Jemele Hill: MSNBC Was Racist To Fire Cross, Others 'Comfortable Voting For Cruelty'

November 11th, 2022 10:46 AM

The Atlantic’s Jemele Hill book tour took her to Thursday’s Amanpour and Company on PBS to discuss her life and career as a sports journalist who has become a left-wing activist. During the sit-down, Hill would suggest it was racist for MSNBC to fire Tiffany Cross and alleged that “many people are comfortable voting for cruelty.”

Martin did not explicitly cite Cross, but set the stage when she declared, “There are some prominent African-American women in media who have lost their jobs because they said things that their employers did not appreciate or that they felt went too far. But they felt they had to say it or they felt that it was important for them to say.”

 

 

This led her to wonder, “is there some overarching lesson here about people like yourself who feel like you are acting out of conviction, there's something you feel is truthful and correct and needs to be said, but you are saying it in a place that -- where the audience doesn't want to hear it?”

Hill replied that:

The lesson is for a lot of the corporations who say they want black people, you know, as in commentators. They want the faces. They don't want the voices. And the lesson, to me, is for them. And, you know, just recently, we've seen this example with a friend of mine, Tiffany Cross, who is no longer at MSNBC. She had the highest rated show on the weekend. And they unceremoniously showed her the door because she responded to a text by Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly. And they felt like her response was not up to standard.

The problem with Hill’s claim is that Joy Reid is still employed by MSNBC, not to mention Cross was possibly sacked for going on Comedy Central’s Hell of a Week with Charlamagne tha God and calling Florida “the dick of the country.” Nor did she explain why calling people racists is necessary for “black creators and black commentators.”

Later in the interview, Martin asked, “As we are speaking now, we are in the closing days of the midterm elections. What strikes you about this election season? What are you noticing?”

Being as unspecific as possible, Hill declared, “What strikes me most is how many people are comfortable voting for cruelty. Comfortable voting just because they don't want other people to have something.”

Not defining what “something” means, Hill turned her ire towards Herschel Walker:

And so, to think that it would be that many people that would consider him to be a qualified, competent candidate, you know, you're asking yourself, well, why? You know, why would you subject yourself to voting for somebody like him who is rife with this many issues? And then, you realize what it is. It's that, oh, as long as he has pledged to go after these specific people who they don't like, or vote against these people that they don't like, then it's perfectly acceptable to have a certain amount of incompetence.

Yes, Republicans voted for Walker in the same way Democrats voted for John Fetterman, not exactly a profound point about race and democracy in America, but Hill thought it was, “I was kind of depressed going to the voting booth this time around because I realized that some of the staining of our democracy that has occurred in the last seven or eight years is permanent… we’re going to be voting for our life the rest of our lifetimes. Every single time.”

When you assume the worst in people, every election is the most important one in our lifetime.

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Here is a transcript for the November 10 show:

PBS Amanpour and Company

11/10/2022

11:48 AM ET

MICHEL MARTIN: There are some prominent African-American women in media who have lost their jobs because they said things that their employers did not appreciate or that they felt went too far. But they felt they had to say it or they felt that it was important for them to say. And I just -- I don't know. I'm wondering kind of what -- is there some overarching lesson here about people like yourself who feel like you are acting out of conviction, there's something you feel is truthful and correct and needs to be said, but you are saying it in a place that -- where the audience doesn't want to hear it?

JEMELE HILL: The lesson is not necessarily for me. The lesson is for a lot of the corporations who say they want black people, you know, as in commentators. They want the faces. They don't want the voices. And the lesson, to me, is for them. And, you know, just recently, we've seen this example with a friend of mine, Tiffany Cross, who is no longer at MSNBC. She had the highest rated show on the weekend. And they unceremoniously showed her the door because she responded to a text by Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly. And they felt like her response was not up to standard.

Meanwhile, Megyn Kelly is allowed to call Tiffany Cross out of her name. Tucker Carlson is allowed to put together a complete racist monologue for several minutes on his air, and it's totally fine. But when Tiffany responds to these attacks, which are not the first time, she has had to face them, suddenly, she's held to a different standard.

MARTIN: But they work for different networks. I mean, Tucker Carlson –

HILL: They do. So, you can't –

MARTIN: -- works for a conservative -- which is identified with the conservative movement. And Megyn Kelly used to work there, is identified with, you know, the most conservative audiences and political affiliations in the United States today. They work for different people.

HILL: Yes. And they work for different people and different networks have different standards. All fine and well. But what I find to be the case is that on the same breath, if we go back just a few years ago, to 2020, and these same corporations are talking to black people about what could we do to better support you? What could we do to, you know, strengthen the relationship?

How can we amplify black creators and black commentators and hopes and all of this? And we are all telling the same thing, which is, that support means that when I go after an establishment, a hierarchy, people who are clearly in the wrong but who might, as I said, mess up the church's money, are you going to be there or not? Because that's what it comes down to.

Like, they are fine with, you know, sort of attacking things where there could be a great swell of public support behind, where they feel, you know, it's the only reason why in 2020 so many of these corporations who wouldn't say Black Lives Matter at the Ferguson suddenly were saying it in statements, nothing changed about the condition of black people in America. What changed was they felt more empowered to take that stance because they saw other people on the same bus with them.

If the only time you are going to be with me is if-- when you feel comfortable and the level of support that is around, then you are not really with me. You know what I'm saying? You’re doing this because it's popular. You are not doing this because it's right. Because sometimes what’s right is not popular.

MARTIN: As we are speaking now, we are in the closing days of the midterm elections. What strikes you about this election season? What are you noticing?

HILL: What strikes me most is how many people are comfortable voting for cruelty. Comfortable voting just because they don't want other people to have something. I'm aware that Herschel Walker is one of the greatest college football players in history, and just a tremendous athlete overall, but probably the most unqualified political candidate I've ever seen.

And so, to think that it would be that many people that would consider him to be a qualified, competent candidate, you know, you're asking yourself, well, why? You know, why would you subject yourself to voting for somebody like him who is rife with this many issues? And then, you realize what it is. It's that, oh, as long as he has pledged to go after these specific people who they don't like, or vote against these people that they don't like, then it's perfectly acceptable to have a certain amount of incompetence.

So, unlike a lot of times where I went to vote where there was a sense of optimism and, you know, hope and, like, oh, OK, let's see where this lands us, you know, I was kind of depressed going to the voting booth this time around because I realized that some of the staining of our democracy that has occurred in the last seven or eight years is permanent.

It's not going away. And, you know, that every time that we go to the ballot box, I don't think this is for everybody, but I think it certainly applies to a lot of people in marginalized communities, we’re going to be voting for our life the rest of our lifetimes. Every single time. And that’s-- that is very difficult to take.