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Roland Martin Calls Bow Wow and Nick Cannon’s Plans Not to Vote in Presidential Election ‘Dumbest Ish I’ve Ever Seen’

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (43)

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In the days after Bow Wow and Nick Cannon announced their lack of support for either presidential candidate, Roland Martin has had enough. The television host called out the rapper-actors on Twitter yesterday. First, he tore into Bow Wow – real name Shad Moss – for explaining he doesn’t feel compelled to vote since he has mixed race heritage and therefore does not identify with the civil rights movement.

Martin called it some of the “dumbest ish I’ve ever seen in my life.”

The host of TVOne’s NewsOne Now then rattled off a list of examples of mixed individuals who understand civil rights. One tweet mentioned Ben Jealous, the former president and chief executive officer of the NAACP.

In another post, Martin recalled meeting the artist at the White House and pointed out President Barack Obama’s mixed background.

The former CNN anchor did not stop there. He also included non-Black figures who “understand civil rights” including self-described anti-racism educator Tim Wise and Carmen Perez, who co-founded The Gathering for Justice.

Martin says Bow Wow’s mixed race has nothing to do with his lack of knowledge on civil rights. Instead, the rapper simply doesn’t care.

“You really need to be educated,” Martin told Moss.

And he informs the actor that Title IX protects his civil rights as a mixed race man.

Bow Wow was receptive to Martin’s message. He thanked him for “enlightening me” later that night.

Moss said he had respect for the news anchor and he was “willing to learn.”

Martin invited Bow Wow to exchange numbers so they could discuss politics and civil rights.

And Bow Wow obliged.

But Martin was not done yet. He immediately ripped Cannon, calling the America’s Got Talent host’s reason for not voting in the presidential election “asinine.”

Cannon told Germany’s Deutsche Welle News, at a Black Lives Matter rally July 20 he had no intention of voting based on the lack of respect for Black people from the Democratic and Republican parties.

Then, in an appearance on Access Hollywood Live July 25, Cannon said he would vote in his local election rather than the presidential race. Martin acknowledged the importance of local elections but said the president has a “huge involvement in local politics.”

He then explained how the president influences local governments.

And tells Cannon to write a name in if he’s not excited about a major party candidate rather than not voting at all.

Then, he compares the presidential race to casting votes for AGT.

Like he did with Bow Wow, Martin encourages Cannon to call him to discuss the mogul’s voting stance.

Cannon did not publicly respond to Martin’s invitation for a call. Instead, he said he will write in a candidate rather than vote for Republican presidentail nominee Donald Trump or Democratic nominee Hilary Clinton.

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