Bernard Shaw's advice to journalists

In a conversation moderated by Wolf Blitzer, Legendary CNN Anchor Bernard Shaw gives advice to young journalists.

[AlienManA]

Bernard Shaw is One of the best journalists at CNN at all time...World Class..

[seanlong]

A truly a brilliant mind..total integrity...

[graybaby]

Old Bernie was the ultimate. He was on the same level of Cronkite Huntley and David Brinkley. Rest in peace Bernie, you will be missed.

[vinista]

RIP, legend. Too bad CNN is on it’s way now to becoming another Fox.

[memyself]

When the "big 4" were him, jennings, rather and brokaw.

[bubbajones]

Back when CNN actually had journalists

[davemurray]

Him and ed bradley where the best rip both of u

[shafshaikh]

When you dont love your people
Y
Will i love u
U
Enough for the NOt loving world
Ghamand or whatever its on
GOD
SAW MY
GOD IS ALSO AWAY FROM YOU
LOVE LIVE ENJOY
STAY THE WAY U WANT

[eddiedeleon]

CNN cable news network, manonood lang ako sa may cable, You tube na lang now

[DrAlexanderHamilton]

Great journalist. Horrible comments. Ted Turner hired Bernard Shaw as one of his first journalists BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK and has said as much in several interviews. Cronkite mentored Shaw BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK and has said so. This is not to say Shaw wasn't qualified, but it is to say the entirety of his career opportunity was gifted to him by good white people who were looking to make a splash in the industry by giving a black person a shot. Nothing wrong with that. However, what I take issue with is black people who go through white doors and suddenly turn colorblind once they get on the other side of the opportunity door. This is why despite writing a pro-affirmative action dissertation decades ago, I am now anti-affirmative action. Far too many black people benefit from fights they did not wage and then get brand new or colorblind once they received the spoils of civil rights battles that were waged in the streets by people who did not receive an ounce of the opportunity that Bernard Shaw did. This is how we've developed a respectability politics class of black people who talk down their noses at lower socioeconomic blacks and lecture them about what they need to do to get ahead or better yet what they need to do to be chosen by white people. In this room full of "people of color, " Shaw essentially said "I don't view myself as black. I'm a journalist." Yeah Mr. Shaw, but the people who fought for you to be there DID VIEW THEMSELVES AS BLACK. This is why Dr. King changed the civil rights movement's name to "The Poor People's" campaign because he saw so many well-to-do high socioeconomic black folk benefitting from affirmative action who were NOT reaching back helping other low income blacks. Affirmative Action only benefitted the top 15% of African Americans and essentially exacerbated the INTRA-race wealth gap or the gap between the black haves and black have nots. I am actually working on a book about this phenomenon entitled "First Blacks" where I argue that black people should stop celebrating the first blacks in anything because most of these first blacks only lived for themselves and did not reach back and help anyone. Many of them benefited from being the only black in white spaces and looked to keep it that way. In the black community, this is called "The Shiny Negroooee Syndrome" where a few black people derive a sense of prestige from being the only black person in a white company.


Nevertheless, Bernard Shaw may have been a great journalist, but he lived his life like most affirmative action beneficiaries: selfish. He only cared about his advancement, which is why you didn't see any other Shaw proteges or black folks hired on his watch despite Ted Turner explicitly saying he hired Shaw BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK. Shaw may have forgot he was black, but Ted Turner, Walter Cronkite and the myriad of other white people who gave him opportunity did NOT. It's a shame he did not feel a need to do the same for other black people.

End affirmative action now.