CNN's Roland Martin Defends Miss California on AC360

Speaking of prominent black media figures who have yet to make any noise on the two 11-year-old boys who were bullied into suicide ...

CNN's Roland Martin appeared on AC360 last night to debate Michelangelo Signorile on the Miss California controversy. Before watching the clip, make sure you read Martin's CNN column "Miss California, Thanks for Being Honest." The radio host and CNN personality slams "gay-focused blogs" and defends Miss California, Carrie Prejean, because "she has been savagely attacked" for speaking the "truth." Not a very good history on gay issues, that Roland Martin.

Martin also inflates "polls" on AC360 to exaggerate how many Americans are against gay rights and marriage equality.

AFTER THE JUMP, video of AC360's debate.

Mike Signorile also blogs about the debate.

Transcript is here. The best part of the interview:

SIGNORILE: Let me say the world is changing dramatically. Just in the past few months, we have the governor of New York, an African-American leader. We have the NAACP president, Julian Bond. We have the governor of Massachusetts. We have Reverend Al Sharpton all saying that marriage is a civil rights issue for gays and lesbians. 

And we've had enormous change. Iowa, Vermont, so it's changing. I think the president is going to change. And he's not standing in the way of marriage. And Hillary Clinton has already shifted a lot, too. The terrain is shifting. This is a civil rights issue.

MARTIN: But the CNN poll shows that 65 percent of Americans still say they're against same-sex marriage.

COOPER: But...

MARTIN: It's shifting, but the numbers are still there.

SIGNORILE: In 1967, 70 percent of Americans were opposed to interracial marriage, but the world changed. People stood up and led the way. And I think you would have been proud in '67 if the judges at the Miss America pageant or Miss USA pageant voted down a contestant because they didn't believe in interracial marriage. They did the right thing.

It's always amusing to me when black folks use polls or the Bible to justify their opposition to gay rights or same-sex marriage, seeing that public opinion and religious dogma were often used to deny equal rights to black people.

Even more interesting when they inflate the numbers. On AC360, Martin said "65 percent of Americans are against same-sex marriage" In his commentary earlier that afternoon, Martin said, "55 percent of Americans are against same-sex marriage." A ten percent jump in one day? Or perhaps he is making up numbers as he goes along?  This speaks for itelf, imho.

Comments

[CA]

Roland Martin is such an insufferable boor. He is the least articulate of CNN's hosts and does not come across as very intellectual. But his style works for black radio, you know, we like to "keep it real"

[Dallas Cowboy]

yea, cnn brought martin on during the primaries because he is black, from chicago and was a pipeline to obama. he is not progressive at all and a throwback to old men in a barber shop talking about life, i suppose that is why he is popular in black radio and the black press.

he has no gravitas on gay rights whatsoever. it's a shame it took a white gay man to illustrate how public opinion used to be for slavery and jim crow. i guess they dont talk about that in the black church anymore when they gay bash

[TheRevKev]

Roland Martin, like so many black commentators in today's media, is playing this issue to try to "broaden" their audience.

I am embarrassed by his commentary and his statements on this subject. In a minute, some black person is going to join the KKK trying to assimilate and assuage mainstream perceptions of what it means to be black.

Roland Martin, you should be ashamed. Any person of color who would stand, in any way, with discrimination and inequality, disrespects Rev. Dr. King's legacy.

"INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE!"

Here we go...the Black buffery brigade who will get on-board the conversation side of this issue, in at effort to "prove" something. All they will prove is that they don't get the FULLNESS of Dr. King's words!

[Kevin]

This issue wipes me out on so many levels. Here goes:

1) Roland Martin drains me! As much as I dig Anderson Cooper 360, Martin pretty much drove me full-time to MSNBC as my first stop for cable news.

2) Although it may seem to the general public that Carrie Prejean is being attacked for her views, the perception in pageant circles is a little different. As someone who directs a pageant, I think it's important to reframe this within the context of pageant competition. Miss USA is, at the end of the day, a national PR spokesperson. It is the job of ANY PR spokesperson to offend as few people as possible. If any of the 51 young women seeking to become Miss USA should have shown up with a diplomatic, centrist opinion on same-sex marriage, it should have been the one from California, where same-sex marriage became legal and illegal in the same year! If I'd been judging alongside Perez Hilton, I wouldn't have cared what her opinion actually was. What made her the wrong candidate for the job is the fact that she didn't recognize the need for diplomacy in that role. I'd have been afraid of what would come out of her mouth next so I'd have ranked her ass fifth out of the top five!

3) So, no matter how much "noise" people want to raise about her opinion, The REAL issue in this context for me is not her intolerance but her lack of preparation for a job interview. There was just NO EXCUSE for her stumbling her way through responding to that question. It's really no deeper than that.

This story has gotten much more attention than it merited. NEXT!

[Dwight]

So, this entire story is getting blown out of proportion. Both Perez Hilton, portions of the traditional press, Ms. Prejean, and now Roland are using it to ramp up their ratings.

I believe Hilton was well within his right to ask the question. I also believe she has a right to her opinion on that issue. And, if asked the question, she should speak her mind about. Look, that's good for everyone. Candor and honesty let you know where people stand. What would be preferable? Political correctness or hypocrisy? No, thank you! Not for me!

Now, I disagree with the ongoing derision and character assassination on both sides (Hilton and Prejean). Yes, I realize that sells papers, attracts readers to blogs, and viewers to TV shows. It does nothing to advance the public discourse over what really matters.

In the mean time, our children are committing suicide, because we live in a society where we condone ostracism for anyone who is different. Yes, I went there. Why wouldn't middle school children call their classmates names and bully them to their deaths?

So, I understand that Ms. Prejean's has a constitutional right to her opinion. It is my opinion that such views come from the same place where it would be acceptable to say things like:

1. "I believe that foreigners should stop coming to live in the USA."
2. "I believe that women shouldn't be allowed to vote."
3. "I believe that white people and black people should not inter-marry."

... I could go on, but I'm sure you get the point. It's time to get past what was said, and begin the dialogue to understand each other better.

[S. Flemming]

I'm glad somebody made the barbershop comparison ... that is exactly what he reminds me of. Which is why I stopped getting my haircuts in black barbershops years ago ...

[gurlene]

It sounds like CNN went shopping for a new Alan Keyes and this is all the 99cent store had to offer.

Oh well, once again the "something beats nothing" mentality won.

[Aaron]

Miss California believes that gay people deserve unequal treatment, plain and simple. No matter how she and others choose to justify their opposition to gay marriage, it is discriminatory. These opinions should be challenged at every opportunity, albeit respectfully.

[kevjack]

A fool is a fool is a fool!

Martin is a piping hot mess of a bunch of mess! I stopped watching CNN because of him. He reminds me of those mindless black men we had on TV in the 1990s, and who we see on Fox News. He defends her because it gives him some street cred, but he is a known clown.

Now, Jamal is fine as h*ll and I should switch back over to CNN to watch him again....just thinking about that fine man makes me want to work on a campaign...

[alicia banks]

rm is deeply entrenched within the gaybashing church ilk

and not the most macho dude in the pews to boot...

his wife is a pastor
him too?

and

he is also a TURBO obama nazi...

shame!!!!!!

and this is yet another reason why i despise most church niggers
and avoid them and their evil spaces like i do the ebola virus

rm cannot speak about those boys because he knows their blood is on his hands...as millions of his dirty evil holy peers

peace
ab

[j. brotherlove]

Dwight summed up my opinion over this "controversy" perfectly; much ado about nothing.

[Derrick from Philly]

He looks like Tweetie Bird.