Author and CNN analyst Coleman Hughes has been making media rounds to discuss his new book, “The End of Race Politics.”
During a visit to “The View,” he engaged in a contentious debate with host Sunny Hostin over prioritizing socioeconomics over race. The exchange quickly went viral, and a week later, during an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, the incident remained a topic of conversation.
Rogan, having viewed the clip, defended Hughes, calling “The View,” an Emmy-winning ABC program, a “rabies-infested henhouse.”
During his appearance on the show, Hughes engaged in a respectful dialogue with Whoopi Goldberg, initially. They discussed his views on the nation’s focus on race, with Goldberg suggesting his perspective might overlook historical context.
Despite their generational gap — Hughes being 28 and Goldberg 68 — they explored differences in their classroom experiences. Goldberg recalled that Black history wasn’t taught during her school days, whereas Hughes recounted watching “Roots” with his fifth-grade class, highlighting a shift in educational approaches over time while suggesting that the racial issues that she experienced are not the same in the modern day.
As Hostin jumped into the conversation, unable to keep her peace, she appeared to drill the young man about many of the things in the book, including how he characterized Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he talked about “A Bill of Rights for the Disadvantaged.”
“I’m not only a student of Dr. King, I know his daughter, Bernice,” Hostin said, before adding, “I think the premise is fundamentally flawed. You claim that color blindness was the goal of the civil rights movement based upon Dr. King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.
“You know, the content of character versus the color of skin,” Hostin continued. “Bernice, Dr. King’s daughter, points out that four years after giving that speech, Dr. King also said ‘This, a society that has done something special against the negro for hundreds of years, must now do something special for negro.’”
She continued, “He also said in 1968, it was about less than a week before he was assassinated, ‘This country never stops to realize that they owe a people kept in slavery for 244 years.’”
Hughes noted that he was familiar with the quotes about what is owed the “negro,” as it is mentioned in the same “Why We Can’t Wait” paragraph, sentences before the discussion of “A Bill of Rights for the Disadvantaged,” that is inclusive of all marginalized people regardless of race, pointing to how socioeconomics is more important to solve inequity than race.
The host noted that Dr. King was not only pushing for “racial equality” but also asking for “racial reparations.” Hostin suggested that by not talking about “racial equality,” Hughes was pushing a far-right agenda.
“Your argument for colorblindness, I think, is something that the right has co-opted and so many in the Black community, if I’m being honest with you, because I wanna be, believe that you are being used as a pawn by the right and that you’re a charlatan of sorts.”
Hughes looked uncomfortable and other co-hosts came to his defense, but by the end of the 10-minute clip, the heated exchange trumped his book promotion.
While on the “Joe Rogan Experience,” the controversial shock jock was laser-focused on the “viral argument” and asked Hughes how he felt. Hughes said that he felt “ambushed” and that his character was attacked.
Rogan mocked the panel saying that the hosts often say, “ridiculous things,” and called it “the show that people love to hate.”
“They get so much hate-watching, viral clips of them saying ridiculous things. I mean it is a rabies-infested henhouse,” Rogan joked before saying that the people who support “The View” are probably people who can’t leave their homes.
Many people on social media weighed in.
“@joerogan I think @TheView is now the female version of Jerry Springer,” one X user wrote.
"A Rabies-infested Henhouse"
— Daspanzer61 (@TonyHauer1) April 4, 2024
Joe Rogan 2024
Couldnt agree more….
Another said, “It’s interesting that you say that, @joerogan: Many people – myself included – call your show the same exact thing! #TheView.”
It's interesting that you say that, @joerogan: Many people – myself included – call your show the same exact thing! #TheView pic.twitter.com/YNmH4wfaen
— Jonathan Stone – #2024 = The #VillainYear pt. 2 (@jonathanjstone0) April 4, 2024
“The right has a serious problem with females speaking out, speaking their minds. Frankly, it disgusts me and it’s gonna hurt them,” a third person posted.
Many agreed that “The View” was fun to watch, but Rogan took it a step further to comment on Hostin.
“I think Sunny is very intelligent but she’s ideologically captured,” the podcaster said to the Cornell graduate. “There’s a couple of the other ones — I won’t don’t have to name any names — who are just very dull-minded, but I think Sunny’s not one of them. I think she’s smart but captured.”
Hughes pushed forward and said, “I think she came into it with an agenda.”
“Of course,” Rogan added. “You know they do everything with an agenda.”
Agenda or not, Hughes maintained his composure. Others commended him for not seeming rattled, but also acknowledged the value of “The View.”
“’The View’ Encourages Critical Thinking,” the person tweeted, adding, “Hughes presents well-reasoned arguments and questions prevailing assumptions. In an era where discourse is often marked by divisiveness, Hughes exemplifies how to engage respectfully and thoughtfully, even in disagreement.”
"The View" Encourages Critical Thinking.
— Just Jayne (@just_jayne8) April 4, 2024
Hughes presents well-reasoned arguments and questions prevailing assumptions. In an era where discourse is often marked by divisiveness, Hughes exemplifies how to engage respectfully and thoughtfully, even in disagreement.
