(ThyBlackMan.com) The tables were turned on PBS late-night broadcaster Tavis Smiley when Need to Know’s Alison Stewart asked him to explain his recent comment describing the forthcoming election as “going to be the ugliest, the nastiest, the most divisive, and the most racist in the history of this Republic” on Need to Know airing tonight at 8:30 p.m. EST (check local listings) on PBS.
Smiley stands by his comments and tells Stewart, “We see signs of that 
already. And clearly, this whole birther conversation—speaks to—again, what I suggested earlier, that racism is still the most intractable issue in this country.”
Addressing the disparity between his comments about the election and others’, Smiley also says ”The difference is when a black man says that, you’re playing the race card…when Tavis Smiley says it, I’m playing the race card…But our white progressive friends can say it, and they don’t get called on the carpet about it. Now, of course, they’re right, and we’re right. But race still shows up even in those conversations, where we’re all saying the same thing.”
View excerpt here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqDb0hqAFsE.
A more candid conversation addressing race relations in America, Smiley’s new book, FAIL UP: 20 Lessons on Building Success from Failure, and about his 20 years in broadcasting was discussed with Need to Know’s Alison Stewart.
You can view the entire clip here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/culture/video-tavis-smiley-on-building-success-from-failure/8965/
