Last week, Smiley and the Rev. Al Sharpton had a fierce argument about the issue on Sharpton's radio show, with Sharpton taking heated exception to Smiley's claim that the reverend was giving Obama a pass on Black issues.
When Smiley ended the State of the Black Union after 10 years, he said Black issues were now being addressed elsewhere.
Apparently, however, not enough to his liking.
“This is not about Obama. It's about us,” Smiley said in an interview.
He said that the Obama campaign and black leaders asked African-Americans for help during the election, but that “now that he's elected, what are Black people being asked to do to hold him accountable to our agenda?”
Eric Deggans, who writes about the media and race for Florida's St. Petersburg Times, said Smiley's new event is consistent with his record of criticizing Obama's race-neutral stance. But there is a perception that Smiley is personally invested in the issue, he said, because Obama declined to attend Smiley's 2008 State of the Black Union event during the presidential campaign.
“It could be hard for people watching this to see Tavis as an honest broker,” Deggans said. “He's playing an odd game,” he continued. “He's trying to make great television and also present something that effects social change. That's often two different things.”
