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Valerie Jarrett And ABC's First Black President Are The Black Queens Shining Through Roseanne’s Hate
Valerie Jarrett And ABC's First Black President Are The Black Queens Shining Through Roseanne’s Hate
When they go low, we go high.
In the wake of Roseanne Barr's racist tweet referring to a former adviser to President Barack Obama as an ape, the Black female president of ABC and the Black woman targeted by comedian's hate are coming out on top.
Shortly after Roseanne tweeted that the former adviser to President Obama, Valerie Jarrett, looked like the "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby," she was blasted for her racism. Wanda Sykes, who acted as a consulting producer on the reboot of Roseanne, immediately tweeted that she will not be returning to her show.
Although Sykes was applauded for leaving the show, the president of ABC made sure there was no show to quit.
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Channing Dungey, the first African-American president of ABC, released a statement in which she called the remarks "repugnant" and announced Roseanne was canceled... literally
Dungey joined ABC Entertainment in 2004 as an executive at Touchstone Television, where she assisted in the development of the early seasons of Grey's Anatomy.
In 2016, she was promoted to president of Disney Entertainment with hopes of diversifying the network, she told the LA Times.
Usually, a statement of cancellation would come from Ben Sherwood, the president of Disney-ABC Television Group, or Robert A. Iger, Disney's CEO, reported the New York Times. Dungey's statement against racism towards Black women was both monumental and symbolic.
- Dungey was praised by celebrities on Twitter for rising above such low, despicable hatred
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Late on Tuesday night, Jarrett appeared on MSNBC's "Everyday Racism in America" town hall with Chris Hayes and Joy Reid
"I think we have to turn it into a teaching moment. I’m fine. I’m worried about all the people out there who don’t have a circle of friends and followers who come right to their defense––the person who’s walking down the street minding their own business and they see somebody cling to their purse or want to cross the street. Or every black parent I know who has a boy who has to sit down and have a conversation––the talk, as we call it. As you say, those ordinary examples of racism that happen every single day. And I think that’s why I’m so glad to be here this evening talking with all of you," Jarrett said during the MSNBC town hall.
- Jarrett's dignified response to Roseanne's abhorrent attack was also applauded
(Photos from left: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images, Vera Anderson/WireImage, Todd Williamson/Getty Images)
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