Now that Sen. Hillary Clinton has finally acknowledged that she lost to Sen. Barack Obama, it appears that the only person still unaware of that is Bob Johnson. After embarrassing himself in South Carolina, Johnson is acting like the loser is supposed to determine the makeup of the presidential ticket. Consequently, he is leading a campaign to pressure Obama to pick Clinton as his Democratic running mate.
Like before, Johnson is fighting a losing battle. Just as Clinton didn’t want anyone to push her out of the race, even after it became clear that she had no mathematical chance of overtaking the front-runner, Obama will not allow Johnson or anyone else force him to place Clinton on the ticket.
Would Bob Johnson, Charlie Rangel, Maxine Waters, Mary Frances Berry and other Black Hillary supporters be pushing as hard for the addition of Obama to the ticket if Clinton had defeated Obama? I doubt it. They are among the last African-Americans in the country still mesmerized by the Clintons.
Bob JohnsonGiven Bob’s unequivocal support for Emerge and the Million Man March, it was not unreasonable to expect him to support Obama. But like too many Black leaders, he was already wedded to the Clintons.
In Johnson’s case, I somewhat understand his attachment to the Clintons. As editor of Emerge magazine, which was owned by BET, I had a chance to attend social functions in Bob’s home that were attended by the president. As a big time Democratic fundraiser, Bob exercised considerable clout, making sure that President Clinton and other newsmakers did not slight BET when they were dolling out exclusive interviews.
But his supporting Hillary to the end—some say, after the end—will contribute to his mixed legacy.
Let me say upfront that during my seven years as editor of Emerge, I could not have asked for a more supportive boss. Bob Johnson not only supported me when we published covers that were admittedly over the edge, he actively encouraged me to stir up controversy. Not once in seven years did he ever ask me to tone down our coverage. And he gave me the financial resources to put out a magazine that won more than 40 national journalism awards. In 38 years of journalism, being editor of Emerge was by far the most exciting and fulfilling years of my career.
When I was at Emerge, I was also a regular panelist on “Lead Story,” the Sunday morning roundtable of reporters hosted by Ed Gordon and later, Cheryl Martin. It, too, was unique. In addition to “Lead Story,” there was “Teen Summit” and “BET News.” In fact, BET carried more Black-oriented public affairs programs than all of the other cable channels combined.
What most people don’t know about Bob Johnson is that he closed his company on the day of the Million Man March and took out a full-page ad in USA Today expressing his support for the march called by Minister Louis Farrakhan. He attended the march and had Ed Gordon doing special reports throughout the day. Name one other major business, Black or White, that offered a paid holiday to its employees so that they could attend the Million Man March? I can’t think of one.
Bob never gets enough credit for the positive things he has done. That’s largely because the good deeds were overshadowed by the rump-shaking, degrading videos that ran and continue to run on BET. They were so vile that Bob Johnson didn’t allow his kids to watch them. Even before he became a billionaire by selling BET to Viacom, every public affairs program, including “Lead Story,” was taken off the air.
A group of BET magazines, including Emerge, were sold to Keith Clinkscales in preparation for the Viacom sale. Within several years, they were dead or in bankruptcy court. That, too, will remain a part of the Johnson and Clinkscales legacy.
Given Bob’s unequivocal support for Emerge and the Million Man March, it was not unreasonable to expect him to support Obama. But like too many Black leaders, he was already wedded to the Clintons.
Campaigning in South Carolina, Johnson said the Clintons “...have been deeply and emotionally involved in Black issues when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood that—and I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in his book—when they have been involved.”
After strongly denying that he was referring to Obama’s experimentation with drugs as a youth, Johnson finally ‘fessed up and apologized to Obama.
In contrast to standing tall at the Million Man March, Bob Johnson is on the wrong side of history. And even as Obama continues to make history, Johnson is still trying to foist Clinton off on the history maker.
When it comes to Hillary Clinton, African-Americans didn’t listen to Bob Johnson in South Carolina and there’s no need to listen to him now.
(George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. He can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com. This column was distributed by the NNPA)
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