Dr. Umar Johnson vs Roland Martin and Panelists
Dr. Umar Johnson vs Roland Martin and Panelists
Dr. Umar Johnon has never been one to avoid controversial issues, and he often finds himself pinned in by public opinion. Well, last week he visited The Breakfast Club radio show, which is not unusual for him. He made a number of controversial issues that literally set off Black Twitter. Johnson has never been one to avoid controversial issues, and he often finds himself pinned in by public opinion. Well, last week he visited The Breakfast Club radio show, which is not unusual for him. He made a number of controversial issues that literally set off Black Twitter.
He was supposedly invited to TVOne by Roland Martin to discuss and clarify his statements. What ensued was nothing short of an ambush by Roland Martin and his panelists. There is one particular issue that really stood out to me.
Of course, he was questioned about his academic credentials, and he was questioned about his relationship to Frederick Douglass, and yes, he was questioned about the money he is raising to open the school, and in my opinion, he fielded all of those questions extremely well.
Where things got ugly for me was when he was asked about his statement and stance of interracial marriages. His response was “a Black man can make no greater commitment to the Black struggle than being committed to a Black woman.” First of all, I agree with him 100 percent. While I don’t waste my energy attacking black men who have married outside of their race, I definitely view them differently.
I don’t buy into the idea that you can’t choose who you fall in love with. You categorize people each and everyday and based on those categorizations, some of them could never even be considered as a life-long mate. We categorize people based on status, background, size, appearance, values and so much more, and based on these categorizations, some qualify for consideration as a mate and others don’t. To marry a White woman, she must already be classified as acceptable for consideration..life-long mate. We categorize people based on status, background, size, appearance, values and so much more, and based on these categorizations, some qualify for consideration as a mate and others don’t. To marry a White woman, she must already be classified as acceptable for consideration.
What bothered me was that at a point when Dr. Umar was speaking of the Black man being committed to the Black woman, he was attacked by a Black woman and derided for his position. In a time when the Black woman is constantly be dismissed, degraded, disrespected and mishandled, even by her own, we need more black men who are willing to take up the mantle of defending and loving our Black sisters back to life.
We need Black men who are committed to the holistic recovery of the Black woman. We need Black men who are willing to cover the Black woman at all costs. No, I don’t agree with Dr. Umar Johnson on everything he says or does, but I don’t holistically agree with any man, I am my own man, but when the principles align with the betterment of my people, I must speak up on it. It is not until we evacuate the proclivity to acquiesce to popular opinion and mainstream ideology that we will begin to experience true elevation. ~ Rick Wallace, Ph.D., Psy.D.on it. It is not until we evacuate the proclivity to acquiesce to popular opinion and mainstream ideology that we will begin to experience true elevation. ~ Rick Wallace, Ph.D., Psy.D.on it. It is not until we evacuate the proclivity to acquiesce to popular opinion and mainstream ideology that we will begin to experience true elevation. ~ Rick Wallace, Ph.D., Psy.D.on it. It is not until we evacuate the proclivity to acquiesce to popular opinion and mainstream ideology that we will begin to experience true elevation. ~ Rick Wallace, Ph.D., Psy.D.