Marc Lamont Hill and Roland Martin Have Virtual Smackdown with Sheriff Clarke Over ‘Jigaboo’ Insult

Marc Lamont Hill, David Clarke, Roland Martin (Wikipedia/Twitter/Roland Martin Facebook)

Marc Lamont Hill and Roland Martin came for Sheriff David Clarke on Twitter Wednesday, Jan. 18, after Clarke called Hill a “jigaboo” in response to Hill’s comments on “CNN Tonight” earlier in the week.

During Monday’s broadcast of the Don Lemon-hosted show, Hill, a Morehouse professor, slammed Donald Trump for meeting with entertainers like Steve Harvey rather than Black intellectuals who are familiar with politics like Michelle Alexander or Cornel West.

“Yeah, it’s a bunch of mediocre Negroes being dragged in front of TV as a photo op for Donald Trump’s exploitive campaign against Black people,” Hill charged, when Bruce LeVell brought up Trump’s National Diversity Coalition, of which Lavell is a member.

That remark led the controversial Milwaukee County Sheriff to call Hill the offensive name on Twitter, which elicited responses from Hill and Martin.

Hill co-signed the “NewsOne Now” host’s tweet.

Clarke then fired another salvo at Hill.

Hill fired back.

Martin jumped into the fray hours later and invited Clarke to be a guest on “NewsOne Now.”

The anchor tweeted several messages in response to the Trump supporter’s Booker T. Washington meme, then threw down the gauntlet and challenged Clarke to a debate.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top