#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 10.1 RMU: Amber Guyger found guilty; Baltimore Sun rips Gov. Hogan; Voter registration surges in GA

Episode Date: October 3, 2019

10.1.19 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Amber Guyger found guilty of murdering Botham Jean; Baltimore Sun's Editorial board steps up with their support for the HBCU coaltion fighting against the state of Maryland and Gov. Larry Hogan; California politicians support Gov. Newsom's Fair Pay to Play Act for student athletes; Black voters: Trump made things worse for them; Voter registration surges in GA. - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Life Luxe Jazz Life Luxe Jazz is the experience of a lifetime, delivering top-notch music in an upscale destination. The weekend-long event is held at the Omnia Dayclub Los Cabos, which is nestled on the Sea of Cortez in the celebrity playground of Los Cabos, Mexico. For more information visit the website at lifeluxejazz.com. - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: 420 Real Estate, LLC To invest in 420 Real Estate’s legal Hemp-CBD Crowdfunding Campaign go to http://marijuanastock.org Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Thank you. Thank you. Să ne urmăm. Thank you. Martin! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm Martin. Martin! Thank you. Thank you. Today is Tuesday, October 1st, 2019. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, Amber Geiger guilty of murdering Botham John. We will go live to Dallas to talk about that. And of course, the jury also is determining what her sentence is going to be. The Baltimore Sun's editorial board steps up with their support for the HBCU coalition

fighting against the state of Maryland and Governor Larry Hogan. They call his $200 million offer insulting. We will talk with the co-sponsor of the California bill that now allows for NCAA players to make money off of their likeness. A new poll shows that black voters say that Donald Trump has made things worse for them. Another poll has Donald Trump at two percent support among African-Americans. We're looking for every single one of them. And for the registration service in Georgia here, the 2020 election will break it down for you. A new poll out of South Carolina has Joe Biden with a commanding lead in that state. Senator Kamala Harris, way back.

We don't tell you who's in second and third place. And black folks, especially older voters, say it's all about Joe. It's time to bring the funk on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the miss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time.

And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's rolling, Martin. Yeah.

Rolling with rolling now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's Roland Martin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. Martin. All right, folks, guilty. That was a decision of a Dallas, Texas jury saying that Amber Geiger murdered Botham John. Of course, she, of course, is the former Dallas police officer

who walked into his apartment, shot and killed him. She said, of course, that she thought it was her apartment. The jury, of course, gathered, deliberated. For less than 24 hours, the verdict followed a trial that again has captured the national attention and sparked outrage. Here's a video when the judge made the decision. The jury having reached a verdict, Ms. Geiger and your team, would you please stand? We, the jury, unanimously

find the defendant, Amber Geiger, guilty of murder as charged in the indictment. No outbursts. Again, you heard that decision there. Many folks, of course, were shocked to hear of a Dallas cop being found guilty. But this is the second time in two hear of a Dallas cop being found guilty. But this is the second time in two years where a Dallas area police officer has been found guilty of murder. Now, what also surprised people yesterday when the judge allowed the jury to consider the Castle Doctrine, meaning a person can defend themselves when they are faced with danger in their place of residence. But it wasn't hers. Some legal scholars say the reason the judge did that is to ensure that her case could not be granted on appeal.

Joining us right now is Attorney Robert Petillo. Robert, glad to have you on the show. Are you surprised by this jury's decision? Actually, I wasn't surprised by the jury's decision. What was surprising to me was the tactic of the defense attorney. Most attorneys I've spoken to and myself included would have tried to settle this case, would have taken a plea bargain and not try to present what comes out to a basically silly defense

that no jury was going to buy. You saw just by the quickness of the deliberation and the fact it was a unanimous decision, they then continuously asked for additional time fact it was a unanimous decision, they didn't continuously ask for additional time. This was a very simple decision for the jury. So I think it will be interesting in the coming weeks or months to find out what exactly the plea offer was on the table and why the defense didn't take that offer. Well, I don't.

Normally when they plea us offer, we might hear a leak. We might hear it come out. We actually didn't hear that. I'm not even sure even one is pursued, but you're absolutely right. In terms of some people were very surprised by that. But you know what? I think what you had here, though, is you had, again, some people who believe that, look, a cop stands a better chance of getting found not guilty. They roll the dice.

Absolutely. of getting found not guilty, they roll the dice. Absolutely, and I think this goes a long way in tearing down that presumption, tearing down that wall which exists between officers and their belief of their impunity in the criminal justice system. Just on its face, the explanation given did not match the facts. The justification which she gave

was ridiculous from the beginning. And every juror and every person listening knows that you know when you walk into your house or somebody else's house, and you know the difference between somebody eating ice cream and somebody trying to attack you. Because of these overwhelming facts, I think the jury had no choice but to convict her. I think it is interesting that they did go for the full murder conviction as opposed to the lesser included offense of manslaughter.

I think that was a great sign because everything she stated and everything she did did indicate that it was not accidental. It was not a case of mistaken identity. She did indeed intend to kill this individual. Some believe that the DA in this case overcharged, that the judge could have actually, they should have gone for negligent homicide, but clearly the jury went along with murder. Well, the testimony of Ms. Geiger herself takes the idea of negligent homicide out of the door. The reason that the DA did not overcharge is that that is a jury question. The jury always has the ability to include a lesser included offense in their determination. They chose to follow murder.

When Ms. Geiger was questioned and asked, did you intend to kill this individual when you pulled the trigger? Her answer was yes. That takes negligence out of the window. It was not an accident. We do not know what her motivation was for killing this individual, but we do know that she did indeed intend to kill them. For this reason, again, this goes back to my question of why they did not take a plea deal because the facts were so squarely in favor of a conviction. Well, I think you're absolutely right in terms of the prosecutors were very good at asking very specific questions that led to those answers, to your point, that took away that particular issue there.

And so I thought that was pretty interesting. In a moment, we're going to be joined by Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, two of the attorneys for the Botham John family. They'll be joining us in just a moment. So folks, let me know when they're there. I'm going to bring in our panel, of course. We have, of course, we have Kelly Bethea, Communications Strategist, Dr. Jason Nichols, African American Studies, University of Maryland,

Erica Savage-Wilson, host Savage Politics Podcast. Let me go back to Dallas, Lee Merritt and Ben Crump. Ben, I'll start with you. I saw that photo, the photo of Botham Jean's mother, which said it all when the jury made that decision. That right there is a powerful, powerful photo. Justice for this family.

I think it was historic, Roland, as Attorney Merritt and I have been discussing since we heard the announcement how historic this is for America. And it's sad that Brokham Jones had to be a perfect person to have a police officer in America convicted of first-degree murder. And our hope is that it won't take

a near-perfect person of color for police to be held accountable for an unjustifiable killing. So this is historic in many ways. And we remember Trayvon, we remember Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, we remember Terrence Pritchard, so many others. And we are just thankful for this family getting their measure of justice. And hopefully it will be a precedence now. First of all, the person who's holding your camera, if they can actually turn your camera horizontal, I would appreciate that so we can fully see both of you.

Lee, I'll go to you. Again, that was a black Republican district attorney when this case actually happened. I was there in Dallas when they had that very emotional town hall meeting at a church there, and I remember they were trying to counsel people on charges. People were demanding murder charges. They went through with indicting Amber Geiger on murder. And are you surprised with the jury's decision,

especially with the type of questions they were asking, what they want to consider? I wasn't surprised. especially with the type of questions they were asking, what they want to consider. I wasn't surprised. There has been a push all around the country to take officers who've committed things like murder and charge them with something lesser like manslaughter or second-degree murder or criminal negligent homicide. Amber Geiger's actions in this case constitute murder. She testified from the stand, I intended to kill both Lujan. Now, she said, because he posed a threat to me.

Now, this is an unarmed black man eating ice cream in his home, wearing white shorts with no pockets. And so the only thing that she could have feared to the point of death would be the color of the skin that she was facing, black man. We see this all over the country. We've seen it in case after case after case and because we're our community is so exhausted with not getting justice we started to ask that they move the goalpost a bit and ask for something less than justice like manslaughter i'm i'm glad that that charge went back to the jury but this jury got it right and they came back with the charge for murder. We know that the rangers in this case wanted manslaughter. We know that some of the Dallas Police Department officers who first investigated the case wanted no charge at all. And so it was really important that we had a district attorney who was fighting for the proper charges and the district attorney's office and the amazing prosecutor and

Jason Obviously the obviously it is still hard for the both of John John family because He is dead, but How have they been feeling? How have they been reacting to this decision? Obviously, they're now waiting for the sentencing and we'll see what happens there. But certainly just just just how have they been feeling with this guilty react, this guilty verdict? Roland, we're actually here with them now. They are an outstanding family. ROLAND, WE'RE ACTUALLY HERE WITH THEM NOW. THEY ARE AN OUTSTANDING FAMILY. IF YOU HAD THE PLEASURE TO HEAR HIS MOTHER TESTIFY IN THE SENTENCING PHASE, AND I KNOW

THAT SOUNDS AWKWARD, BUT TO HEAR HER TALK ABOUT WHAT A BEAUTIFUL, POSITIVE, MOTIVATING PERSON BOTHAM JOHN WAS, BUT IT WASN'T JUST BOTHAM. person Botham John was, but it wasn't just Botham. The whole family was just incredible individuals. And it was so profound to see this dignified black family turn out every stereotype that white America has of black people when they try to justify these unjustifiable killings, as Attorney Merritt and Attorney Washington have dealt with far too many times, Roland Mark. Go ahead, Lee. What both of them, John's sister, Elisa, told me at the start of this process, at the start

of this trial, was that her family hasn't had an opportunity to grieve yet because they've been fighting for justice since this time last year. And so what this sentence, this conviction represents for them is the first time that they get to excel, that they get that weight lifted, that they can start the process of remembering Botham's syndrome for the amazing brother, son, role model that he was. And of course, to the folks who are watching, this is the body cam footage that was shown during this trial when the officers entered Botham's apartment trying to resuscitate him, revive him. You see the officer there putting on gloves there. They were talking to him. If you can pull the audio up, they were trying to tell him to hold on.

But based upon the testimony in this trial, the way she fired the shot, it was a fatal shot the moment she actually fired that gun. I would go back to you, Ben Crump. She obviously testified. You had the defense of the prosecution. But this judge from the outset was very firm and clear how she ruled her courtroom. She was angry with the Dallas District Attorney John Cruzzo for giving that interview the night before the trial started. Just your assessment of how she managed and conducted all of this this trial that got national attention.

You know Roland Martin, it was very riveting today to see two black female prosecutors and this black female judge presiding over arguably the most watched court in America today. And I'm sure there were many people who are enemies to equality who were just tossing and turning and saying, you know, these competent black people are administering justice. What I will say is I think the judge tried her best to balance being impartial. We were all dumbfounded when she let Amber Geiger have the benefit and consideration of the counsel doctrine when it wasn't her council. That still has a scratch in our head. But I think overall, she did a good job of administering

justice, one that we don't often see in other parts of America. Lee Merritt, I'm trying to find the video, but there was a certain point, and you don't see this often, when after this verdict came in and the prosecutors walked out in the hallway, they were actually greeted with applause from folks who were gathered there to wait for this verdict. Yeah, it was a beautiful thing to see how this community received this verdict. A really important thing is that this verdict was not only a verdict for this team or verdict for this family, but this verdict represented the combination of activists, people working for justice across Dallas County. It was Dallas County voters who brought in progressive judges like Tammy Kim to call

this case as fairly as possible. It was Dallas County jurors that motivated the district attorney's office that made this a central point in that district attorney race. And most importantly, it was Dallas County voters and citizens who responded in record numbers to the call jury duty. And so we saw one of the most diverse juries that we've ever seen as attorneys preside over this case. And last question for you, Ben Crump. What this speaks to, when you speak of that diverse jury, this is what happens when black people register, when black people accept the jury summons,

because, Ben, you and I have been on pounds all across the country, and this is also part of the problem when people don't choose to serve on juries and rolling you right we have been across the country talking about this issue one of the hardest things for a black lawyer to do is to show up in court with his black client and the only other thing black in the courtroom is the judge's role. So we are elated that we had a diverse jury. We have your fraternity brother,

Attorney Darrell Washington, the third lawyer on the team, joining us, Omegas, to talk about Dallas County having a precedence for getting it right and convicting police officers who killed unarmed black people. They did it in Jordan,

now they have done it in Bochum, Jones. I hope the rest of the cities across America are watching Dallas, Texas today. All right. Ben Crump, Lee Barrett. I'm sure that the alpha lawyer teaching y'all a couple of things. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. God bless you. All right. Thanks a lot. I want to go to our panel here. Jason, your thoughts on this verdict? To me, it was shocking. I'm not going to even lie up front or anything. It was absolutely shocking. There's something that, you know, friends of mine have always said,

and that is that a white girl can pretty much cry her way out of anything. And so I thought that when I saw the images of her crying on the stand and saying that she feared for her life, that was going to work. And, you know, law be damned, to be honest with you. We've seen it several times before. But, you know, to me it was interesting that the judge allowed the castle doctrine to be used.

Number one, because to me, that would justify if Botham John was in fact attacking her, that would justify it to me that he was attacking her in his own home. You know, if you were coming in my home and you have a gun and you were trying to order me around, then I have every right to try and attack you. But Kelly, I think what was interesting here,

and I've heard other lawyers talk about it, is that by allowing it, she allowed the jury to consider Amber Geiger's thought, frame of mind, that this was my apartment. The jury considered it, rejected it. Right. I think that, like Attorney Petillo was saying, this was more so a tactic so that the defense could not try and appeal saying that there was a defense that they didn't use or could use and didn't, what have you. But it also goes to show just how entitled and just how much white privilege this cop thought she had to go into someone else's house and claim that that is her castle.

That's what got me that. It just felt like they were giving her more rope to hang herself with as opposed to trying to make it look like he was in any way, shape, or form wrong in that situation. Erica, what we had here is she got peripheral treatment on that day and after. Police, that's what they do with one of their fellow cops. One of the Texas Rangers investigators said he didn't think this was actually African American. He didn't believe that this was actually murder. He thought that it was just a tragic mistake. It should have been a different level of homicide. But the fact of the matter is now in two successive years, two cops in Dallas area convicted of murder of killing two black people. Right and Texas is a red

state so I think that we're really signaling a couple of things. One of those things is that you know this what happened, has not turned the tide for justice, but it has displayed, it's showing us that it is, in fact, possible. And then the second part that was highlighted latter, which is the importance of people being actively involved in their local voting actions. When you register to vote, that opens up a door to be able to serve on jury. So I'm really glad and hope that this will kind of spill over to other things that we

make cases about, about newsrooms needing to be more diverse. So when we see more of a makeup of who we actually are as a country, it produces different outcomes, especially to marginalized folks. Robert Petillo, obviously what is now happening, the jury has to determine sentencing. I doubt very seriously we're going to see a case like what took place in New York where the cop was found guilty of killing someone in the public housing complex, but then got probation. I think Amber Gagin is going to get some prison time.

I think there's going to be significant prison time just by the fact that this exact same jury could have come back with a decision for manslaughter or for negligent homicide or for any other lesser included offense. They chose to convict on murder and not one of the lesser included offenses. And also just to clear up a point on the Castle ruling. The primary reason the judge allowed this is that a case can go to the state's court of appeals, and it can be overturned on any procedural issue, any perceived bias, and then a new trial can be granted. The judge wanted to ensure that she was covering all of her bases, ensuring that the defense did not have any window to try to climb out of at the last moment. There is a concept of law, the imperfect invoking of self-defense. Let's say you believe that you are on your own property. You're actually

on the sidewalk outside of your property when you assert self-defense. The law does make a space for that. The defense counsel wanted to try to draw some sort of corollary between that and being in the wrong apartment. Clearly, it did not work. I don't think the judge was wrong for allowing them to have that incident. It probably made the decision on the murder conviction easier versus helping out Ms. Geiger anyway. All right, folks, going to go to a break. We come back. A big decision in the federal courts when it comes to affirmative action at Harvard, but who is it really protecting? Black students or white students who get in because of legacy? Next, a Roland Martin unfiltered.

You want to check out Roland Martin unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roland Martin unfiltered. See that name right there? Roland Martin unfiltered. Like, share, subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's youtube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And don't forget to

turn on your notifications so when we go live, you'll know it. All right, folks, you heard me talk a lot about marijuana stock.org. Why? Because I want to keep you informed of investment opportunities that make sense. We've all watched the growth of the cannabis industry. A recent report by New Frontier Data estimates the global cannabis market at more than $340 billion. We know that marijuana legalization is sweeping the country state by state. We also know that marijuana has a good cousin, the hemp plant, with a much higher concentration of CBD. That means hemp gives you all the medical benefits

of marijuana without getting you high. Until recently, hemp farming was practically illegal in the US and heavily regulated by the DEA. That all changed with the 2018 Farm Bill, making it legal to grow hemp. Our friends at 420 Real Estate have come in with their business model, which is real simple. They buy land that supports hemp CBD grow operations and lease it to high-paying tenants.

That's right. They are hemp CBD landlords, and you can get in on the action. Before 20, Real Estate is Done has allowed this special offer for the Roland Martin Unfiltered family. That is, you can invest a minimum of $200. Before, it was supposed to be $500, but they're allowing you to do it for $200. You can do it for $200 up to $10,000. Again, there's a $340 billion industry that is still growing, and you can participate with as little as $200.

To invest, go to marijuana stock.org. That's marijuana stock.org to get in the game and get in the game now. All right, folks, today in a federal court, a judge decided that Harvard, their allowing affirmative action or race to be used in their admissions policy is constitutional. Let me say that again. It's constitutional. Back in 2014, Students for Fair Admissions filed federal lawsuits against Harvard and the University of North Carolina, alleging that both institutions' admissions practices were discriminatory. But today, a Massachusetts district court judge ruled that Harvard University's admissions process does not discriminate

against Asian American applicants. Now, these Asian American applicants, they said that they were being discriminated against because Harvard allowed race to be used. What also came out in this trial was the use of legacy, which actually benefits white folks. Hmm. Now, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled that while Harvard could tweak its admissions process

with more training and monitoring, it is very fine. And while a court rejected motions for summary judgment in the case involving UNC's diversity efforts, Robert Petillo, I want to go to you first about this decision. The Harvard case, they're likely going to appeal to the Supreme Court. But what I found to be interesting in this, again, you had Asian-American applicants who are trying to sue Harvard because, frankly, they contend that they want more of their kids in Harvard. They want to take advantage of, again, this number one Ivy League school

and try to suggest that somehow the use of race targeting black folks and others. But the real problem for Asian-Americans at Harvard are white folks in legacy. Well, this is one of those issues that we, if we could roll back time to when we're making these federal regulations, I think it would have been drafted significantly differently. Let's understand that we are being, we are having an argument about whether or not Asian Americans are being discriminated against when they make a far larger percentage of the population at a school such as Harvard and many other Ivy League universities. In addition to this, we have the information that we have all known previously, which is that universities are allowing the legacies, the children of previous Harvard graduates to get in on easier criteria than the rest of us. So what we have to do is when we are addressing diversity and inclusion programs at schools, do not let them lump us in with people of color.

Do not let them lump us in with people of color. Do not let them lump us in with the word minority. We have to make sure they explicitly say that they are helping the African-American community. Otherwise, we will see this going forward, that every program is helping legacy students, helping everyone except for black folks get into these schools. Jason, in fact, it's an interesting point. I was in Seattle on Saturday speaking to the Tabor 100, and there's a bill called, well, first of all, they repealed affirmative action by ballot initiative in the state of Washington. They passed it this year, and the legislature passed it, but then the folks who are against that

came back to put it on the ballot. It's called I-1000. And what they're doing is, the people who are opposing it are Chinese nationals. And so these Chinese nationals in Seattle, in the state of Washington, are fighting this because what they're saying is that if this passes, then it's gonna hurt them. They're not gonna be able to get their kids and others into these universities if affirmative action is allowed, meaning they might have to go back to China.

And so what you have is, and again, these folks like War Connolly and these, if affirmative action is allowed, meaning they might have to go back to China. And so what you have is, and again, these folks like War Conley and these white conservatives, they're actually using Asian Americans to try to take down affirmative action. Well, they've done this several times. They used to use white women. That was the tool. You know, Gratz versus Bollinger.

You know, many of the other cases. Amber, Stay Mad Fisher. Is it Amber? Abby. Abby, I'm sorry. Abby Fisher. Yeah, out of Texas. Right, out of Texas. So, they've oftentimes used people who have been marginalized in education in the past

or now people of color and trying to complicate this issue. But it's thinly veiled. Number one, Asian Americans make up about 5% of our population. They made up, I believe in 2015, they made up still 20% of the incoming class at Harvard. So they're four times overrepresented. whereas African-Americans are about now about equal. You know, they make up about 13 percent of the population. They're about 15 percent of the incoming class at Harvard. So if anything, this is making these universities more equitable, taking groups that have been disenfranchised and marginalized for a long time

and allowing them opportunities to get a Harvard education. And if you... I would ask anybody who's against this, is it that you think that African-Americans are not capable? You know, I want people to... Don't give me the but, but, but. Tell me, is it that you think that African-Americans aren't capable? Do you think that the people that you praise, even the but, but, but. Tell me, is it that you think that African Americans aren't capable? Do you think that the people that you praise, even the conservatives,

that have graduated from Ivy League schools, whether it's Clarence Thomas or whomever, is it that you think that they are not capable of matriculating? If the answer is, I do think that they are capable, then you should not have a problem with them getting more opportunities. It doesn't open... All that I always tell students, affirmative action opens a door. That's it. But it doesn't take a test for you.

I don't give you... I don't give any of my students extra points, like, oh, yeah, you pulled out your black card, here you go. Here's five extra points on that exam. You have to make it through right Erica his was interesting Jason's point of Roberts point Asian Americans make up one quarter of Harvard's admitted class but they only count for six percent of US population and this is what the judge said even assuming that there is a statistically

significant difference between how Asian American and white applicants score on the personal rating, the data does not clearly say what accounts for that difference. In other words, although the statistics perhaps tell what they do, tell what, they do not tell why. And here the why is critically important. Sure. And I think we have to go back to when these legislative acts were actually enacted. And now you think about fair housing, we think about civil rights, the Voting Rights Act that definitely has been chunked into. All of these different 20th century pieces of legislation are now under attack.

And so I agree with what you said, Dr. Jason, and what Robert said as well. I think it's really important to disaggregate for black Americans to look at, and the question has to be asked too, is it that it is thought that black folks aren't as competent to be able to get into these programs or not and move it forward from there. And also definitely in agreement with lumping us all into people of color because what that does is it kind of waters down who these people that were at the forefront,

ensuring that these pieces of legislation, these acts were in place so that there could be some level of equity as we matriculated through education housing and things of that But but Kelly I think what we had what we have to do is understand Again what the rationale behind that so for instance When you hear about MWBE minority and women business enterprise the reality is There was a racist from Virginia, Judge Smith, Congressman Judge Smith, who

put women into the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because he thought that was going to kill it. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 initially did not include women, which really means it includes white women because if you were black, you were under the category. So they put women in there. So the reason women are covered under the Civil Rights Act of 64 is because of that. But what ended up happening was, when you talk about affirmative action and other programs,

it then became this focus on, oh, women. So even today, I remember I was covered in Chicago when I was working for the Chicago Defender and WVON radio and they were talking about contracts and they listed the percentage of contracts that women got. And then it was black. It was Hispanic. It was Asian. And I said, a question for you. Where do the black women go? Right. They said, well, under black. I said, where are the Hispanic women on the Hispanic age?? I said so really that W should be W W should be white women Right and what we have will be well I think what we do have to be very clear in like when I'm giving speeches When I'm talking about affirmative action, I'm talking about black folks

I'm talking about African Americans. I'm because what I'm talking about Really how the laws came about and I think what you see here, which is why I challenged President George W. Bush on this very issue on legacy in 2004. White folks love to criticize affirmative action, but they got no problem with legacy, because that's frankly white affirmative action. That's what it is.

No. Um, it is. No. There is a difference. So everybody's been talking about, you know, equality and making sure that things are equitable in terms of affirmative action. But to me, I think there's a difference between the concept of equality and the concept of justice. So justice is something that no matter what it takes

to make sure that everybody's on equal footing, that is what is going to happen in order for people to have justice. So the affirmative action initiative regarding Harvard is a pathway to justice. So it doesn't matter. Harvard is doing whatever it takes to make sure that there is equitability there.

But equality means to me that it doesn't matter what footing you're on, everybody's getting the same thing. So if white people already have an advantage, and you're giving white people another thing, even though it's the same amount amongst black people, amongst Hispanics, amongst Asians, they're still getting a higher advantage. So with affirmative action,

the original goal was not what's happening in what I just described, this equality model. It was supposed to be a model for justice, meaning that white people already have the advantage. We're trying to get to where they are as is. But when you do stuff like lump all minorities together and separate women from other demographic groups what happens is you like you said Erica you dilute the purpose you dilute

the the original goal so the fact that the judge and what was it Massachusetts District Court you know the fact that that happened and she said you know everything's just fine, you know, it's not, but it's good that nothing changed. Jason, you want to make a point? I'm going to go to Robert real quick, then I go to a break. Okay, really quickly, I just wanted to

say, we were talking a lot about legacies, but I think one of the big things is children of donors is another big way that white people get ahead and ask you... No, no, it that white same thing people uh get ahead and that's no it's same thing i mean the reality is i mean look jr kushner got into harvard right because his daddy gave uh he gave several million dollars i mean and that and that's what you see and so legacy legacy is tied to it as well because again what i made this point when I questioned George W. Bush, Robert,

and that is my grandfather could not go to those institutions. My parents really couldn't go. Yeah, they admitted black folks. We knew what the game was. So the reality is if you are a white student and you are using the legacy of your grandfather to get into those schools, you actually have a benefit that i could never have because my grandfather couldn't get in and every time i hear these people in fact i remember when bob gates was the president of texas a&m university and all his people wanted

him to get rid of race being included and i give bob gates credit he said we're getting rid of race and admissions we're getting rid of legacy. All these white Aggies lost their minds because he said, you can't call that unfair if you don't call legacy unfair. Robert, final comment. Well, I think it's very important that as we go through this campaign season, as these candidates start talking about

the idea of reparations, use this as an example and make sure they call it out by name that they are providing reparations to African Americans, the descendants of slaves, not that they are going to provide a tax credit to all marginalized people or some of these other plans. Make them make it plain. Make them put it in writing.

We'll see what happens. All right. We come back. The co-author of The Bill in California, Allowing Athletes to Get Paid, will join us. Stephen Bradford's up next, right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered support the Roland Martin Unfiltered Daily Digital Show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com.

Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. That's my alpha brother, Gerald Albright, one of the major headliners at the Life Luxe Jazz Experience taking place in Los Cabos November 7th through the 11th. It's going to take place at the Omnia Day Club, Los Cabos, desolate on the Sea of Cortez.

It's going to be a great experience, folks. All kind of great food and music. Of course, you're talking about breathtaking golf, spa, health and wellness options, you name it, all of that for the second annual Life Luxe Jazz Experience. Now, of course, they're going to have great excursions, including the Spirit of Jazz Gospel Brunch, the Jazz Sunset Cruise, confirmed guests, comedian-actor Mark Curry, Gerald Albright, Alex Boonyong, Raul Madon, Incognito, Kirk Whalum, Pieces of a Dream, Average White Band,

Donna McClurkin, Shalaya, Roy Ayers, Tom Brown, Ronnie Laws, Ernest Quarles, and more. For more information, go to lifeluxjazz.com, L-I-F-E-L-U-X-E-J-A-Z-Z.com. All right, folks. Yesterday, the governor of California signed into law a new bill that allows for NCAA players to take advantage of their own likeness. It's called the Fair Pay to Play Act. Now, Governor Gavin Newsom, of course, has gotten lots of attention for it, but who was the co-sponsor of that bill? My next guest, State Senator Steve Bradford. Senator Bradford, glad to have you here. Congratulations on the bill passing, first and foremost. What was your rationale behind co-authoring this bill? What led to it?

I think the history of kind of like understanding college athletics and understanding that the majority of these athletes, regardless of what level they play at, many of them never make professional. And their most prime opportunity for taking advantage of their playing ability is usually in college. And we've seen and heard the arguments that people like Harry Edwards has made for the last 30, 40 years of loving to play in fields. So this is really a civil rights issue of the day because we understand 50% of all basketball and football teams are made up of African-Americans, but they make up less than 3% of the basketball and football teams are made up of African Americans,

but they make up less than 3% of the graduating population or the undergraduate population. So this is an opportunity of fairness. It's equality. And it's been batted around for a number of years, and we decided to take it on my joint author, Nancy Skinner, out of Berkeley. And we're honored that the governor put his signature on. Well, you've got folks like Tim Tebow and others, Will Kane on ESPN, all that's going to cause unintended consequences.

You know, this is just going to turn. This is going to just hurt college athletics, and the reason we love college athletics is because of the amateur status, and it's just so pure. That's all a bunch of BS. Without a doubt. I mean, that's all a bunch of BS. Without a doubt. I mean, that's the same thing we said about the Olympics, and we've now allowed Olympic athletes to monetize their name,

likeness, and image for a number of years now, and this is no different. Again, this takes no revenue away from those universities or the NCAA. These universities already are making billions of dollars off of these athletes, and especially coaches. Coaches are some of the highest paid employees in most of these states and many ways in the country. And they are allowed to negotiate sponsorship deals based on their name, like an endorsement image, I should say, and also do endorsements. That's going to take effect until 2023. How do you think the NCAA is going to respond

because they're going to have an answer to it? Well, Emerit is already threatening us already, and I'm glad the governor responded in kind and signed the bill, and clearly stating that we're in support of this measure. You've seen just in the 24 hours since our bill has gone public, five other states have already considered this, as we also know that Congressman Cedric Richmond out of Louisiana is joined with Mark Walker out of North Carolina. They've introduced a similar measure in Congress. So it's often said, so goes California, so goes the nation. So the NC2A has been litigious in the past, but as we know about their record, they've lost many of these lawsuits.

And yes, they're opposing this, but this threatens NC2A and not one iota, not one measure whatsoever. All right. Senator Steve Bradford, congratulations. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you for your interest in this issue, Roland. All right, folks. Thanks a lot, folks.

The Baltimore Sun editorial board has stepped up with their support for the HBCU coalition fighting against the state of Maryland and Governor Larry Hogan. A coalition advocating for Maryland's four historically black public universities has had a 13-year-old lawsuit with the state claiming that the state's university system long fosters segregation by allowing well-funded academic programs at traditionally white universities to undermine similar ones at Maryland HBCUs. Of course, this coalition sent a letter to elected officials offering to settle its 13-year lawsuit against the state for $577 million. But Governor Larry Hogan last week made a final offer of $200 million over 10 years to sell it. The Baltimore Sun released an op-ed slamming Hogan for its response to the request, saying, quote, Mr. Hogan's no room for negotiation offer comes across as little more than an attempt to get rid of what has become an irritation rather than a solid effort to truly redress the damage of the past. Now, if the parties can't reach an agreement,

the case is future lies with the Federal Appeals Court. Jason, Pete Buttigieg, I believe, is the first. I haven't seen these other campaigns, but he might be the first one to actually speak on this. Go to my iPad, please. This was a tweet that Pete for America sent out. HBCUs are responsible for 80% of black judges and 25% of STEM degrees. It's time we gave them the funding that they deserve. Wow. You know, I think that that was a good move by Pete Buttigieg,

who has struggled with African-American audiences for a while. You know, he's made some missteps. I do, you know, I hear the other panelists, but I honestly think that he is sincere. He just makes a lot of mistakes. And it's interesting that his campaign to begin was all white, even though he is in a city, he's mayor of a city that's 25 percent black. But, you know, I think he sincerely does want to change things. He's trying to get in on this issue. And it's not it's not really I don't think it's going to work very well. But it's a piece. So, first of all, forget what his intent is.

Kelly, what needs to happen is you need to have these candidates who are speaking on these issues, because, look, Democrats control the legislature, all right? Democrats could have done something about this and actually passed a bill. And so the pressure should be on Hogan as well as... Uh, on Hogan as well as Democrats. Absolutely. I am a proud alum of Bowie State University. We're the first HBCU

in the state of Maryland, the oldest. So I have, you know, invested interest in this case. And I was actually at a couple of the hearings for it when it was actually in the middle of trial. I will say that the $577 million that was put on the table as an offer, it's still very low in terms of equity, like I was describing earlier in this show. I believe the original amount was $1 billion, because studies show that was actually the amount that would possibly be needed to even remotely put things in balance. And then for his counteroffer to be $200 million as well, not only $200 million, but on top of that his justification for it was all the money that has been poured into these HBCUs already.

Again, this is the equality bit that I was talking about. Just because you're pouring this amount of money into schools that are already disenfranchised, that were already underfunded, that doesn't do anything. They're breaking even each and every time. So you're absolutely right. Democrats should have done this, you know, years ago when this case first came into light in, what was it, 20, 20, no. Well, first of all, it dates back 30 years. Yeah, 30 years.

The case, of course, it was filed 13 years ago, and they won. They won, and they've been backing forth the last four years through this whole back and forth with Governor Hogan and the mayoral legislature erica and i was listening to the interview that you did with kristen clark um on the tom jordan morning show that's how i first kind of um got the progress on it and what was interesting to me especially about this is that the governor didn't even think it was worth his time to really engage properly with the coalition that had brought this together, that he sent back a response through his attorney for the $200 million. So a couple of things that says to us, again, talking about voter registration and local

elections, you have to be careful to whom you give power to. He is a Republican governor, and not saying that it is because of his republic that he's a Republican he doesn't care about HBCUs but we have got to call us in such a way that it's not just a Pete Buttigieg who's not doing well in his hometown I don't know if he's still polling above 0% with African Americans in South Bend but it should be incumbent upon those people but for us to put the pressure on them because these are institutions where enrollment has gone up since this regime has come in place where not only our kids feel safe, but you have faculty and people who feed their children and families at HBCUs. And even Joe Biden, he represented Delaware for the longest time because that's where he's from. Delaware has an HBCU and we've heard nothing from Biden. You know, there are plenty of representatives in Congress, the Senate, even

local politicians who still have a high national profile. There's over 100 HBCUs in this country and we're only hearing from a candidate who doesn't have an HBCU in his state? That's insulting and troubling. So, you know, step it up, Democrats.

Robert, I'm still trying to understand why I've not seen a mass mobilization in Maryland. And I would hope that the NAACP and others, other civil rights groups are planning to do this because I think you have to have external pressure. Guys, put the phone number back up on the screen. We're going to put the phone number of the governor to show you because I want all of you to call. All of our folks who are watching this show right now should be calling the number to Governor Larry Hogan, letting them know point blank that you support the full funding of HBCUs. And Robert, public pressure matters.

Absolutely. Remember, the public is that third rail. We have two parties that are stagnated. The public is the one group that can get things moving. And this has to be a priority and a primary issue within the state. It's always wonderful to see politicians who show up for the photo op. They like to cut a ribbon at a community center. They like to hug a baby at a parade. But when it comes to putting one where the rubber meets the road

to putting their dollars and cents where their mouth is, as we said previously, it's been under both Republican and Democratic administrations that this has not got it done, so we have to hold these people's feet to the fire or else we will end up being the ones left holding the bag. All right, folks, let's go to our next story. Large majorities of black voters think Donald Trump's presidency has made things worse for people like them.

The Associated Press NORC Center for Public Affairs research survey found that about two-thirds of Americans overall disapprove of how Donald Trump is handling race relations. Four percent of African-American surveys said that Trump's actions have been good for African-Americans in general, while 81 percent said he has made things worse. Among white Americans, roughly a third said Trump's actions have been good for black Americans. Robert what do you think about that because I feel like we have them every administration things have never been good for black folks in this country I'm trying to understand this land of milk and honey that we're coming from where everything just all of a

sudden started getting worse I think we have to look at America as a whole and understand that no one person no one politician no one individual is the cause for the racial stagnation of racial relations in this country. But I think there's a difference between someone saying, are things good or better? Right. And so, I mean, obviously we can debate the word good, but the question still becomes, are things better or worse? And so, and that's, I think also, you, also what one is judging when you talk about Donald Trump. Well, let's understand.

We can probably find this exact same article from 2013 saying that race relations have gotten worse because white supremacists are motivated against having a black president and Barack Obama. We have to attack the system, not the individual. The system that has been discriminatory and racist against black folks for the last 400 years. If this one administration will come, it will go. The system will still remain. Erica.

To be quite honest with you, it's something when you talk about systems and things getting good or better, and just thinking about when it is often said that when America has a cold, then black America has the flu. So honestly, looking at that poll, by and large, when you look at the electorate, when you look at how we came out in droves and we vote

and we continue to vote, that black women are the most consistent voting bloc it's almost kind of like we told you so I think that with these numbers these numbers are pretty consistent with how black Americans ebb and flow with different administrations that come into power but it's not a phenomenon and I think that's what Petillo was getting at in terms of this article specifically and this poll specifically. You know, Trump hasn't done favors for anybody, really, except himself and those immediately surrounding him who will help him. You know, he's a very self-serving individual. the racial attacks as of late have been reportedly fueled

by this presidency and his administration because they feel more emboldened but that does not mean that the attacks are something new I think that's what Robert Petillo was getting at I would add also kind of to Petillo's point, I agree with Roland that there's difference between good and better.

But I think when you look at the facts, you know, with this administration, you know, I think there are a lot of conservatives. If Malik were here, he would argue about unemployment numbers. He would argue about you know workforce participation he would work he would argue maybe some minuscule wage increases and I would argue of course go back and say that black homeownership is at its lowest level since 1970 so I think it you know to Patil oh's point I think that it is a mixed bag there's you know a lot of things that

he's done symbolically I think that have hurt relations between African Americans and everyone else but when we talk about the the the substantive issues it's been a mixed bag like it's been under other administration right right let's talk about this in Georgia folks folks. Pretty interesting here. A huge surge of folks registering to vote in that state. New voters have registered in droves in Georgia since last year's midterm. More than 352,000 people signed up to vote in the past 11 months, the vast majority of them automatically registering when they obtain a driver's license,

according to data from the Secretary of State's office. The surge has boosted Georgia's voter rolls to a record high of nearly $7.4 million. $7.4 million, the growth in voters is caused more by Georgia's booming population than by people rushing to register ahead of a presidential election. Registrations at driver's license offices far outpace voter registration drives, indicating that many of the new voters recently moved to Georgia or turned 18 years old. Elections in Georgia next year will feature races for president, two U.S. senators in every seat in the General Assembly. So, Robert, you're there in Georgia.

Is your state potentially purple? Georgia has been a purple state for 20 years. The problem that we have had in Georgia is the fact that the Dixie Crap Party still controlled parts of the Democratic Party of Georgia. And for that reason, they were more interested in trying to convince South Georgia farmers and rural rednecks to vote Democrat than registering the hundreds of thousands of unregistered African Americans in the state. And we put our money into registering the unregistered African Americans in many of these quote unquote red states. Then you turn them purple, if not blue.

You combine that with the influx of new, I call them carpetbaggers from the north because of high taxes and high regulations and job growth in the south. We can turn the entire south purple within two election cycles if we put our money where our mouth is. Again, that's an issue there, Kelly.

And I've said it for the longest, and of course we saw Stacey Abrams say it. Stop trying to sit here and you're trying to get folks who are never gonna vote for you, register those who are likely to vote for you, but who aren't registered. The fact that we have a voter registration problem in the Bible Belt is, you know, it's concerning.

And we've had a couple episodes now is, you know, it's concerning. And we've had a couple episodes now of, you know, voter suppression issues, election fraud issues, all with the underlying goal to suppress minorities from voting because of things like this happening in Georgia, making a red state turn purple, not even blue. They're just trying to find balance at this point and an accurate reflection of the voting demographic there. So I am happy that it's turning a little bit purple because it shows that the tide of power is changing. It's not going to just be this white hold on a state because they just want the power

and they just want, you know, to suppress and oppress. You know, this to me shows that there will be some actual, you know, semblance of normalcy this coming election cycle coming out of Georgia. Got to ask you all this question real quick. In South Carolina, a new poll comes out showing a huge, huge lead for Joe Biden, 37 percent among voters there. In second place, go to my iPad, please. In second place, Senator Elizabeth Warren, she's at 17 percent, followed by Senator Bernie Sanders at 8 percent. Kamala Harris, Senator Kamala Harris at 7 percent. The remaining 15 candidates, they all fell under 5%. What's interesting about this is when you look at this poll, Blue Judge at 0% among black folks.

This is what Winthrop poll director Scott Huffman noted. African-Americans constitute one of the most important demographics. He said black folks are going to make up more than 60% of all, more than 60% of Democratic voters in this primary here. Now, it's interesting. So Bakari Sellers, who is a supporter of Kamala Harris, he tweeted that he thought about this particular poll. He says that Elizabeth Warren is not going to do well in South Carolina.

I'm like, Bakari, I don't know. I mean, what you're finding here is, here's what it is. Go to my iPad, please. He said, the Huffman Politics Winthrop poll is the best poll to come out in South Carolina to date for a wide variety of reasons. Pete still paces at 0% among Black voters. Warren, contrary to some

reporters trying to make it a thing, won't do well with Black voters in South Carolina. She will lag, he says, at 10%. I think, in this case here, Erica, I think things are going to change. I do not believe Joe Biden is going to

hold that lead, and I think what could happen for Elizabeth Warren, if she scores an upset in Iowa or New Hampshire, I think black voters are going to give her a different look by the time that South Carolina primary rolls around. Well, and I think also the other thing to kind of capture, and I'm from Albany, Georgia, so just want to kind of loop that Georgia piece back in, is that we still have from

the 18 to 34 year old group, 26.9% of that black women's roundtable poll that they rolled out a few weeks ago on television talked about that group is undecided. So I think that as these different candidates make leaps and bounds, that there is a good portion of people that will kind of turn the tide, as we saw in 08 with Barack Obama. But I think we still have to kind of keep our eye on the ball of those unregistered voters and then that 18 to 34-year-old age group that says that it's not enough. What else do you have for me? Kelly, here's what I think is going to be interesting in that, and I've heard this privately,

a lot of black female activists are not campaigning against Senator Harris. They're not enthralled with her. I have heard many of them very impressed by senator elizabeth warren i think as the you go between go from now and you start going into january february if all of a sudden you begin to hear prominent black female activists touting elizabeth warren that changes i believe what happens in south carolina well not only that, but with Kamala Harris, I think the disconnect is the fact that she was a prosecutor in California,

and there were some things under her tenure there that were questionable. We had the young man, what was it, last week or the week before, who talked about all the great things that she did as a prosecutor, but that's not the main narrative that is being driven home amongst people who are talking about her and her record. So that is a problem for Kamala Harris that she has to consider.

But another component, if we're going to be real about it, is the fact that once she's biracial, she has a white husband, black women in the Bible Belt are not going to necessarily identify with she I don't think I think what happened here the reason I think she's pulling a 7% in South Carolina Jason is the fact that criminal justice reform is a huge issue she was a prosecutor she did not release her criminal justice reform plan until September 9th, which was three days before the debate at TSU.

Now, if that is your Achilles heel, you don't wait five months to address it. Right, no, I agree 100%. And I think Biden is still going to win South Carolina, but I don't think he's going to win by that kind of margin. He's up 20 points. Yeah, there's no way that holds. But I think he will, you know, limp across the finish line

and beat Elizabeth Warren in South Carolina. Go ahead, go ahead. You know, one other thing about the Georgia piece is that I truly believe that, you know, like Robert was like, they spent too much time with the rednecks, rural rednecks, and not with younger people. My argument is why can't it be both? And this is the thing that I think white progressives who sit in the ivory tower in offices right next to mine should be doing is going out to other white people in people in uh you know in west virginia in louisiana the places in arkansas the places that bill clinton won but but here's i think

robert are you there yep here's what i think robert is saying where i will agree with him and that is if it is abundantly clear you're going to vote for republicans now i have a choice to make do i expend a significant amount of energy time and money trying to get you to flip or do i do with advertising what what why do advertisers care take what's the advertising demo? 25 to 54. What do advertisers really care about? 18, 39. Why? They're persuadable.

Right. An 18 to 39-year-old, I can run this ad, it pops, it sings. Shit, I'm going to go try that food, buy that item. You 55, I ain't changing a damn thing because it's all so and so and so i think what robert is saying i'm gonna bring in here what he's saying is if i got a pool of people two three four hundred thousand once they see abram started there were eight hundred thousand unregistered black and Latino people in the state. Right.

I think her campaign, Robert, they registered what? 250 or 300,000? 250,000. Yeah, so in that territory. So the real deal is, if... Leave them over there. That's right. If I go get them, it's cheaper, actually, and less time-consuming to get them registered to vote

than trying to convince a die-hard 20, 30, 40-year Republican. Robert, I want you to respond to what Jason said. Look, I have worked in Democratic politics in the state of Georgia for most of my adult life. I've been to all 159 counties in the state. I have knocked on doors from everywhere from Brunswick to Dahlonega. What people have to understand, it is a waste of time, effort, energy and money to go under a Confederate flag and knock on the trailer door and try to give an economic message to people about why they should support the Democratic Party. Just go to the hood. You'll find a third of the people unregistered. Registered people. That's what you got to do. So I agree.

I think there's a misunderstanding that I'm saying don't go to the hood, go to the trailer park. That's not what I'm saying at all. No, what I'm saying is go to the hood, ignore the damn trailer park, because, look, here's the piece. I understand. I'm saying Obama won West Virginia. You know, I'm saying that some of those people are persuadable.

Not necessarily, you know, if you see the Confederate flag, don't go to that house. But there are people in that demographic that are persuadable. It's numbers. It's numbers. And the reality is, if I start right now, there are 17 states in America where the average annual white death rate is America where the average annual white death rate is higher than the average annual

white birth rate. And so the reality is this here. If I'm studying numbers again, and I'm trying to figure out how do I win, I got a better shot versus trying to convince these white suburban women to go ahead and vote

for me and anybody else. I think you also, you have to, we have to stop comparing Obama running in 2008 to Trump in 2016. Obama running in 2008, we cannot ignore. You had an economic calamity where a Republican was president you had a Republican senator in John McCain who was running who offered no real economic plan so you had Obama over here who made the argument we

didn't create the damn problem they they were stewards of it. It was on their watch. And so there were people who were like, I am not voting for another damn Republican who screwed this economy up. You fast forward eight years. What did you have eight years? You had eight years of Obama,

Obama, America's weak, America's awful, Obama, talk radio, Fox News, all of that for eight years. Then you got a guy who comes along, presses buttons of white fear, legal immigrants. They're the reason why you don't have jobs. They're the reason. And those places that flipped. Added on top

of the fact that you had a candidate in Hillary Clinton who the image of her was locked in, embedded in the minds of those voters. There were white people, white men and women, there were

black people who if you sat them down and said, write down your top ten issues. I did this in Chicago at a bar. This white dude was perplexed. I said, write down your top ten issues. I said, put a check by Trump or Hillary on who agrees with you on those issues.

Hillary got seven out of ten of his checks. You know what he said? I just can't vote for her. So, I think we have to look at 2008 differently than 2016 because we've got to factor in who was running and who isn't. That's why I believe this time is different

because with a Biden or Warren, who's right now one and two, they offer a different contrast than Trump did, and they aren't saddled with the same baggage, if you will, as Hillary Clinton was. That's just why I think it's a dope report. Final comment before I go to my last story. Right, and I agree with everything you said,

and the fact that they are different is a reason why they're persuadable. This is one of the reasons, the arguments for Joe Biden. Joe Biden win the entire Rust Belt. That's his whole argument to be president. I don't think it's his economic plan, it's his health care, it's any of that. It's that I can beat Donald Trump because I can get those disaffected, angry white voters who did not vote for Hillary Clinton. Got it.

I'm definitely not saying don't go to the hood. I'm saying go to the hood. But also, I think that particularly for white working class people, they need to go out and go get their brother and sister and their parents. Yeah, that's fine. But also, a problem I have is that we've made this election all about the white working class yeah oh i'm not making it no no no no no i don't say we i'm talking about all that you heard on these other networks and the whole focus of all is all about them when the reality is trump only won by 77 000 votes if you factor in voter suppression in wisconsin

if you factor in a 2.4 drop drop in black turnout, if you factor in again the candidate he was running against, that's how he wins by 77,000 votes. I will say don't waste your time in Ohio. He won about 450,000 votes. Them white working class folks there, they ain't changing. Put your money in North Carolina, put your money in Florida. Put your money in Michigan. Put your money in Pennsylvania. Let them have Ohio. You win the other states, you win the election. All right, folks.

Track and field star Allison Felix is back on the track after she, of course, dealt with serious injuries. She brought home her 12th gold medal at the world championship, breaking her tie with Usain Bolt for the most gold medals at the World Championships. Felix was part of the winning team which featured Wilbert London, Courtney Okolo, and Michael Cherry in the first Michelle Cherry, the first

ever, sorry, Michael Cherry, the first ever World 4x400 Mixed Relay on Sunday. So certainly congratulations to Allison Felix. Absolutely one of our greatest, greatest, greatest runners. Alright, folks. Let me thank some folks supporting the show. Doc Young

contributed to us while we were live on YouTube. Also, let's see here. Precious Jewel, thank you for your support as well. Let me thank BrownLady007 for your donation. And then, let's see, Kiwi, your donation as well. If you're watching on YouTube, and there's more than almost 2,300 of y'all,

you can actually donate to Roller Martin Unfiltered right here on YouTube, or you can go to RollerMartinUnfiltered.com, join our Bring the Funk fan club. You get discounts to products that are on RollerMartin.com, and so you can do so via PayPal, Square, or even Cash App. Our goal, of course, is to get 20,000 of our followers, donate on average 50 bucks for the course of a year, $4.19 a month, $0.13 a day, because we want to remain independent and free

to talk about the issues that we want to talk about that you also care about. So we want you to do that. And so please support what we do right here at Roland Martin Unfiltered. So go to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. On tomorrow's show, Bishop Kenneth Ulmer. I will have my conversation with him from the Bahamas

talking about the future of the black church and how must the church speak to a new generation of parishioners. You don't wanna miss that conversation. Folks, we're gonna close out the show. First of all, let me thank Robert, let me thank Jason, Kelly, as well as Erica. What do we call a sweet pea?

Really rolling. What? Oh, my God. Okay, you wear a shirt. Thanks for coming out. You wear a shirt showing your... Okay, but you wear a shirt showing your arms and your tattoo can be seen.

It's a dress. What? Go ahead and show everybody your tattoo can be seen. It's a dress. What? Go ahead and show everybody your tattoo. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead and show them your pipes. All right, I'm going to take a picture of it for y'all. I'm going to post it.

I'm going to post it. All right. We're going to end the show, folks. We're going to end the show this way. Of course, we opened the show with both of them, John. Of course, Amber Geiger found guilty for his murder. And he was an amazing young man

and, of course, a strong man of the faith. And so, we're going to end the show with this video of Botham Jean behind the pulpit. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Let the spirit of the Lord rise above us. Let the Spirit of the Lord rise among us. Let the Spirit of the Lord, let it rise.

You've got to let the Spirit of the Lord, let it rise. To let the praises of our King, let it rise. Come on, let it rise. You've got to let it rise and sing, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

come on and let it, let it rise. You've got to let the glory, let the glory, let it, let the glory of the Lord and let it rise. You've got to let the glory of the Lord, let it rise. Are you going to let the praises of our King, let it rise? Come on, let it rise. You've got to let the power of the Lord, just let it rise. Come on, let the praises of our King, just let it rise. Come on, let it rise. And sing Sing And do you know it's a Sing Let it ride you you want to support roller Martin Unfiltered?

Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. As Roland Martin Unfiltered, support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans, contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible.

RolandMartinUnfiltered.com This is De'Alla Riddle and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stay woke. This is Director X, the director of Superfly on the red carpet, well the black carpet. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Yo, what up y'all? This is Jay Ellis and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Yo, what up, y'all? This is Jay Ellis, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. I'm Lex Scott Davis, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your boy Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now. You want to check out Roller Martin Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roller Martin Unfiltered. See that name right there? Roller Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's youtube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And don't forget to turn on your notifications so when we go live, you'll

know it. Hey fam, want to check out Roland Martin Unfiltered? The blackest show on all of digital, cable, and broadcast. Check out our audio podcast there's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real as roller mart unfiltered press play Thank you. Thank you. ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത� this is an iHeart podcast