census tracks largely black they're silent when you talk about the health disparities between whites and blacks they're silent about all of those things but no they're just a collection of individuals that has always been a lie in this country press play ability to individuals of the past to individuals of today they're simply nothing to hold anyone accountable for why do I pay the pay the price for the sins of the past and you reap the benefits in the case of affirmative action why do I pay the price for the sins of the past and you reap the benefits I want y'all to remember those words I want you to remember those words press play you had affirmative action but you as a black man would reap the benefits of affirmative action for the sins committed on someone of the past we are only in the end Stephen A individuals um well I was first of all I get where you're coming from and I can understand how you would look at it that way you have to respect the fact that I have a different cultural background a different experience than you and I might feel a bit differently about it what I would tell you is this there's so many people and people that have been supportive of the Supreme Court's latest ruling of the mindset that blacks were getting an unfair Advantage what black people would contend to you is that it wasn't an unfair Advantage remember race was a consideration one of many considerations that would be taken into the equation when you talk about college admissions and I think ultimately diversity equity and inclusion is next personally when you think about some of the things that have been taken taken place in Corporate America but it wasn't that it was an effort to sort of make an effort to even the playing scales to some degree because of the iniquities exactly against the African-American community in this country it wasn't about giving them an advantage it was about highlighting the fact that they were discriminated meaning we were discriminated against at that particular moment in time and that's why the policy was instituted to begin with so when folks are walking around acting as if there is a reason to celebrate and I'm looking at folks that will feel that are feeling like somehow some way they've been shortchanged my mentality is wait a minute the policies were implemented to begin with because the African-American Community was being shortchanged and they were being not denied the same privileges or the same opportunities that were accorded to white folks in America what I would say to that is you do not solve past discrimination by present or future discrimination and there was certainly injustices under the banner of affirmative action inflicted upon individuals whether or not they'd be white or Asian American start right there really we'll just say it there were injustices inflicted upon white people and Asian Americans and when it comes to affirmative action Wheels came let me ask you this question who has been the greatest beneficiary of affirmative action since its Inception white women white women across the board in college admissions in Contracting it is without a doubt white women and the white children they have borne bore and their white husbands and their white parents and white grandparents have been the been the greatest beneficiary of affirmative action sits its Inception that's a fact but that's what happens will when you actually read you seek true information press play Harvard in the situation in Harvard an African-American student in the top 50 percent of his academic class Stephen A had just as good a chance as an Asian student or a white student in the top 10 percent of their class does that just is that just discrimination no and by the way if you you know and I'm sure you did listen to my podcast and I appreciate you doing so if you recall I did not say you know what I did not say that it wasn't discrimination I acknowledged the fact you didn't see me you didn't hear me speak against you know anyone from the Asian community that had brought that case uh to the justices I understood where they were coming from my argument was against folks in White America that would say even the you know presidential candidate Donald Trump talking about now we get back to our merits you know a society based on Merit ignoring what brought affirmative action policies into play to begin with we have people in White America acting as if they don't know how it came about so somebody from the Asian Community or the Latino Community they had an issue and they felt that they well they they were they they denied an opportunity that's a different argument than white America coming up and saying we don't feel that we've been treated fairly when the unfairness was exacted by white folks in America well that's where you and I go full circle and get a little bit stuck in the mud because I will refer to talking about individuals individuals whether to be white or Asian can be the victims of Injustice and discrimination but I do want to ask you a sincere question in the 1970s in the 1970s when the the the the the program of affirmative action was implemented Stephen A at that time the Supreme Court of the United States said there would be a day when it would no longer be required when they re-upped it in 2003 they anticipated another 25 years of affirmative action well we came just short of that it's been 22 when it's been uh 20 21 years since that decision was made at the Supreme Court the question is even if you're making up for past sin Stephen A when does it come to an end when uh hell will that ain't hard it comes to an end when you have actually seen substitute of change on the federal level of 560 billion dollars being spent every single year African-Americans receive 1.67 of federal contracts 1.67 you've heard me say before when Maynard Jackson became the mayor of Atlanta African-American businesses in a majority black city were receiving point zero zero one two percent of City contracts it wasn't they could not do the job it wasn't they were not qualified it was because of being frozen out because of a white lead system that control the money Maynard Jackson changed that will Kane that's why when Maynard Jackson left the mayoral office after his first two terms he literally could not be high Spirit by a what what is called a white shoe law firm in Atlanta because they were angry and he dared to challenge the very system will loves to sit here and talk about oh my goodness affirmative action and and and and and how must this thing how much longer we wait taking a to account uh this right here uh when you talk about uh this issue of private equity in this country nearly 99 of the trillions of dollars that are in private equity are controlled by white people mostly white men yet when you look at studies the studies actually show and if you actually go to this study uh right here this is from 2017 examining the returns the financial returns of diverse private Equity firms this report shows that diverse firms black being led by black folks and others they outperform white LED firms yet the black and minority firms are capped and not able to access more dollars will Kane kept talking about Merit where I come from if you actually are doing better than somebody else then you should be able to get to manage more money that's not how they actually do it they cap them when President Obama's was President I was called to a meeting at the treasury Department I was told that black and minority firms when it came to the management of tarp funds outperformed white private Equity firms Roland said I guess that means the black minority firms about to access more money for the treasury Department the two brothers talking to me went quiet see again we'll if y'all want to have a married conversation oh brother we can have a married conversation all black folks are saying it was what James Brown said just open the door and I get it for myself but y'all don't want to really have a mere conversation do y'all I don't think you do press play do we stop discriminating on the basis of race when people in positions of power have proven that they're exercising fairness come hella high water it's really really that simple I'm so glad that you asked that question because it is possible to Define there's there's no well again but again when you're looking at numbers for example why do we say why did Yale in the in the 70s sit up there and say we want 10 of our student populace to be made up of minorities you know why because they knew without those rules those laws in place they didn't anticipate that that would be allowed in today's Corporate America you still have folks you have black folks being paid less than white folks you have black women being played less than white women you have white women obviously deserving a lot of opportunities that they obviously richly deserve they're getting paid less than white men every turn there's a level of unfairness that's being exercised it changes that is the law as opposed to somebody's conscience but you're describing all those differences to race when there's so many different contributing to factors into why Corporate America may look a certain way you and I both love really go to my iPad right here study reveals how white households headed by High School dropouts are three times wealthier than black families led by a college graduate a shocking new study reveals white American High School dropouts three times likely the study also found that white college students receive more free financial handouts from their parents than their black counterparts black families overall are also less likely to receive a healthy inheritance payout see I love how will Cain tried to do a little dance like oh no no no there are other factors yes will there are other factors because it's likely white boys like you who are in power who then are providing and giving jobs and opportunities to folk who are non-black uh oh did I actually just say that did I say earlier that Stephen A is a former colleague a will at ESPN here's a perfect example will Cain keeps talking about Merit he keeps talking about marriage what gets you there if Merit is actually used will Cain should have never been hired at ESPN oh I'm sorry shall I break it down will and I were at CNN together was Will Kane ever a reporter nope columnist nope what was it a lawyer who bought a couple of media companies did Will Cain do what Roland did and that is appear for free for four and a half years on CNN and MSNBC and fox and bet and Court TV nope he hires an agent that gets him a job the white people at CNN in Washington DC were mad that he got hired how do I know I overheard them say where he come from who hired him oh how did Will K know they said it because I told Will oh yeah I said will the DC folks wonder how you got hired where you came from they questioning why are you here I told him that well we were shooting a pilot in DC so when his time at CNN ran out all of a sudden you look up wheels on ESPN wait a minute hold up how should we okay no ESPN that's will Kane ever played Sports hell no not a professional has will Kane ever reported on Sports hell no so how did Will Kane get a job at ESPN oh y'all might see I'm hating I'm not we get along I destroyed him all the time with his silly arguments he was a nice guy people the University of Texas I'm on the Texas A M but here's the whole deal go to my iPad this is Will Kane's bio go to the bottom here it says Kane has served as a contributor for National Review against hosted ABC's the view in msnbc's way too early he has appeared on Fox News MSNBC Morning Joe HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher he's a licensed attorney in Texas resides in New York City it says right here before entering television Kane Finance bought and sold two digital and print media companies uh and explains what that is nowhere in here does it say will Kane has any Sports Experience whatsoever so how did Will Kane be hired at the worldwide leader in sports because his agent was Nikon and who was Nikon the most powerful agent at CAA who now is the CEO of the WWE so let me explain to y'all how this system works in television see when you really ain't got no Talent so but you got an agent the agent represents other people and the agent tells the execs yo listen here if y'all want to resign my person you got to pick this person here up that's how will Kane got hired at ESPN because Nick Khan got him hired if we're talking about Merit will Kane should have never been hired to host anything at ESPN cause he had no background he had no history he had no literally no expertise in sports so how was he sitting across from Stephen A on First Take he did ESPN and left ESPN and got signed the Fox News well how did that happen because he got the ESPN job he got the ESPN job because of CNN job well how'd you get to see an end job cause you got the hook up no experience whatsoever but now we won't talk about Talent and now we want to talk about well how do these things change when do they change well black people will would love to ask when does the world change when black people who do who are mediocre get great opportunities will to host National shows you got a great head of hair but let's be honest your resume does not say you have the the requisite experience to be discussing National politics there's nothing in their resume that says that nothing but we know how this works that's how Abby Huntsman got hired at CNN that's how Abby Huntsman got hired at MSNBC it's like Abby Huntsman got hired at Fox News because her daddy was the governor of Utah no Talent no skill set with Megan McCain no Talent no skill set but my father my father my father my father my father my father my father do me a favor will Cain show me a black person with no Talent no experience who all of a sudden gets hired for all of these major jobs that's how you have a disparity in this country when it comes to income that's how how you actually see uh how white privilege Works in America will came because you can't point to anybody black with a similar resume we had the same rise as you or Tucker Carlson or Abby Huntsman or Megan McCain and I can go on and on and on and on and on I can even go back to the days of Catherine crier Hussein and hired as a news anchor sitting next to Bernie Shaw and all she was before was a Texas judge had never worked in a local market had never was a one-man band had never gone out to report all of a sudden she became a main anchor she was cute and exec liked her press play of sports we both debated in sports I could play turnabout as fair play and go why aren't there more white NBA players that must be uh that must be discrimination but we both know the answer is because Merit has dictated who's in the NBA and whatever's happening in society and I would never Stephen A I would never see it and say every decision made is purely based upon Merit but we see we aspire to that we aspire to that right and I think that the Supreme Court's decision has been a big leap forward in getting to where we judge Things based upon Merit stop right there say right there okay see here we go again so he decides to bring up the NBA I could flip it and say you know why you don't have as many white basketball players because it's real simple Reverend Jackson has made this point for years Reverend Jackson has said if the rules are clear and they're published and we all on equal footing black folks ready to roll he said do you know why black hole is able to compete in the NBA he said because the goal is 10 feet high whether you're in Madison Square Garden whether you're in the Forum well then the Toyota Center whether you're in a high school gym the distance from the free throw line is the same everywhere you go from the three-point line it's the same you get the same timeouts I get the same timeouts you get five I get five traveling is traveling double dribble is double dribble the rules are clear and the rules are published so when y'all talk about Merit the bottom honest is here black folks say oh we gonna kill that when it's clear why is singing in the same way hey you either can sing or your ass can't sing You Can Be off-key You Can Be On Key we understand that when the rules are published and the rules are clear and we absolutely can go one-on-one yo let's roll that's why we can compete in track and basketball and football in baseball but see here's what happens that will doesn't want to deal with here let me use baseball as an example it's a lot of black kids with baseball talent but they don't have the resources to hire the private coaches they don't have the resources to play essentially professional ball on the traveling teams they don't have the specialized coaches and so even though you say oh no no no but the rules are published the rules are clear we're all equal but we're actually not equal because we start talking about resources we're not in the same ball game when we talk about education the will canes of the world do not want to own up to the reality and even the education system is rigged differently will Kane is a graduate of the University of Texas there was some white University of Texas folks who who were angry when black students are going to be first admitted it was uncovered a few years ago in the documentation where they found the president of the UN UT said y'all don't worry about it we've discovered our secret weapon we ain't got to worry about these black students populating the University of Texas and they said what are you talking about we know what the law is brown first Board of Education being desegregated what are you talking about he said we don't have to worry because we've got standardized testing he literally said we know that they gonna be limited because of the implementation of standardized testing because they do not do well on standardized testing I dare you to look it up will Cain it's right there so we all talk about Merit the rules are clear the rules are open and that's why a wheel cane could get hired at an ESPN because his agent hooked it up cause the rules ain't clear the rules ain't published because you got no skill set you can't even carry the sports bag of a Stephen A Smith or Jamail Hill or any of the black folks who are there because there are actual journalists yet you were up hiding and hosting on ESPN even though you did not have the requisite credentials to be able to sit in that chair so here's ESPN elevating you yeah we're barely seeing Howard Bryant when Howard Bryant has authored numerous Sports books written numerous stories is one of the most profound Sports writers of Our Generation yeah you sitting there hosting the show right now on Fox News and you want to talk about Merit press play well you would say that and I would say to you that the power structure in the United States of America is still predominantly white and so as a result what White America is asking you to do is immediately to trust that your heart is going to be in the right place and there are a plethora of people throughout minority communities in this country who would challenge that and would say no we don't necessarily believe that to be the case which is why we need the laws to help us when you bring up Sports and you and I have argued back and forth as friends and brothers talking about the World of Sports and some of the iniquities that have taken place you can bring up an NBA for example I can point to something called the meritocracy because I see their performance on the court just as much as you do there isn't some curtain it isn't some glad proverbial glass ceiling we're literally witnessing it but when we look at the NFL for example the Rooney Rule was still in existence this is the number one professional sports league in this country why is the Rooney Rule still in existence because we've seen one opportunity after another after another where capable qualified black individuals will bypassed because of the system that was in in place primarily run by white individuals who asked us to trust them but to prove they weren't worthy of the trust that they requested and so those are the kind of challenges we have to deal with as a country and there's just no way around there we can make it better is people like you ever sell for myself talking about it honestly and openly I agree and and I will say that I think that the mistake that we often make and where you and I find our debate is whether or not we ascribe all those differences to the the big factor being race listen um next time so here's where we get you to hold me to this whole deal he sat here and you know he didn't want to address the Rooney Rule see because will Kane didn't have to address wait a minute hold up if black folks are so successful on the field why is that opportunity is off the field see they don't want to deal with that so you notice how he he got uh uh uh he got real quiet because see they don't want to have to confront that I sat there and listen to eight and a half minutes of that debate and what's interesting to me is I sat there and I listened to will came talk about Merit Merit Merit Merit individual why we gotta use race and this never came up study on Harvard finds 43 of white students or Legacy athletes related to donors or staff the numbers drops dramatically for black Latino and Asian American students with less than 16 percent each coming from those categories the study fine so will if you want to talk about why are we focusing on Race why do you ignore race here why are you so silent on Race here oh could it be at those white students if it wasn't for legacy 75 of them would never get in And since you want to talk about race or you don't want to talk about race the same Legacy says and if your daddy or your mama or your grandfather your grandmother or your great grandfather your great-grandmother attended the institution you get points for legacy well guess what how many black people were able to attend many of these schools so that means a significant number thousands millions of white kids across America Harvard Yale in the past at your alma mater wheel University of Texas and my alma mater Texas A M Legacy was allowed so white students today are benefiting from Jim Crow and getting credit and black students are unable to do so but you want to talk about marriage why did you not bring up Legacy and why all of these white conservatives silent on Legacy oh because the beneficiaries of Legacy are white students are white kids who are grossly unqualified and then he goes well you know I don't quite understand Stephen A you talk about these things and and then we talk about you know the you know you know but what's the impact see this here see remember y'all he started off talking about no they're individuals we're we're individuals they're they're not groups I don't see Greg and Reese and Candace uh and Randy coming up I don't see them as for black people three black women and one black man I see them as individuals well guess what the how the home appraisal industry does not see us as individuals because it's amazing how we still have widespread racism in the Housing Industry New York Times article for November 2nd 2022 widespread racial bias found in home appraisals researchers found evidence of a persistent practice that gives higher values to homes when the occupants are white and devalue them if the owners are people of color that's a fact why is it that black people in this country will have never had home ownership hit 50 it's because the because it was the it was the home industry it was the folk the mortgage brokers who created redlining and black folks weren't unable to buy in areas and then if they were able to sell their home for values far less and so therefore white folks were able to see so you see wheel this is what happens when you're dealing with a smart brother okay and this is why this story is so important right here it's because see the housing store from New York Times it's affected by this story here because see we'll when the white students get Legacy and get a leg up to go into colleges and the black folks don't they're able to get college degrees then when they get a hookup like you did to get hired at the espns of the world where they don't have the skill set they're able to then make a large amount of money in those jobs so your black your black journalists they don't make uh the six figures and the Seven figures like you are making they make in the low six figures or make the five figures which means they can't buy larger price homes and then when you get to sell your home you sit at a higher value you get to pocket those proceeds and then invest that money which allows for you to then be able to buy media companies and to do more if this black person is isn't able to do so and so then it's the same case when the black person can't get that high job yet they have a college degree but then white high school dropout is making more money to them but then you say I see individuals and this will is what we call systemic racism and we were talking about how do we correct the wrongs of the past what do you want is for us to continue the system of we're now on the same Field playing field no we're not because if you even look at your own story if you were actually honest with yourself will Cain you know you had no business being on ESPN and no business right now being at Fox News because it wasn't Merit so the day y'all want to have a merit discussion please by all means let's have a legacy conversation if y'all want to have a married conversation please by all means let's talk about how white folks in Silicon Valley can go pitch an idea on a napkin and go raise a hundred million dollars or when this firm could raise 200 million dollars for a messaging app and 95 of the users are fake but somebody black can't even raise five million dollars in the same system you want to have that conversation will Cain you can call me anytime any day to have the conversation but I don't think we'll you know Fox News have the courage to call a brother like me to have that conversation because see if I have that conversation on Fox News I'm going to Enlighten your white viewers and they're not going to be living in a cave where they somehow got a blanket over their head and they somehow complete clueless about the reality what's happening here in America because it'll be real hard for you will to have the same conversation when I would have to force you to answer the very difficult questions that speaks to how you got to where you got and it wasn't because of your race and you might say Oh no I got here because of Merit because I worked hard because I made the right connections could be but the record shows something totally different let me know when you want to have that conversation you got my number I'm ready anytime any day any day that ends in d-a-y let a brother know

Channel: Roland S. Martin

Views: 753,083

Keywords: Roland Martin, #RolandMartinUnfiltered, Black Star Network

Id: zHKnIdnyCPw

Length: 35min 36sec (2136 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 07 2023