Mitchell Praises Article Investigating Tea Party's 'White Supremacism'
MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell hosted Johnson Publishing CEO Desiree Rogers on her show on Tuesday to discuss violent political rhetoric. Johnson publishes Ebony magazine, the current issue of which features articles measuring the level of racist speech within the Tea Party and questioning Obama's toughness in dealing with such vitriol.
Mitchell called the articles "provocative" and "recommended" reading. She also asked Rogers if she thought the racist political rhetoric has reached its highest levels now that an African-American is President.
"Some very provocative articles here about whether [President Obama] is
tough enough and whether or not the politics that we've been seeing -
Tea Party politics, and the like - really reach a new level of white
supremacism, of anti-African-American rhetoric," Mitchell summarized the
recent issue of Ebony.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Let's talk about the current issue of Ebony. Some very provocative articles here about whether [President Obama] is tough enough and whether or not the politics that we've been seeing - Tea Party politics, and the like - really reach a new level of white supremacism, of anti-African-American rhetoric.
DESIREE ROGERS, Johnson Publishing CEO: Well, Andrea, great to see you as well, even if it's through the camera. (...) We believe that these publications, both Ebony and Jet, really are - it's really important for us to have a dialogue to not hide and not - to really, you know, bring the issue forward so that there can be an honest debate. And so, in those pieces you'll see that there's five different authors really talking about this from all different directions. We think that we can be a conduit for the discussion, and really start the beginning of some healing, and moving towards what are the real issues, like housing, employment, education, and move beyond all this, really, decisiveness.
MITCHELL: Do you think that because we have the first African-American president, that the political rhetoric has been more racially-tinged, that there has been more aggressive racism directed against this White House, just because it's targeting this President?
ROGERS: Well I think there is change. He is the first African-American president, we've never had an African-American president, and I think it's fair to say, you know, that in my lifetime I've never seen anything like this really against the Presidency. I think of it as against the Presidency as opposed to against one particular individual. And I think it's different, it is our first time, and I think we have to admit that and move beyond that and start to work on the real issues that are at hand, whether that be in the African-American community or in other communities, so that we can't just continue to allow this kind of dialogue to go back and forth. It's not helping anyone. It's not helping the Democrats, certainly not helping the Republicans, and as the President has said, you know, this is one nation. He has been, in my opinion, the utmost in being a gentleman - he is the President of the United States - and to continue to have this go back and forth, I think, is damaging to this whole nation. We really don't look well.
MITCHELL: Do you think that the hate speech against this President has been worse, than, for instance, the speech against George W. Bush during the Iraq War, or Lyndon Johnson during Vietnam?
ROGERS: I think it's been disrespectful. I mean, I still shudder when I remember the Congressman calling the President a liar. I mean, it's just disrespectful. And if you look, you know, in our magazine, we really go through the facts, over and over again, of people saying "We want him to fail." People saying things about Mrs. Obama, I mean this is just not what this country is about. It really is disgraceful, and I think we need to move beyond that and really start to deal with what the real issues are. And I think that we have to have a conversation about this. It's important for us as a people to have a dialogue about this, and to really come to terms and to move on. We really need to heal and to move on.
MITCHELL: Well Desiree Rogers, it's great to see you. And Ebony magazine - fascinating issues, and it's got...the issue in play has a lot of really provocative articles, so - recommended.
