Roland Martin Gets WHOMPED By GLAAD, CNN. Just Goes to Show…

Roland Martin Gets WHOMPED By GLAAD, CNN. Just Goes to Show…

If only we could harness some of that power…

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Author : Christelyn Karazin

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…you don’t phuck with a protected group.

Or David Beckham.

Full disclosure: I have been on the receiving end of Mr. Martin’s big ‘ol Twitter mouth, so I know how much ish he talks. So when I heard that he got his tush spanked by CNN for this tweet:

“Ain’t no real bruhs going to H&M to buy some damn David Beckham underwear!” and “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him!”

Personally, I don’t see the homophobia in that statement. However, and this is compelling, it speaks to the POWER of a protected group when they can decide what and how something is homophobic. Martin could have meant the ads are for the “metrosexual” man, or that he just doesn’t think real men play soccer. But because the LGBT said it was homophobic, is WAS homophobic, and now Mr. Martin is out of one of his jobs. And believe me, he had a good thing going with CNN. They were flying him all over the country to fancy political parties during the primary, and he’s ALWAYS on. But that’s what one obnoxious tweet will get you, when your tweets go too far.

Here’s how the Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) responded:

“Advocates of gay bashing have no place @CNN #SuperBowl #LGBT,”

Here’ was Martin’s kiss-of-death tweet:

“Well you’re clearly out of touch and clueless with what I tweeted. Way to assume, but you’re way off base.”

Tsk, tsk, tsk. GLAAD does not play. As the Facebook group, For Black Women-What not to buy,said, “We should learn their tactics…these guys are showing us how activism is done.”

What have they done? They have pooled their creativity, economic and political power to garner a position–and you WILL respect that position or pay the consequences. And I’m just gonna come out and say it. I wished with all my heart that BWE could have been such a group of advocacy for black women. Look at the LGBT–do they walk in lockstep? Do they have to agree on everything to effect change? Heck to the nawl. But one thing they can do EFFECTIVELY is look passed small differences and focus on the prize, and they’re winning. While we quibble over territory, “authenticity,” cattiness, and fiefdoms, we are LOSING.

And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

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JennyJames 41 pts

All I want to know is.........are those real in his underwear pants?? or did they do a bulk up)....lol...-:))))

JennyJames 41 pts

If not,I find him HOT!!!!..hmmmmmm..sorry peeps....lol..:-)))

Nonya 127 pts

I found the whole thing quite rubbish. Don't know/follow the guy but his tweet was clearly mocking metrosexuals, if anything; in the same way some people could say real men (straight/not) only drink full beer (as opposed to light). I cannot *how* homophobia can be seen in that tweet unless you project it there. GLAAD gets a bullsh*t badge for this one.

Nonya 127 pts

That said, I do see Christelyn's point about GLAAD's response being an example of effective organizing power.

Karla 2845 pts

As I see it, he got canned because he just couldn't shut the eff up. People better wake up and stop putting every thought in their head on FB or Twitter or email or any other medium that can be made public. Whether or not the tweet was homophobic remains to be seen but putting it out there gives others a chance to interpret it any way they see fit. I didn't know who he was, don't care and with an irreverent salute, I say "au revoir, cul stupide."

Brenda55 4388 pts moderator

Karla

"As I see it, he got canned because he just couldn't shut the eff up. People better wake up and stop putting every thought in their head on FB or Twitter or email or any other medium that can be made public. Whether or not the tweet was homophobic remains to be seen but putting it out there gives others a chance to interpret it any way they see fit. I didn't know who he was, don't care and with an irreverent salute, I say "au revoir, cul stupide."

Thank-You. Dude sent a tweet out to 95000 of his closest friends. What did he expect.

Oh and another thing, Martin dissed Beckham's brand and H&M with that foolishness. CNN knows on which side the bread is buttered. It is on the side of the guys PAYING for air time not with the hired help. That to me is the real reason Martin just got Bi**h slapped. Thou shalt not piss off the sponsers. That whole GLAAD angle is just gravy on top of that.

Toni_M 4842 pts

Brenda55Karla Oh my God....did he REALLY go after a station sponsor? I didn't even think of that, because it never occurred to me the ad would be on CNN specifically (I was thinking he was speaking of the ad playing in general). If that's the truth, then no wonder he was smacked down with a quickness.

Brenda55 4388 pts moderator

Toni_MKarla

For clarification. The ad played during the super bowl. Not on CNN.

Karla 2845 pts

Brenda55Toni_M But does it matter? I didn't think of him dissing brands but this is key too. Maybe CNN was trying to broker a sponsor deal with H&M ('cause no matter what this idiot thinks, David Beckham is hot in the undies and if men don't buy them, their women sure will). H&M will make a lot of money and who knows? Maybe CNN wanted a piece of that pie. With 36 words (not counting his KOD tweet), the man pissed off four hugely powerful entities, including the one who pays him. Way to go, Richard Cranium!

Patricia Kayden 543 pts

Just read that CNN has suspended Martin. Lesson learned.

Patricia Kayden 543 pts

Has Pastor Martin apologized as yet? That's what he needs to do. Even if his comment was meant to be innocent/humourous, it can be construed to support homophobia, which I don't think was his intention.

Alana 2 71 pts

To me, his comment was clearly said that men who demonstrate attraction to D. Beckham should be smacked. That's advocating violence against men who are attracted to men. If he had said the same about BW getting excited about the D. Beckham ad, it would be an anti-BWE statement.

Joyce345 910 pts

LGBT are a protected group! That's why I don't understand why some bw fight tooth-and-nail to defend them. We should be taking notes from them though! Public figures rarely suffer any major penalties for throwing bw under the bus. The same cannot be said for LGBT community. I will never understand why some bw are so defensive of LGBT - besides those bw that ARE LGBT of course.

Hollywood for example has come to respect LGBTs because they PUT THEMSELVES FIRST. BW are still making excuses for people that insult us, ignore us, or denigrate us.

And no, I don't find BWE catty at all - even though I have witnessed a few 'moments' LOL.

Joyce345 910 pts

OK I just found an apology this guy made to the gay community. It doesn't seem to acknowledge any wrongdoing on his part. He seems a tad bit arrogant to me. Why would he not offer a real apology seeing as his career is in jeopardy?

"To those who construed my comment as being anti-gay or homophobic or advancing violence, I'm truly sorry. I can certainly understand how someone could come to a different conclusion than the one I meant. I'm disheartened that my words would embolden prejudice. While public debate over social issues is healthy, no matter which side someone takes, there is no room for debate as to whether we need to be respectful of others."

Patricia Kayden 543 pts

Joyce345 Should have read your post first before posting. So he apologized. Good to know, even though I agree with you that the apology was weak.

Joyce345 910 pts

Patricia Kayden

There is a huge difference between saying 'I am sorry you were offended/misunderstood me etc' and saying 'I am sorry I said something I should not have said.'

Darknlovely12 103 pts

I feel bad for him because he seems very problack woman. Sad

SKL111 15 pts

You hit the nail on the head. I didn't know who GLAAD was until now.

I do disagree with the action of CNN and GLAAD, and now that i know who they are, i have disregard for them. But you gotta love the results.

Your last paragraph is the best of this post as it explains the issue and the remedy.

BWE can be that, if enough black women rise up together.

SirLoinDeBeef 572 pts

That hissing sound you hear is the air escaping from the balloon around the 'package'.

Brenda55 4388 pts moderator

SirLoinDeBeef I take it you ain't buying it either huh?

Brenda55 4388 pts moderator

Seems Mr. Martian ain't all up in the cut as tight as he thinks he is.

I can just see him standing there saying "Wadda I say, wadda I do?" That hissing sound you hear is a enlarged ego deflating.

Games44112 160 pts

Why BWE doesn't have the pull that the Gay Community Does.

United Front: Between black women we fight about natural hair vs. processed, interracial dating vs. black men batteries, atheists vs baptists, middle class vs NeNe Inc. And we do this publicly. And finally, not enough women who are part of the BWE movement declare this loudly and boldly. We fight in the streets and cannot stop fighting to come together for the greater thing. The one thing that will

No tolerance policy: GLADD, BOLDLY and widely speaks out whenever shade is thrown. There is a no tolerance policy and they collectivly ban and shame bigotry, no matter how casual it may seem. Black WOMEN make excuses for rappers, athletes, pastors and teachers. It's no wonder no one jumps to our defense. They didnt hear the cry for help over the Chris Brown supporters.

Excommunication: GLADD does not, will never betray their supporters by mingling or casually supporting bigots. Black women, we need to recognize that we are separate group from black men in terms of privlege and how the world sees us. We are no longer partners in the battle against stereotypes and racism. They've moved on to round two and we are stuck at start.

So stop buying their dating books, supporting any blog that uses the term bitch or ho at ANY point to refer to ANY woman or "explains" why black women act the way they do.

When you see something out of bounds, TWEET IT! Facebook it. And declare media war on it. Sans profanity.

Its copy cat time ladies. Lets go!

Games44112 160 pts

In thinking of what needs to be done and what puts them ahead is something alot of us would think twice about.

Leaving the family behind.

Alot of gays, lesbians, trans and bi people have left their families due to the hate tossed at them, or they've been tossed out. Their parters and brothers and sisters in the gay community ARE their family and they are not going to tolerate anything hurtful coming their way.

Black women, we've kind of learned to take it, make a joke out of it, pray around it, date around it. But we have not yet issued the weed whacker.

Thats quite a bit of sacrifice, and GLADD has done it. They DO get to dictate how they will be treated. They've made that clear.

kiki100 305 pts

I think saying something over and over eventually makes truth. But like Christelyn states 'GLAAD says it, therefore its true' holds water. Once you are told over and over that something is not okay, it begins to be seen as truth. There was nothing in Rolands comment that warranted him being suspended from CNN. This was extremist on the part of GLAAD. Blacks do not have much power in the media but whites do. And that is this gay group is, a white protected group.

Check out spanking Roland got and the postive comments following a comment on The Grio

http://www.thegrio.com/opinion/glaad-why-cnn-was-right-to-remove-roland-martin-for-homophobic-tweets.php

The Grio sees "smack the ish out of him!” as an endorsement of violence against gays.

ASwirlGirl 646 pts

For me, the overarching point of this post (and the entire debacle, for that matter) is not really whether Martin's comments were homophobic or not. The point is that an organized group of people with a common mission and viewpoint regarding how they are portrayed in the media decided that the remarks didn't meet their standard of how they want to be addressed. They voiced their objections, and they were heard: One of the most powerful news networks in the world bowed to the pressure. Black women have the same amount of muscle, if not more. Black women need to lay aside any ideological differences and collectively decide how they want to be represented in the media, and how they want journalists, elected officials, actors, music artists, etc. to address and depict them. They need to decide, and they need to let that collective voice be heard. That, for me, is the takeaway from this event.And another thing: With the release of Redtails we heard a lot of views being expressed about how BW need to stop decrying everything; are too sensitive, etc. Well guess what? People say the same thing about GLAAD, and they don't care. They have set their standards, and they fully expect them to be met. We need to adopt a similar posture. Whether people agree with their lifestyle or not, they got tired of being bashed and said enough is enough. Well, I'm tired of the negative portrayals of BW. Enough is enough.

zabeth 263 pts

There’s nothing stopping BW from making this happen, other than themselves. The debate within BWE wasn’t about territory and fiefdoms, it was about principles (and I will concede that it was about authenticity to a degree too). The members of GLADD may not agree about every single thing- which would be impossible anyway- but they do agree on a certain set of principles as well as what will and will not be tolerated- this being one.

SFbyDay 82 pts

I didn't think the Beckham comments were homophobic. He explained that he uses every opportunity to bash soccer. However, earlier he sent a tweet about a man dressed entirely in pink. It's hard not to see that as being homophobic.

Jamila 2824 pts moderator

SFbyDay "However, earlier he sent a tweet about a man dressed entirely in pink."

Which is odd, because I've seen numerous photos of him dressed in purple or pink, looking a little outlandish if you ask me.

I suspect he might be projecting his own negative feelings about himself onto others. See this pic of him at SandraRose:

http://sandrarose.com/2012/02/cnn-suspends-roland-martin/

Rosie S 796 pts

JamilaSFbyDay Well I don't know. Personally, I don't think wearing pink is a sign of homosexuality. I wonder, why does he have so much issues with guys in pink?

BUT, whoever talks the loudest...

sparel 821 pts

Rosie SJamilaSFbyDay no wearing pink isn't a sign of homosexuality but he sure looks FABULOUS in that pic Jamila put up. so maybe he got some demons to fight so he can come to turns with himself

Rosie S 796 pts

sparelJamilaSFbyDay The man doth protest too much, methinks.

Games44112 160 pts

SFbyDay It's the implication that getting excited about another man (or another man's product) makes you less of a man, and therefore subject to violence.

Thoughts like this DO need to be nipped in the bud. Teresa I didnt see the pink comment but I guess GLADD did.

Hard to feel bad for him . . .

Rosie S 796 pts

Games44112SFbyDay Yes, and I wonder what does he quantify as 'homosexual'? I'm not sure what the intention or idea that was behind the comment, but if a man can't model underwear for other men, how are you going to advertise it? How will men be able to buy it?

If he did mean what GLAAD thought he meant, then he probably was offended because he saw that Mr. B was an attractive model advertising undies.

What does he want? An unattractive man to model it? I thought models should look attractive. Sounds a little self-conscious & insecure to me...

Nonya 127 pts

SFbyDay

In many European countries like France, guys wear pink ALL the time.

Law Wanxi 3328 pts

I had to Google Roland Martin. That's a minute and a half lost forever.

According to him on his website "Roland S. Martin is a dynamic and engaging journalist who offers a fresh perspective for the 21st century." Yawn; whatever.

Law Wanxi 3328 pts

lawwanxi dot com is available!!!! Maybe I should put up a website describing me as "Law Wanxi is 6 feet 13 inches and a striking shade of chartreuse and and achingly handsome. He is a man among men and a magnet for women; men want to be him and women want to be with him." Equally valid!

Christelyn 3210 pts moderator

Law Wanxi You better snatch it, Law! lol

Nonya 127 pts

Law Wanxi

LOL @ "chartreuse".

Mark_H 233 pts

Maybe I'm just not sensitive enough to the plight of the LGBT community, but I just don't see it. The real issue isn't how it was interpreted, it's in how he replied. Had he apologized right off - "Hey, did not mean to imply some issue BLAH, BLAH, BLAH." This would all be a footnote in a don't give a crap day. Now he's out a job.

Lili2009 1216 pts

Remember when Imus called those girls college baskteball players "nappy headed hoes"? I can't remember what eventually happened to Imus. I do remember pressure from some black organizations (crickets from the white feminists) and DL Hugley weighing in that he actually agreed that the girls were nappy headed hoes ( and ugly to boot! Thanks Bruh!)

NATruthstudent 1100 pts

Lili2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Imus#Rutgers_women.27s_basketball_controversy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Imus#Subsequent_litigation

Lili2009 1216 pts

NATruthstudent That is deep. Imus actually said that the "nappy headed hoes" came from black men who demean, disparage, and disrespect black women in hip hop". He's pretty much saying it's cultural. I guess he's right in this respect, sadly.

NATruthstudent 1100 pts

Lili2009

Unfortunately, that statement is true. But IMO he was clearly in the wrong when he spoke that line, simply because it's degrading to BW. NOBODY should be degraded in any way, and the excuse that "Well, they said it first" just doesn't cut it and also shows a level of ignorance and stupidity that has no place in a supposedly educated and civilized society.

sparel 821 pts

Lili2009 Oh and don't forget Imus got a new job right after that.